First thing I noticed on the first day on the job: we all were way overdressed. The typical outfit here for a guy is jeans and a polo or t-shirt. I wore khakis, a button down, and dress shoes. Oh well, I had to look nice for day one. Here it is, day 2, and I'm in jeans and a button down, feeling much more comfortable.
We started off just getting settled into our desks. I now get internet on my laptop, so I have this Matrix/Swordfish-like dual-screen thing going on. I feel cool. I need things to decorate my desk now… plants, pictures, etc. All I have is the panda bear paperweight my mom gave me, and it's my favorite thing I brought.
Next, we had a meeting with the head of the English department, Celine, and the editors. I wish I could pronounce their names, but I'm pretty good at making eye contact :) They really encouraged us to think of story ideas, so I'll be using some free time to do that and hopefully get stuff published!
The rest of the day was pretty much full of errands. Got money from the bank - the conversation is awesome. 2500 RMB only costs me $366.12, and that should last me at least 3 weeks. I'm thinking that once I become a millionaire, I'll just come here and spend it all on food. Plan.
The boss, whose name I can't yet say or spell, took us out to a nice Shanghai-style lunch. It was so cool! It was in a fancy room, at a round table, with a rotating center so that anyone could try anything. My favorite things we got were yams with blueberries and steamed beef dumplings. Using chopsticks in front of the boss was a little nerve-wracking, but I think I did alright!
We went to the police station to get registered and I ran into a problem. The travel agency who booked my flight only gave me a 60-day visa, and I'm here for more than that. So I need to come into the office tonight, skype them, and see if they can reimburse me for a renewal. Sheesh.
After lunch, we FINALLY got our first article to copy edit. Wow. That baby needed some serious work. It was about how China imposed tax reforms in order to become a more carbon-free economy. Not exactly my beat, but it was exciting to be doing work (one of the few times I'll say that). Anyway, the grammar was way off, and there were whole sentences that just didn't make sense… like "However, resources tax reform needs an opportunity." Um, what?
After work, Annie and I took a taxi to meet Keith and his friends at a Mexican restaurant. Mexican food in China is simply not that good. The nacho chips were small and stale. But the half-priced margaritas were strong and brought us all together - two British guys, four Americans, two Chinese girls, and one Swedish guy. Our conversations ranged from British and American perceptions of China to how to say curse words in Chinese. We had an hour-long fight with several waiters because our food took so long. Basically, we wanted free food - and we got it! Mini margaritas and two orders of nachos. Having the Chinese girls there helped immensely.
Dinner was followed with bowling - a pastime that must not be popular with the Chinese since we were the only ones there and the Chinese girl, Rika, had only bowled once before. But of course, she was a natural. I did my dad proud and won the game. They charged by the hour, which was strange - what if we were in the middle of a game when the hour was up? And I had to squeeze my size-12 feet into the biggest pair they had - 11s.
We had to hop the gate in front of our apartment since they lock it after a certain hour. NBD.
A few other things of interest
-Some of the stalls in bathrooms are simply holes in the ground that you have to squat to use. At a restaurant or bar, you’re lucky to have one that has some toilet paper or napkins nearby. At my office, I use the handicapped one that has a real toilet and, of course, handle bars. I hope people here don't catch on.
-Annie and I were asked by the Brits to describe China (or, Beijing, at least) in 3 words. Some that we came up with, plus others I thought about: dirty, hot, impressive, confusing, fashionable. I left "weird" and "strange" out because that could be said about any foreign place.
-I learned that some Chinese people can be bribed with gifts. Keith's girlfriend told us about getting visas from a program director by giving him chocolate. That shocked me. Maybe it can help me with my visa problem…?
-I should have already known this, but the first name of a Chinese person is the surname, and the second name is the given name. This threw me off when editing articles.
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