Little Business in Big China

I find it redundant to apologize AGAIN for belated blogging, so will skip that whole paragraph and hope that someone is still checking in occasionally to see what we're up to. Just know that this is not abnormal...expect random and monthly (or longer) updates.

Starting 2011 in China has been full of surprises to say the least. It's official that Erich and his local Chinese business partners are starting a small coffee/sandwich shop in Beilun! Construction is nearly complete and opening day is scheduled for early April. It's been an interesting process watching it all happen so fast and learning the intricacies of turning an empty storage space into a western cafe/community center in the middle of China. They're calling it "Cup 'O Joe", but I'm sure the locals will have a name they call it based on the food or look of the store front...just like we do with the local restaurants whose signs are all in Chinese. There's the "white tablecloth" place that has good qie zi (eggplant) and some crispy rice dish that Erich goes crazy trying to describe in broken Chinese because we still don't know the name...and the 2-story "spicy" restaurant on the corner...do I need to explain that one? I could go on for awhile, but the point is that I am just as excited to hear what the locals call the cafe as I am for the place to open. The overall concept is to create a "community center"/restaurant for expats and locals to interact. Along with the variety of deli cheeses and meats that you can't get unless you have time for a 4 hour drive to Shanghai for lunch, the cafe will have a DVD/book exchange wall, free Chinese and English lessons, a "craigslist-esque" message board, and resources for local hikes, explorations and guides to Beilun. So, yeah, it's like any other crunchy granola, poetry reading, web-surfing cafe in the States...but we're in small town China, so this is the one and only of its kind. Are the Chinese ready for this?...I guess we'll find out. So needless to say, Erich has been busy with designing the floorplans, pricing out a menu, schmoozing with the locals and expats, and recently they've been interviewing for employees. Wish him luck and we'll update you after opening day :)