The current NBA finals between Miami (Heat) and San Antonio (Spurs) have been a one-sided battle thus far. The series is at (3-1) for a very deserving and dominant Spurs team and they are one win away from winning their 5th championship within the last two decades. The defending champion, the Miami Heat, are tasked with taking down the Spurs for three straight games to win their 3rd Championship in three years. The stakes are high to say the least for both parties.

Most articles and sports analysts have written off the Heat by now, and believes wholeheartedly that it is “over.” They have good reason for it as well as “no team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals” (0-31) to be exact.

Miami currently faces the greatest of odds and I believe that is what makes the story so compelling. All the statistics and history of the game has shown that it is “impossible.”

What is this word “impossible”? It is the question that every inventor, pioneer, sports superstar, rising business mogul, and anyone ambitious enough to try something different tries to answer within their lifetime.

Is it not just a 10 letter word created to label an event or thing that has never been done or seen before? It implies that it will never happen.

However, there are many examples throughout history labeled “impossible” before it ever happen. (Ex: flying, same-sex marriages, African American president etc…) Not to make this series as important as life or death because after all, it is just the game of basketball.

This is an even greater opportunity for the Miami Heat to make history. They can be the 1st team to come back from such a deficit and I believe IF they do, the world would side with them. Everybody loves a comeback story, and this would be one for the ages.

What should people believe though? The statistics? The body language of both teams? The impossible?

I believe a scenario like this what life is all about. Playing to win, facing adversity, going against the greatest of odds, and still believing in yourself OR your team when the rest of world has turned their backs to you.

This is the beauty of competition. This is the beauty of that question “how bad you want it?”
Both teams have worked years to be exactly where they are, and in theory, both teams deserve to win. But there can be only one winner. One reigning champion.

Maybe the Heat will win, maybe the Spurs will win. I think it is more important to see what one chooses to believe in before they enter the fight of their lives.

“Why not us? History is broken all the time,” Lebron James (interviewed after Game 4 loss)

What do you believe will happen?

The first of day of Shanghai was nothing short of a beautiful disaster. Think of a video game, where you keep failing the level over and over again, and you keep restarting in hopes of one day being triumphant. This is a story about learning…and mostly getting my butt kicked all day by China processes.

Maybe it was the smell of rain as we landed, or maybe it was just an early morning (6:25am to be exact), but I arrived to Shanghai half awake and feeling a peculiar sense of adventure. New place, new people, a language that I barely know how to speak, my heart is beating.
Here is the plan : get to the university, drop my bags off, and register for the language program at East China Normal University (ECNU). Not too ambitious, all necessary and sounds relatively simple.

Let the game begin :

Jay’s Thinking : I have been to Shanghai before, and I know how to take the metro. I will take that to the university!

Shanghai’s Reality : (aka 1st clue of how this day was going to play out) : Going from Pudong International Airport on Line 2 (the central line in Shanghai) to Jinshajiang Rd Station…on a Monday morning during rush hour!!! Genius move. Let’s not mention the exchange from Line 2 to Line 3 / 4 at Zhongshan Park. IF you have never walked it, it is simply an unnecessary amount of stairs. Just add on the 2 bags of luggage, and my morning workout was exhausting to say the least. (approx 2 hours of travel time)

Jay’s Thinking : “Well, I am spent! At least I managed to get to the university.” Let’s try to get registered.

Shanghai’s Reality : There are hundreds of foreign exchange students and language students that come for the 1st day. “Please wait your turn” (90 minutes later…) ”OH, we need an address and residence permit, have you checked in to your dormitory yet? Please do that first, then come back”

Jay’s Thinking : That is part of the plan anyways, makes sense. I will be back later this afternoon. Leave towards residence to check in….

Shanghai’s Reality : Go to the residence (which is a HOTEL – completely separate post for later…) and they need me to pay for the semester upfront!

Jay’s Thinking : “Jeez…that’s quite a bit of money all at once.” I do not have enough RMB (Chinese currency) on me, let me go to the bank, open a bank account and transfer funds out of my “Canadian” account. I will be back later this afternoon.

Shanghai’s Reality : Go to the bank, (wait roughly 90 minutes again.) I guess the 1st day of registration is really not the best day for account openings. Finally, it is my turn, let’s begin the paperwork! “Sir, we noticed that you left your phone number blank, you need a phone number to open an account. OH, it’s your 1st day here and you do not have a Chinese number? We are sorry, we cannot open a bank account for you. Please come back when you have a phone number.”

Jay’s Thinking : “WOW!!” It is mid-afternoon and I have managed to start 3 separate processes with no result in sight…China is kicking my butt!” I will go get a Chinese number, that seems easy enough.

Shanghai’s Reality : It was relatively easy…New SIM card and you are supposedly good to go. OH wait…you have an iPhone that is locked to a carrier in Canada, no phone access for you! At least you have a phone number now…

Jay’s Thinking : Let’s go back to the bank and try to get that account so I can get money out. (Wait roughly a hour this time…) Great, I have an account NOW! Let’s talk fund transfers! “No, my card is NOT under UnionPay (the only China domestic bank card organization) Conclusion of conversation : I am essentially locked out of my funds on any of my cards. Well played Shanghai, well played.

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The last hours of my day were spent walking back to my residence (the hotel at ECNU campus) in the rain and pondering how I am going to explain myself to the staff there. Maybe I should stay in an hostel? Maybe I will sleep outside? I needed just 1 break, and I did not get it all day.

I put the entire residence fees on my VISA and finally got let in to my room. (My break!) My home for the next 5 months. It was roughly 7 degrees that day, but it felt like I just walked into a freezer. Tried to work the heater, cannot read Chinese. Put my winter jacket on. You win this round Shanghai… I will be better for days to come.

Goodnight.