Club InterContinental Week 3/16

My work week started out with an explanation that I didn't know I would be giving in China.

Ever.

One of the student workers (basically a freshman or sophomore in college doing a work assignment for one year) came up with our supervisor and said, "you know that girl time every month?"

I laughed and finished her sentence with, "What do I use?"

They smiled in agreement and I went to the only place where I knew to explain what a tampon was as they clearly did not use them here (see previous blog posts), Google.

Getting on Google is a series of steps that are much more complicated than simply opening Safari where it is my homepage. I have to type it in, duh. And then proceed to find the only English text at the top, "Gmail." If I don't click this and log in, all my results will be China (Well, Hong Kong based, being that the internet is based out of Hong Kong- they have many more freedoms in speech and the internet-so that our guests may Google and Facebook to their liking) based and also in Chinese. So I log in and jump out of my e-mail and on to that old, familiar, English-speaking friend, the Google homepage.

A quick image result brought up what I needed, along with plenty of halloween costumes that were disgustingly not what I needed. They gasped a bit when they saw just the tampon itself, but more of a puzzled gasp. Every girl will know the diagram I am talking about that I used to explain it to them, you know, the same one that you haven't seen since you were, what, 13, and rests inside the tampon box, never to be seen again.

I know you remember, don't deny it.

They caught on to the idea quickly and followed up with a lot more questions, such as, does it stay the whole time? Does it leak? Do you even use these (with a point to the napkin where I had written "Pads" just below "tampons" as a list of options we stateside ladies have)? Do you like them better than pads (imagine a stress on pronouncing "pads" here as they try to say it correctly)?

I smile as I said absolutely not, unless you want to get really sick; It does if you don't change it; And I use them when I sleep, but I know many girls that take the risk and use tampons instead; and yes, it is much more of a cleaner ordeal.

Never did I know that within a month of discovering a tampon-less world, I would be explaining what they were.

They seem to be getting bolder, since I answer every question pretty thoroughly, regardless how awkward it may be.

I can't imagine what they will ask next.

You would think that was the most awkward conversation I had that day.

It gets better.

Remember my medical exam?

I had a guest ask what that entailed, and, well, I had to tell him the whole truth. And I'm not one to sugar coat, so he was a little embarassed he asked and quickly apologized. Of course, I told him I wrote it in a blog for the world to see, because, well, I wish someone had written it in a blog for me to know what I was getting into.

Working in a country where you don't speak the language and you're all on your own is incredibly frustrating. It kind of isolates me in the work place as they talk amongst each other, so I spend a lot of time to myself enjoying the view, catching up with the world by standing by the television and stealing glances at CNN as I wait to greet guests, or go nibble on some of the awesome food.
Speaking of food, I've had 2 different fruits this week: Lychee and Longan.

Lychee

Longan

Both were super water and had the taste factor of water melon, which is also super popular here.
I've also had Taro balls, which were AWESOME. Think jam-filled donut holes.
I really don't know what the jam stuff was and my coworkers didn't know how to say it in English. When I tried to Google it for a picture I realized that Taro balls are from Thailand and come in a very wide variety, so much so that I couldn't find the purple jam. So, I guess we'll never know. 

Because I'm isolated and in a totally different world, it kind of toys with your emotions. Our long-term American guests have kind of taken me in and ask how everything is going and expect bluntly honest answer. I can't lie to them, they know what it's like. One of them put it really well when he said, "I know you're a girl and you all are emotional and whatever, but you seem pretty in check with your own. All of that to say, don't forget to pay attention to your emotions here. You will start to notice this first month or two is going to be a rollercoaster, and if you aren't paying attention and accepting how you feel, you're going to lose control."

And, he was right.

This last week has been FULL of great days and horrible ones. Because I'm isolated, a lot of the value of my day goes into how my coworkers treat me. As a true-at-heart southerner, I can easily get my feelings hurt when I am not spoken to for a while or am criticized for my work. Back home, I got over this when I was working in Florida as I gained a lot of yankee friends who are, well, blunt and pretty curt. But, in this emotional rollercoaster my strength is a little weakened. 

My great days include a day with 25% - 45% English, hand holding, and market runs. 

When a quarter of my day is English, it's a grade 'A' day. That means that I've met cool Americans and/or my colleagues have had lots of questions or taken the time to include me in a discussion. Every employee is very close here. Since many live in the dorms, we live together, and therefore, ride together to work. As females, we also change together. Everyone, even those in HR, sales, and the managers, has a uniform and changes in the locker rooms each day from their normal clothes to the uniform. 

Now think about that. 

What if you got to work each day and saw your manager in their casual dress, then undergarments, before you saw them in a suit? It creates an entirely different social system in the workplace. Everyone is very close, regardless of status, and jokes and plays quite a bit amongst each other. There isn't really a "professional boundary." Don't get me wrong, everyone is polite with each other, but as Americans, we wouldn't show up to our jobs without a sense of professional presence, which is broken down before work really starts here. 

A day of hand holding is also a way that makes me feel included. It's weird, but, like I said, professional standing is not the same here, and the girls touch a lot. I think that since there is only one boy working on the Club level, this pushes the touching a lot, especially when he isn't working. The girls often rub each others shoulders, or grab each others arms as if they were being escorted, or hold hands on the way to somewhere. 

For someone who isn't touchy-feely, this is very, well, different, for me, but I embrace it as an attempt to bridge the huge gap. 

I think I've said it before, but I've asked each of the people I work with what they like to do on their day off and the answers are the same: sleep a lot, shop, go to dinner with friends. Much like the answers of many of my American friends, but I would have never thought it would be that consistent. All of them are like that. These people LOVE shopping and sleeping. After we get off work, they always go to the family market to buy snacks or something instead of just waiting on the bus. And they will often go to the neighborhood market when we get to the complex. It's a social thing, I guess.

When they ask what I do when I'm at home, they were shocked at the long list of things I love to do when I'm off. I guess as Americans, we are pretty spoiled with our options, even if we don't have the money to actually go out. There's always a million things going on, or a fun 5K, or playing at the park, or having friends over for a movie night in. I can't imagine living a life where the only things I actually wanted to do on my day off would be shopping or sleeping.
Sidenote: Now that I've surveyed everyone at work on what they want to do on their day off, what do you want to know? Leave a comment below and don't be afraid to ask bold questions, they have been bold to me so they deserve it, ha! 

Their work lives sort of contradict this. They are kind of lazy, taking every chance they have to sit down, but at the same time VERY particular about how their work is done. I was yelled at for cutting the lemons into slices instead of wedges. They claimed that they needed the lemon wedges for the Coronas. When I said that the only people who ordered the Coronas were Americans and we drink them with limes, not lemons, they said, well it's not like that here. By the next day, everyone had come up to me and said, so "did you ever learn to cut lemons in the U.S.?"

Well, yes I did. Did no one get the memo to stop putting lemons in the Coronas? 

I decided to make a bold move and replenish a guest's Corona with a lime instead of a lemon. Someone got on to me, but were halted mid-sentence when the guest thanked me for bringing it with a lime instead of a lemon and that he didn't understand why my coworkers kept serving it with lemon. 

Plus 1 for the American. 

They are also particularly mindful of time. Everyone returns from lunch with 5 minutes to spare and gets to the pre-shift meetings 5 minutes before they start. I know in many cultures, translating time expectations is very different, so if you're ever in China always be at least 5 minutes early. 

They rush a lot as well. I was criticized for carrying just one plate and silverware back to the kitchen when I apparently should have left the dirty plate on a side counter for all the guests to see as they pass by and wait for more dirty plates. 

The club has 9 tables and there are always 4 of us working. They claim we're "busy" when 3 of the tables are occupied. In China, there is a lot of standing around at work. If you walk around, you will notice that at little drink stands and such, there are at least 2 or 3 people at the stand when easily 1 person could handle it. In America, we would only have 2 people working that club every night. One to greet and handle front desk operations for club guests and one to handle tables. Instead, it is one and three, respectively. 

In essence, they will claim that I'm not saving time, but then complain about how boring the job is when they are standing there next to dirty dishes waiting on more plates to be worth walking back 10 feet to the kitchen. 

They rush to be bored.

For people that dress as if the power was out, they are also very conscious of being "pretty." More so than many Americans I know. I've been asked several times why I don't wear make-up, and a very bold one even said it was a "hygiene" issue that I didn't wear make-up. 

It was a bad emotional day for me as I had already been referred to as needing a "fatter" set of uniform pants earlier that day. 

So I told her she would be fired for saying that where I come from and that I don't have to wear make-up for anyone. 

"If you want to get anywhere in this business, you will have to learn to like it, you need to be pretty."

I wanted to remind her that I wasn't in the prostitution or modeling business, but I was quite certain she wouldn't know what those words meant. I settled for, "I think I'm doing just fine in this business without make-up, thank you."

But these comments made me realized what a warped sense of reality they have. Although, who I am to say what reality is? It makes me thankful that I live somewhere that promotes on talent and broad thinking skills not beauty or carrying the right amount of dishes. 

Their petty criticisms make me feel as if they believe I am truly incompetent. They talk down to me quite a bit, but I think that's just me getting my feelings hurt and them not understanding how important emotional tone is when you're speaking to someone as well as the limited vocabulary - saying I needed a "fatter" uniform wasn't being mean, it was just using the only words they knew. 

And now I realize how all of the foreign co-workers I have ever had felt. We subconsciously thought them to be a little slow and incapable of learning to drive a raft or learn the front desk program when in actuality, they were struggling first to understand the language and then the task, no matter how great their English is (just try imagining using your high school Spanish in the work place, and let's not forget their English is ten times better than your Spanish). It is such an effort to train me directly that they have to just set me loose and correct what I do wrong over time. 

I'm not stupid and neither were the other people. One girl told me that I am kind of useless without one of them since I don't speak any Chinese and I needed to start learning more Chinese. 

I was kind of hurt. When I was hired, I was told I wouldn't need to speak Chinese and they didn't even want me to. I wish I would have know I would have been in for this. 

Then again, how many times have you encountered a mexican and been furious that they didn't speak English. I know you've thought it: "If they're going to come here they need to know OUR language and OUR rules and blah, blah, blah."

I get it, they should, but they don't. Do you even know how hard they struggled just to get to the states? Just to create a better life for themselves and their family? Why aren't we proud that we are such a great country that people risk their lives trying to have what we have? 

I wouldn't have risked my life to come here. And as I begin to see a lot of immigration laws pop up in China as they begin to crack down on foreigners living and working here, I'm beginning to get a taste of what it is like for my counterparts in the states. To feel unwanted even though I came here so that I may have a better job and a better life (not permanently in China, but down the road after this experience). 

Don't get me wrong, it isn't near as intense as it is in the states, but the next time you decide to get angry at the foreign workers that make sure your hotel room is well-cleaned and that are paid minimum wage so that you can have a great deal on the hotel, have a little compassion. They aren't stealing our jobs, that is, unless you or your college-educated kids are going to clean hotel rooms for, God forbid, minimum wage, so that the hotels can maintain a competitive rate. 

The next time you push to exclude them from the same freedoms and inclusiveness in the "American Dream" that you were only lucky to be born into, please remember this post. 

I know a lot of my fellow southerners are Republicans and anti-immigration, and also happen to be avid church goers, so if your good friend Madison being in that situation doesn't stir any love for those people, then I will hand over a little Jesus lesson for you from 1 Corinthians 8:12: 

When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.