In late 2006, The Next Page published "Go East, Young Man." It began: "In August of this year, Shaler native Eric Carlson, 29, graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a bachelor of fine arts in furniture design, an interest in painting -- and 'a huge mountain of debt,' he reports. Weighing career options, he decided to strike out for the promised land: China." Eric sends weekly e-mails to friends and family. We condensed them to chronicle his early days in the booming city.

With China ever more on our mind, we asked Eric to bring us up to date on his progress

Eric can be reached through his Web site: ericccarlson.com

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I arrived in Shanghai in October 2006 with as little bias as a person could have. I knew next to nothing about the culture, history, language or food of China aside from what can be learned from the local take-out joint. I began my learning experience in China doing what every person who knows nothing should do: teaching.

My first nine months were spent spreading the joys of the English language to public school students from grade one to grade three. I started making some Chinese friends and learned the basics of the language. I was still pretty frustrated with my own level of Mandarin when I would compare it with the English spoken by the average 7-year-old here. But teaching six days per week left little time to improve much. Maintaining classroom discipline was a huge problem; by the end of my contract, I was pretty burned out.

When summer vacation 2007 finally came around, I traveled some in China and then visited America. I returned refreshed and ready to teach again, but I couldn't make myself sign another contract teaching children.

My other option was adult education, and I threw myself in fully. I learned new skills, but still ended up teaching six days a week and not acquiring enough Mandarin to get where I wanted to be.

I came to China to become involved in the manufacturing end of the furniture business. I thought China would be a great place to get ahead of the pack. Problem was, after almost 18 months I was not much closer to having enough language to work in a Chinese company than when I arrived.

In April of this year, I caught my big break. I was assigned a private class made up of the owner and administrative staff of a cabinetry manufacturing company in Shanghai. During breaks we discussed design. Four weeks later, I was his design director.

This period has been one of my most challenging: language barriers, dormitory living, different labor laws and different concepts of honesty are just a few things I am learning to work around as the only foreigner in a company of 400 employees.

My real education is just beginning.

Here's a few glimpses from my daily life over recent weeks:

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July 26: It's all happening at the Aquarium

Today I went to Nanjing Lu (a busy Downtown shopping area) to meet my girlfriend Liv as she finished work. I got there about an hour early. I walked back and forth and was offered everything from watches and handbags to hash and girls. I didn't buy anything except a PP Queen (peach and pineapple smoothie). Liv showed up with water guns and we had fun running around squirting in the ridiculously hot weather. We decided to go to the Shanghai Aquarium because it would be cool.

The good news was that it was cool and we didn't get kicked out for squirting guns inside. The bad news is that we found the place that should be voted the No. 1 place to get elbowed in the mouth by an inconsiderate Chinese tourist.

People were punching the glass with their fists and camera and phones, putting their hands in the tanks to try to catch fish and putting their camera phones right in front of your face to take a picture. Three ladies demolished a rope barrier, a dozen others climbed over a railing to get pictures in front of a tank, and I actually saw a guy put both hands over a strangers head to put his camera RIGHT in front of the dude's face. He is lucky nobody punched him out.

China, if you are going to be ready for the Olympics, you'd better stop acting like that in public or the media won't be kind.

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Saturday is my day off, so I met Liv early and we took some clothes to be tailored. The reputable place we went to gouged me hardcore ... about 3 bucks a pair. I should be able to do that for less than 1. We shopped at the Pearl Market and I bargained hard for new polo shirts. I was able to get them for 20 less than the "friend price" or about 10 dollars each.

Tonight at 7, my friend Lin Ye appeared on "Saturday Date Night," a local dating TV show. Liv and I raced home to watch him compete for the affections of girls with masks on. It was really entertaining. The men were each given a chance to sing and then to do a dance with the girls "cheerleader style." Then a psychologist graded their compatibility based on the way they move together. Ye sang in French, which wowed them all. In the end, he didn't score a girlfriend but said that he had a great time.

After the show was over, I went over to Liv's parents' place and gave them the gifts that I brought from the United States. Little Swarovski crystal animals from their birth year seemed to be a hit ... dad even giggled. Rare. We ate fruit and chatted until almost 11.

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Today, the opening day of the Olympics is among China's proudest moments. They have been counting down the days for years in the newspaper. It seems like only yesterday that we were in the 500s. The date 08-08-08 has special meaning for the Chinese. The number 8 (ba) is a homophone for wealth, and people are rushing to both get married and deliver babies.

