Club InterContinental Week 1/16

With my first week behind me, I've learned a lot about the Chinese workplace and a lot about the pro's and con's of working on the club floor.
As far as training goes, they expect you to ask. Training isn't as formal as anywhere I've worked. I'm being trained by people on the frontline up to the supervisor level in increments of "don't do that, do this." Usually, I do the "wrong thing" for a while until someone who knows all the English vocabulary to tell me what the right thing is comes along.
I've quickly learned who has the best English and who could use some work. I don't mind communicating with those who need help, but, just like we are in a foreign language, they often rely on those that are stronger. They will get frustrated as soon as they come across a word they don't know. I can usually fill in the blank for them, but, even so, they fetch the stronger speaker at the first sign of error. And often, the stronger speaker didn't know the word either, they just have the confidence to mess up and stumble through.
Let that be a life lesson in language, just be confident and you will learn faster.
I've also realized that they are pretty relaxed with using cell phones in the work place and even sitting down in the lobby area until a guest arrives and then proceeding to politely rise and use body language, as if to say, "Oh, yeah, I've been sitting here waiting on you to step off the elevator." Well, played.
While I can't help, but feel they talk about me a lot, they are generally very nice and the girls touch me a lot. Not inappropriately, but more so that some of my closer friends do. They tend to touch or casually hug from behind a lot. Which is weird when I usually don't know what they are saying, but I can often guess what the conversation is about depending on the situation.
Regardless, it feels nice to be semi-included.
The club floor is rather, well, boring. This week I came in at 2:45, just after the start of High Tea which ends at 4:30, and left at 11:15 (the club floor closes at 11). Between 2:45 and 5 it is very slow. Few people come for tea and those that do speak little to no English, rendering me useless.
I don't mind because dinner is served in the staff canteen starting at 4:30, so that shaves off 30 minutes of boredom pretty quickly. Plus, since most of them speak Chinese I really just help to clean up the food.
Which is heavenly.
It's nearly all western food. Finger sandwiches (ham and provolone on fresh white bread), baked goods (mini blueberry and pumpernickel cupcakes as well as amazing brownies, eclairs, super moist banana nut bread, cookies abound), and we also have access to all the juice we want that is in the fridge (featuring grape, mango, pineapple, orange, and apple, YES!).
And that is reason #1 I love working the club. I don't care how boring it is most of the time as long as I get a taste of the west to offset my mostly steamed-rice diet from the staff canteen. Since the girls up there know that I can't stomach much of the food, they often save plates for me if I happen to be away when they break down tea or the dinner. Supa' sweet.
And reason #2?
But between about 5 and 9 to 9:30, that's when it really comes alive up there. Royal ambassadors as well as platinum ambassadors and paying guests are allowed access to the club level. Generally, these are VERY frequent travelers and often speak great English and want to know where I'm from and what it is like there and love to tell stories of their trips to the states. They also love asking how I like it here ("it's different, feels a lot like home with the heat and humidity!").
Apple also happens to have a plant nearby. And the Apple employees get an awesome rate plus access to the lounge. You can always spot an Apple employee by there casual dress, general sense of secrecy about what they are in town for, and, of course, the Mac. Since they're here on business, they are often working up in the club. They rarely speaking to other Mac users, because they assumes that A) They are just Mac users or B) Working for Apple and cannot discuss what they are working on anyway. It's all about the secrets with these people, but, little do they know how easily we can spot them.
Of course, I'm just as guilty as they seek out the only white girl in the room to see what she is doing here. The conversation is generally:
Mac User: "Hey, I gotta ask, American?"
Me: "How'd you guess? How is Cupertino?"
Mac User: Laughs before replying "How'd you guess?"
And from there at least a 15 minute conversation on what we are doing there as well as a few tips of things to make sure I see and do before I leave. They generally say it is nice to have another westerner around and since they frequently make the trip, it will be nice to have a familiar face. I've floored most of them when I say the boyfriend works for Apple, too and I got the chance to enjoy some amazing pizza from Cafe Mac before I left the states. Generally, they reply with, come see me in December when you get home and we can all go get amazing pizza.
Score.
I don't have the most intellectually stimulating job in the world, but I've met lots of great people and had lots of amazing food all the while listening to some of my favorite bands from the west coast over our sound system - trust me it makes a huge difference when you get to walk around singing along to the Cold War Kids and the Givers at work.
At this point, I don't think I will be looking to make China a long-term gig, but I don't regret taking the job for sure.
Nothing could have ever made me more diverse or even more thankful.
After walking half a mile just to take a shuttle to walk 3/4 of a mile to take the subway to walk 2 miles to the grocery store and then only being able to buy what I could carry home after walking another mile to hail a 25 RMB taxi back to the shuttle just to walk the half mile again, I will never take driving to the grocery store for granted again.
Nor will I take for granted drinkable tap water. At home, I always drink from the tap. I don't buy bottle water unless it's an emergency. And you shouldn't either. We have amazing water at home. Why are we buying it up like idiots in bottles? We are well on our way to needing face masks to face the day just like the people who can't stand to breath in the smog, here.
For water I can drink, I have to go to the first floor and fill up a huge jug and haul it back up to the 15th floor and wait. In order to drink the water it has to go through this crazy filtration system on site that involves boiling it, so after spending 15 minutes to get what takes you 15 seconds, I still can't drink it for probably at least another half an hour (and the jug doesn't fit in the fridge) before it is a temperature that I can pour into my smaller bottles without melting them and then pop in the fridge.
Even then, it still doesn't taste that great. Thank god for my filtered camel back, but even that doesn't eliminate all of it.
While I am thankful that I don't live in any of the extremely unsanitary and generally horrendous-smelling neighborhoods I passed today and thankful that I have a good job, in the air conditioning, I can't help, but miss those little luxuries.
And, if anything, I hope you can be a little more grateful for them.
Much love.