Club InterContinental Week 2/16

I've had a pretty good work week.And, by pretty good, I mean I've eaten better than I do on any given day back in the states with a pretty killer view.
From weird but amazing Chinese dishes that I can't even remember how to pronounce, much less spell (okay, Dim Sum was one, I remember that), to chicken Caesar salad wraps, to the freshest chicken tacos I've ever had in my life (well, maybe a good competitor with Las Tortugas for all the Memphians reading out there, plus it took cake of my mexican craving, but I still need queso pronto), to cheesecake (New York and Greek), strawberry profiteroles, chiffon cake, apple tarts, the best banana nut bread ever, down to supa' fresh sushi. It's been a great week for my taste buds.
Plus I get to look out at a million dollar view of the huge lake from the 27th floor. Have you ever watched the rain begin to fall from 27 floors up? It's awesome. Just watching all the rain drops fall to earth really gives me a weird God-complex of a view.
Although, for this week, we not only watched as the entire city lit up (as I said before, it is GORGEOUS at night here), but defnitely had the best spot for fireworks.
Yep, fireworks.
On the fourth of July and over this weekend, for us and the Canadians.
So, here in China, I had more of an American fourth of July than most of my friends and family back at home what with both Colorado and apparently the south having fire restrictions. I hope you're all supremely jealous as you should be.
We have a library here in the club as well that features a spiral staircase up to a balcony that interrupts the floor to ceiling book shelves, but just for a foot. The Belle inside of me is still gushing that I get to work here and borrow all the books I like.
Nerd alert.
There have been loads of Apple people coming through and a small group of them live back in the bay area. Their jaws dropped when I told them the boyfriend lives there and also works for Apple. These two lovely ladies proceeded to ask about whether I had been to this restaurant or that (as most of my recommendations for their future Memphis travel were food-related). When I said no to a lot of them, they made a list and decided they would look my boyfriend up and make sure that the first thing I got when I got home was an awesome breakfast. They said they would probably be in town since I get home the week before Christmas, so it looks like I already have plans my first day back in the states!
I've also gotten the chance to talk to more of our regulars, people that practically live at the hotel. One is a family of four that has been at the hotel for over a year. They have a 3 year old and a 15 year old and I've loved talking to them about living as a family abroad. They said they've got another year to go and have already been at the hotel for over a year and had an apartment for 2 years before that. When you're an expatriate, the company usually pays for your kids to go to school, so we talked about how he likes the education his daughter is getting.
Now when I say they usually pay for school, I don't mean a  cheap school, I mean a private school. A really nice private school. There are 2 here in Suzhou: Singapore International School which is within a mile of my apartment and reminds me a lot of my own preppy high school and Dulwich, which is smaller and more creative arts-oriented, which is where she attends school as she didn't like the preppy one. The bus comes to pick her up at the hotel everyday (by the way it's a really nice coach bus) and drops her off just in time for high tea at the lounge so she comes to snack while she does homework.
One of our other guests doesn't quite live there, but instead, drops in for long periods and out for short ones. He lives in Maine with 3 kids, all college age and just older, and this trip has been 5 weeks long. He goes home next week for 2 weeks, one to relax and one to go to Boston.
I was tired of staying in hotels after just a week and a half of traveling before coming here, I can't imagine how he feels packing for 5 weeks just to go home and pack again for another week.
He has to go to Boston with his son to tax a class on letting his school get federal funding so the students can get loans and pell grants and such to go to this cosmetoleogy school he just bought.
When I asked why a cosmetology school, he's always "wanted to own his own business," something to settle on and call his own. He knew the owners and they were getting old and wanted to sell it. His son had just graduated from college with a business degree, so he bought it and his son is running it. His middle son is also at school for business and helps his brother out to be part of the family affair, not to mention boosting his resume. Cool, right?
He says he loves his job here and has really taken in a culture he never really cared for before (by the way he has 2 hour tutoring sessions in Chinese every other day he is here), but he really loves building something with his boys. I asked both of them how long they thought they were supposed to be in China when they originally came. The answer?
6 months.
Yep.
Crazy, huh?
Mom, don't panic.
I've learned a lot of Chinese this week, too. There comes a time when you get to a point in a language where you start piecing things together on your own. And it feels really great, especially in a language so difficult and one that I have had no previous experience in.
For example, I learned how to say "red wine" last week (hong szhou) and I learned how to say "bastard" this week (hwi den is the only way I could think to write the ping ying version). The "hwi" means "bad," and the "den" means "egg."
So this week when Sky decided she would mix grape juice and soda water to see if it tasted like grape soda (I was super eager to try this), I made a face and answered "hwi szhou" as it tasted like really bad wine. The entire kitchen erupted into laughter as most of them didn't know that I had learned any Chinese outside of "hi" and "thank you."