Some of the staff left two hours early to prepare to watch the opening ceremonies. Liv and I picked up some stuff and we went over to Luke's to watch it. [That's Luke Homitsky, a Cranberry native and friend of Eric's who moved to Shanghai in 2005.] The show was pretty spectacular, but the introduction of the athletes got old after the first hour. I left before it was over.

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Today is my 31st birthday and I was pretty much determined to keep it low key. I almost managed to keep it quiet all morning, even when the security guard came in with an envelope I had to sign for containing a card. Just before lunch though, during a big meeting, a delivery man came in with a cake with my picture on it. There was no hiding it then. I shared out the cake and we had a good laugh at the picture.

I planned to go with a few co-workers to Pizza Hut after work, but the boss, Peter, called me in to his office and told me that since it was my birthday, we would be having dinner together. At the end of the day it seemed like there were a lot of people hanging around and when I asked what was up, they said it was a secret.

At 6, they told me to come down and get in the van, and we all (Peter and I along with 12 others) went to the nicest restaurant in the town for Chinese food. I felt really embarrassed as one after another toasted me in English.

We also drank to Peter, an upcoming wedding, an expected baby, each separate department, each individual person there, and then I toasted them all back. I drank a liter and a half of Coke in 30 minutes, which doesn't leave much room for food. We ate and drank and when it was all over, they brought out a cake with a "3" and a "1" candle on top. They turned out the lights and sang "Happy Birthday" (sort of) and insisted that I make a wish and blow out the candles, just like the Americans do.

It was really amazing. I was touched by their sincerity, especially since some of them probably wanted to kill me for all the attention that I have been getting as the lone foreigner on staff.

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This morning I was supposed to be picked up at 7 to go to the factory as usual on Monday mornings, but when I awoke to thunder I wasn't looking forward to going out. At least I had a car coming for me, which is a big improvement from my last jobs.

So, I was outside before 7 in the middle of a serious thunderstorm when the boss called saying that Mr. Ling would be 15 minutes late because of heavy traffic. Since I was already outside under a ledge, I decided to stay put. My $2 umbrella wasn't protecting me from much.

Anyway, the rain kept coming and coming, and at 7:30 I called Peter to tell him that my street was flooding and no Mr. Ling. At 8, Peter called and said that Ling was stuck in a traffic jam that wasn't moving. By this time, my street was completely under water and the sidewalk was under, too. Water was 18 inches deep in the street and water was going over the hoods of cars that were stupid enough to try to pass. I went inside to change into shorts and sandals and was back outside when Peter finally called and said I might as well wait inside.

Well, the rain kept coming and the mobile network was overloaded so all there was to do was wait. I waited 3 hours and Mr. Ling finally arrived at 11. He had been in traffic that whole time. How unpleasant. I jumped in the car and we went to pick up Peter. It is a one-mile ride, but we were in the car for about three hours.

Now I love China, really I do, but this experience was crushing to me. Everyone decided to ignore all traffic rules (which may have been invented for just this kind of situation) and every intersection was completely, hopelessly locked. The sheer stupidity, selfishness and failure to look at the big picture of the drivers in Shanghai reared its ugly head.

There were people driving on sidewalks, honking endlessly and even driving on the wrong side of the street rendering traffic in both directions locked. It was an incredible sight to behold, and with all of the bragging and lies that surrounded the Olympics here, I wish just for a couple seconds that the world could see the true China -- not what you see after five years of rehearsal.

I am very curious to hear what people who visited Beijing had to say. My experiences there were horrible.

After we picked up Peter it was another two to three hours to get to the factory. I got there at about 4:30. Pretty rough day for everyone.

After being at work, I was informed that a couple of clients were coming to the factory and I needed to be there for that after hours, and for dinner. Got back at 9, another long day.

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Today I worked at the Shanghai office and things are very quiet there. All of the designers use iPods and the air conditioning works so it makes for a really relaxing atmosphere. They close the shades too to reduce glare. I would love working there making things on Adobe Illustrator all day.

We are getting much better at the communication between companies, my co-workers are learning to trust me and therefore tell me when problems come up much faster than they were at the beginning.

Evening was full of "30 Rock" on DVD. That show makes me laugh almost as much as "Arrested Development" did.