Beijiao, Shunde, Foshan, GuangDong, PRC

Today I went to work later than everyone else. Since I only have to work 40 hours a week, I can pretty much come in at any time I want. I know I already mentioned how Chinese people (maybe East Asian people in general) are really diligent in their work, but to me it's still very remarkable. They work around 60 hours per week, but I'm pretty sure no matter how long you work during the week, you still get paid the same amount. Someone told me it was because "If I do not work overtime, there will be someone else who is very willing to have my job, who will stay later"...Yesterday during dinner with Jessica, Natalia, and Ted (who is actually from Shunde and now works for Midea Living Appliances AND went to Chicago last week!!!! :( ) I found out that employers in China know that Midea employees are very hard-working and into their jobs...so that is a good reputation to have! We ate Hot Pot [火锅], which is a big pot that sits on a little stove, simmering at each table and contains vegetables and fish and some kind of seasoning (SPICY on not-you choose), and to it, you can add whatever ingredients you want. We added potatoes, corn, tofu skin which was delicious, and shiitake mushrooms (which are the mushrooms named in Japanese they eat in East Asia that are long and thin and are a delicacy and supposedly have healing powers)...being that I hate mushrooms, these were actually very good! Dinner yesterday was very fun because I learned a lot, but first, I need to mention the weather. I walked to Natalia's apartment and then we walked to the restaurant. The weather was crazy though! It was raining hard and VERY windy, but it was pretty hot outside! It looked like a scene in a movie! The palm trees and all the other trees were dancing and swaying in the wind at night, while the rain was pouring...it looked like a typhoon was going to hit!
We discussed our location and the characteristics of this part of the province, because I have to admit I am still confused about being in Beijiao, Foshan, Shunde etc. People here use these names for the same area! Ted explained it to me this way- Beijiao is the town in which I live, Shunde is like the bigger county or district, and Foshan is the all-encompassing third largest city in Guangdong province, which contains Shunde (there are 5 districts in Foshan and Shunde is one of them!) Finally I get it! So, I live in Beijiao town, in the district of Shunde, in the city Foshan! Great! Shunde is known for it's industries, and that's why the pollution here is more or less noticeable. Ted said that in some factories they still use coal for power. I also found out that Shunde is known for it's ceramics industry, as well as being home to MIDEA! (Which I can very much tell, because everywhere you go, someone is wearing a Midea factory uniform or using a Midea appliance, or there are signs advertising Midea...and Midea buildings are everywhere you look) Something else worthy mentioning is that Bruce Lee is from Foshan, so that means a lot of people here are very interested in Kung Fu. Actually when I went to play badminton on Saturday, there was a class of little kids who were practicing martial arts, but Taekwondo, not Kung Fu.

Enough about that. Time for me to say that on my walk to work today, I decided to listen to only my Latin music, and I realized that I am pretty disappointed with myself because after 7 years of learning Spanish and winning the Spanish Award Senior year in High School (hahah), you'd think I know much more than I actually still do. I need to live in a Spanish speaking country to get my fluent Spanish back! I can understand everything and still speak it, but I feel like it's not 100% there like it used to be. Next place--South America or Spain! Two people I met in Guangzhou when I went out actually speak Spanish and I did speak to them in Spanish for a little while...but maybe I can somehow visit them when they go back. One is from Colombia and the other from Mexico (I think both might be AIESECers, if not, then one is for sure). I need to brush up on my Spanish and Italian, because Polish and English I've got down, and Chinese will come as the year progresses. Next--Arabic, but that I can learn with Ayman's help! I already know some phrases thanks to his sister, mom and him!

Two days ago, Natalia took Kianie and I out for dinner to a Japanese place. We took a raggedy bus to this mall, and then took a cab back. The restaurant was great. The waitress tried to speak English, but her's was very poor so we pointed to what we wanted on the menu (which had a ton of pictures), and Natalia said a few things in Chinese such as "No thank you. That's it". I ordered sushi, Kianie got some kind of cheese and beef soup, and Natalia got a beef and rice dish with Miso soup (which she gave to me...YUM) and sushi. The sashimi there looked great, but we didn't get any. The prices in China really do vary...at this restaurant, the sashimi was around 150RMB for 20 pieces or less, which is around $25, but the rolls varied from 7RMB-40RMB ($2-$7). Since the rolls were really small, this would be over-priced for average Chinese people as a daily dinner because when we eat at the restaurants around here, a plate of dumplings costs 14RMB, which is a little more than $2!!! At Asian kitchen these dumplings would cost around $8 or so! After the Japanese dinner, we went to 7/11 (yes, 7/11 HERE can you believe it?) because I wanted Pepsi in a glass bottle, but they didn't have any so I got a beer instead. I chose some Chinese beer and it was sooo good! They opened it for me right there and I drank it outside, in the cab, and walking through my neighborhood. They definitely do not check IDs here. I don't even know what Chinese IDs look like. Anyway, my point about the food is that basically, the service industry here is very cheap (manicures, certain local food, and hair massages and cuts), but Western things are significantly over priced (like shampoo which I mentioned before). So since Japanese food and Hot Pot, in addition to other food, are not from around here (Hot Pot is famous in Chongqing...but also has different variations in all of China), they are a little more expensive. Yesterday though, we ordered sweet and sour pork and I told everyone that we like to eat sweet and sour chicken in the US. Ted and Jessica (both Chinese) were like "CHICKEN?" and said that the name is actually translated to sugar and vinegar, not sweet and sour. They said that they never eat chicken with this "sauce", only pork and fish. Wow, so these are the variations in Chinese food that I have noticed. Nevertheless, the food is good most of the time.

Let's move on to facials. Jessica said she wants to get a facial, and I think I will get one too. I don't think it will be too expensive and I'm excited to see what the Chinese women do to keep their face looking fresh. In the US I always use moisturizer with sunscreen on my face, but here the air is different, so I don't really use any moisturizer because my face isn't even a tad dry! Just a side note. