Construction

This is the site I saw today going into work. Its a very common sight in Shanghai, the Chinese using bamboo scaffolds to hold up construction workers on sight. While an American worker would never go near them the Chinese see construction as one for the best ways to move up and with sky-rocketing growth China is experiencing expect more and more Chinese from the countryside to come into the city and work under these conditions. Here's an article to give you some perspective http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4994478.stm

One Month

It’s been one month since I’ve arrived and here are some of the things I’ve learned thus far and advice for anyone who wants to come and visit…
- Food is cheap here, eat as much as you can because you’ll burn off all the calories for the heat.

- The Chinese are good at deflecting yes and no questions so learn to read between the lines. If they say maybe then you’ll probably get what you want. If they say 'lets see what happens' then you don’t have a snowballs chance in hell. You’ll hear 'lets see what happens' a lot :-/

- If you’re ordering duck makes sure you know what the word for duck is or at least the characters because you might end up ordering something quite different. (In my defense the picture of the roast pigeon looks just like a roast duck)

- If you’re not paying an arm and leg for something its probably fake and of poor quality.

- Corrections you’re probably getting ripped off no matter how much you’re paying for something so just assume that everything and anything is fake.

- It’s amazing! A girl can walk into class dressing like a prude but is wearing sandals and everyone will treat her like she starred in a porno but when the Chinese version of Lindsey Lohan makes her entrance wearing nothing but shoes with a backing or back strap she’ll be totally ignored. Somethings I’ll never understand.

- China likes to blocks websites. If you come here for any extended time learn to use proxies.

- It rains a lot here, get an umbrella

- Try the street food it’s not bad.

- Learn to drink beer, regular coke, or hot tea because most restaurants do not have water, at least cheap water.

- If you’re a foreigner the Chinese like to stare at you. There’s nothing wrong with staring just stare back.

- While you’re gone your #5 ranked football team will precede to lose to an unknown school from the mountains. Learn how to deal with in a constructive fashion.

- And by ‘constructive fashion’ I mean not crying in the fetal position in front of your 7th grade history class.

- European soccer is huge over here. If you like it hooray, and if you don’t try picking up another hobby (sorry Zu).

- There are no movie theaters here just DVD shops that release the movie two weeks before it gets release in American theaters.

- Again that Lacoste polo that you got for $5 is probably a fake

- Most Chinese love to take with foreigners. Use this to your advantage and learn the language.

- Haggling is a way of life here. It can be a real hassle but sometimes you’ll find you actually like it. I did

- Squatting toilets are amusing for me but are not for women.

- China has some great cell phone plans. Verizon can kiss my ass

- On the other hand China’s banking system seems to be somewhat of an oxymoron

- When in China take the good, the bad and just live in the moment.

Typhoon day

Wednesday school was canceled because the biggest typhoon was schedule to hit in ten years. As you can see from the pictures nothing really exiting happened except that it rained and it didn't rain as much as you think for a typhoon. I at least got a day off where i did nothing and had the maid come in and clean the apartment.

The Fabric Market and haggling

I finally got to go to the fabric market!!:-) but i didn't get anything. This trip was more like a recon mission. I wanted to see what these people were capable of and let me say that China is indeed the "World's Xerox Machine". They really can reproduce anything you want. A few of my co-workers went last week to have a few things made. I tagged a long to see how things turned out and I was quite impressed. The girls showed me the picture of the dress they wanted to make and the finished produce looked exactly like it. Now I feel confident that if I ask them to make me a three-piece suite they'll be able to make it no problem. The price estimations I got from most of the booth were somewhere between 400 and 600 RMB ($50-$80) depending on material, difficult, and how much you're having made (the more the cheaper). I think I'll start off with a few button-ups before i go for the ultimate kill. The best thing is that tailored suites and shirts are just the tip of the iceberg. You can also get coats, blankets and bedding made for you. Basically if its made out of material you can have it made in China.

Now the thing about shopping at the fabric and open markets is that you have to haggle, there basically no way around it if you don't want to get extremely ripped off, and you're always wonder what you're really buying. Whenever a Shanghainese merchant sees an American or anyone that does not seem to be from the area they try to lure you in with catch phrases like "I have quality shirt very cheap just for you" or "REAL Polo or Lacoste shirts". First off most of the stuff that people are selling are not quality, and second assume everything is fake because it probably is. Whenever you ask them how much something is (duo shao qian) they usually see that you're foreign and they say whatever pops into their pretty little head. I had one guy trying to sell me DVDs for 20 kuai ($2.70), which isn't bad for American standards, but when most DVD run between 5 to 10 kuai there was no way I was going to buy from him. The only way to combat the possibility of being ripped off is to do a little research and take everything they say with a grain of salt. This is what I've learned after three weeks:

Step 1: When you ask the purveyors how much something cost they'll give you something ridiculous that is probably 10x what they'd tell a local. If you're doing research just walk away and tell them you don't need it. They will insist that you haggle but just walk away.

Step 2: If you do want the item at hand and the initial price is ungodly high move the decimal place over to the left so if they say 100 kuai tell them 10. If you have a price that you want to pay use that as the mid-way point

Step 3: The purveyor will make a fuss that its too low and they wont make any money off the sale. Thats a lie because the purveyor would not be wasting their time on you if there wasn't a profit potential. They will give you another price probably 20 or 30 kuai less then what they initially said usually what they call "friends price".

Step 4: At this point you could do one of three things: walk away (which i suggest saving for later), accept the price (only if you really have your heart set on it and are really bad at bargaining), or give them your offer.

Step 5: If you continue to bargain with them it tends to go back and forth a few rounds. There two methods that I've seen work when trying to lower the price. One is to say little and just tell them less and the other way, my personal favorite, is to give them a lot of attitude. Every time they tell me they are giving me a "friends price" I over react like its the biggest injustice in the history of mankind. I tell them in English and Chinese that the price is insulting, they should pay me to take their juke away, or they should feel luck that I even considered gracing them with my presence. All of this is pretty much bullshit. For the most part it goes both ways, they always spew you with exaggerations too. Sometimes i ask them if this is the price they would charge to their grandmother. One women said yes and i just pointed my finger and yelled shame on you.

Step 6: Sometime around now the price is getting close to where you want it but it can always go lower. This is where walking away often works but not always. If they give you a price you're not happy with pretend to walk away. If you spent a fare amount of time haggling with them they'll be more inclined to chase after you. Give them your final offer and hold your ground. If they give you a higher price and you don't like it walk away again. Most of the time they'll settle for what you offered them. Again you should not feel bad for bargaining. The prices are set with the intention of haggling and they would not sell you things if they were loosing money I've been told that my style ranges from funny and humorous to me being characterized a full-fledged asshole. I do admit that I get a little overboard with things but it does the job nicely.

Now this pretty much sound like a huge headache but I actually found it to be fun. It take some practice to get use to. My first time I tried I settled too early and ended up paying way too much for some basketball shoes. Now I've gotten better and I even haggle on things I don't even want just to see how much of a deal i can get. As they say in China there are two official sports: ping pong and haggling.

Teaching injustice

So I was invited to join my Chinese office mates for dinner. The only other expat teacher that came was Andrew. Andrew is a thirty some cheeky, Scotsman who doesn’t share the same office but the one next to mine and since we are the only expat teacher on our floor you’ll often find the two of us hang out a lot. We get to the restaurant and let me say it’s nice to go to dinner where people know what they are doing. One of the teachers from my office demanded a private room and we got one. I don’t think that would ever happen to a foreigner, heck I never knew these places offered nice clean rooms to eat in. As we sat down to dinner the Chinese teacher seemed to transform. While in the school many of them put on a face of professionalism and seriousness but outside the school they crack the same joke and complain just like the rest of us. Probably the best statement made was when Andrew asked if working at the school was a good job and one of the teachers replied “is that a question or statement” while all the other teachers laugh their heads off. I later find out that I make about twice the salary the Chinese teachers do for about a third of the work. It’s hard to believe that some of the foreign teachers complain about the salaries and benefits we get while some of the Chinese teachers have to share their apartments. Another thing that amazes me is that most of the Chinese teachers here would be unqualified to teach in a Western school because they are Chinese. Fuck I think most of the teachers here are far more qualified to teach than some of the teacher I had (Ms. Ozmen). But as most of them say that’s how the World works.

Shopping experience

Shopping in Shanghai should be considered a workout plan. Think Christmas shopping on crack. There 10x the people, the sales are 10x better and its 10x the insanity. Saturday I decided to go to the H&M store downtown because I needed some proper teaching outfits. I live about 20-25 minutes away from the shopping street of Shanghai, Huaihai Lu, but to get there it’s only a short ride on the Metro which only cost about 4 Kuai (50 cents). So I pack up my man-bag with all the essential and get onto the metro. I always carry around a big umbrella 1) for protection and 2) I can never tell if the clouds in the sky is rain clouds or just the pollution :-/. I meet up with my friend David on Shanxi Lu and walk over to H&M where it’s mad chaos: cloths flying everywhere, people screaming, and its hot as ballz. For some reason H&M Shanghai does not believe in the invention of air-conditioning. I find a few shirts and pants that I like and I decide to go try them on. Stupid me I thought I would only take a few minutes to get a changing room . . . the waiting line almost out the door. I figure the lines too long and the cloths should fit me so I buy the cloths without trying them on first. You probably know what happens next. When I got home I decide to try the cloths on and needless to say things didn’t fit perfectly. I got a very nice pair of gray, wool pants but they turned out to be extra slim. I looked good in them but I think you could see the veins popping out of my legs for the lack of circulation. Then I noticed that I still had the security device attached to one of my button-up shirts so I had to make the journey back to H&M. Same size crowed and even hotter but I was determined to return things. You have to understand that in China to return products and get your money back is an act of Congress. You have to argue with the sales person, the manager, and their mothers. Knowing this I was ready to get into my jack pissed American mode but when it was my turn in the queue the sales girl was very pleasant, helpful, and even spoke some English. It took me 2 minutes to get the security device off and return my pants and I was on my way. Needless to say I felt a little sheepish for my close-minded views. It’s a common belief that most Chinese will not help you if it’s not their job but my experience is that most have been quite helpful. At most stores salesclerks are always ready to help, the taxi drivers are quite patients when you’re trying to direct them with broken Chinese, and I’ve even had a few Chinese direct me to the right place. I guess one cannot make judgments until one actually experiences the culture. . .

The Beginnings of Something New

My trip from the State to Shanghai took twenty four hours but i had made it. I had finally made it to my destination and was ready to introduce myself to the World. When i sept off the plane everything excited me: the sight (the vast emptiness of flat land surrounding Pudong International), the sounds (angry Chinese workers yelling at me), the smells (either rotting sewage or the saturation of sulfur in the atmosphere) and even the weather (hotter than anywhere else on Earth with 148% humidity but a little cooler than freakin' sun). Lets just say the honeymoon ended a lot sooner than expected. I attribute my extreme culture shock to the fact that I've never left the State and I've been sheltered more than the Bubble Boy. But this could also be a conspiracy started by God to try and steal my awesomeness away . . . hmmmm I'll have to give the big man a call and see if he's got some kind of beef against me.

But anyways its been exactly two weeks since I've arrived and my experience here has more or less evened out. There some good thing, like the people, the culture, and the job and there are some bad things, like the people, the culture, and the job. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you always try to figure out the situation you're in you'll only end up making yourself miserable. SO I thing I'll go have a beer and enjoy myself right now :-)