I've also answered a lot of questions this week. Owen, one of my colleagues tells me I am the first American intern they have had. Mostly those from Spain and the Ukraine, but no Americans. So they want to know everything...
Do we have Dragon Fruit?
When I answered no and then answered the following question asking what my favorite fruits where, the entire room laughed histerically when I finished with "blackberries."
"Why do Americans eat phones?" they finally squeaked out between laughs.
How hilarious is it when a phone has farther reach in general knowledge than a fruit? Well, I guess I don't have to tell you that they don't have blackberries here.
Do I have pets?
No. And yes, I answered back with "do you eat yours?" Well, not exactly, I was much more polite when I inquired whether or not people actually eat pets. She said, "no."
There you are, the question you've been dying to ask and a few even have, the answer is a simple no and a complicated yes.
People do eat them but they are rare, like people that eat crocodile or something of the sort.
Sidenote: I try to flip everything back to the states as a comparison to give you an idea, but also myself a better understanding of where they're coming from.
Just as we often see crocodile hunters as hicks with weird tastes, they see dog eaters as horrible, horrible, people. The scum of society.
There, that should comfort a great many of you.
When I asked if they had pets, I received a flood of pictures (all on iPhones) as a response. They love their pets and kids as much as we love ours and brag every second on them as they flaunt their pictures about.
I realized quickly that most people have purse dogs. At first, I thought this was because they seem heavily influenced by L.A. and things they see celebrities doing (they are up in a hissy over Cruise and Holmes right now, they think Cruise is a closet gay, which shocked me that they even knew how to say that in English). But it also makes more sense to have a small dog when you live in a city like this, easier to care for and control. It mostly seems they really like just small fuzzy things what with all the rabbits they have on things and such.
They love their phones, pets, kids, and learning about other cultures (they really don't mind asking anything).
Sky is sick right now and I asked her how she was feeling. She said she wasn't sure, she needed to make a phone call.
To mom.
Of course.
Don't we all? I come all the way around the world and at the end of the day, everyone calls mom when they don't feel good.
Sky said she said some things to make her feel better, told her to drink water, sprite, or apple juice (my own mother's remedies coming out of a Chinese mouth) and if she doesn't feel better by tomorrow night to go see the clinic doctor.
Figures.
The great thing about working in this hotel is that it is like a cruise ship. There are 4 restaurants, 2 bars, our club lounge, a spa, a huge gym, a big pool, 6 meeting rooms, and a giant ball room. Like a cruise ship, there is also an eating canteen for the staff that serves 4 meals a day and even a clinic for us during the week days.
As in, there's a doctor on staff Monday - Friday for me to go see instead of paying to go to the doctor.
Plus a lot of us live in the company-provided housing that has a daily shuttle schedule.
Like I said, a cruise ship.
My only complaint is my difficulty with the language barrier. They often speak in Chinese, as they should, it's their mother tongue and I don't want to obligate them to speak in English all the time when they're having side conversations. Although it does give me that feeling you get when you go to the nail salon and the Vietnemese ladies keep talking back and forth.
You know, the one where you want to swing your foot up to kick them in the face because your paranoid that their talking about your feet is getting a little out of hand?
Yeah, that one.
Except, they're probably talking about more than my feet.
But now that I'm learning more Chinese, I think they feel respected and excited to talk teach me something. They are also getting more comfortable with speaking English more often and aren't afraid to start a sentence they may not be able to finish without asking "how to say" followed by a weird description.
The funniest one this week was "how to say something bad, but is still polite?"
Backstory: There was a group of guests that came in demanding things, a real "hwi den," but they clearly cannot say "bastard" out on the floor and wanted to know what they could say in English instead.
I gave a list of childish names, such as jerko or meanie or simply "rude boy or people," as well as saying "frick" instead of "fuck."
But I also taught them my secret weapon when dealing with a guest directly, sarcasm with a smile. They didn't know the concept of sarcasm so after I explained it to them, they started say "oh, you are so beautiful today" in a stressed sarcastic tone to each other.
Hilarious.
So I told them, if you wanted to still be polite, but curt (I had to explain that word, too), you just had to be sarcastic or say things like, "as I have already said," or "I would love to help you with that if you would actually allow me the opportunity." This way you were standing your ground, and half-insulting them, but not to a point where they were going to scream at your supervisor since they also kind of realized they were being stupid.
Thank you Hilton Hotels for allowing me to test these theories while working in your complaint department as I've continued to hone these skills like a charm and have been able to dismiss and resolve lots of stupid guests and problems, respectively.
By answering their questions and learning their language, I feel like I've gotten to know the people I work with a lot better this week and they, me as well. I feel a lot more accepted and welcome as they include me in more conversations and trained me on more things and have even granted me the glorious honor of changing my uniform from a front desk one to a Club Supervisor one.
I know that means nothing to you, but for me, it means no more panty hose.
Hell, yes.
Lots of victories this week.
Much love.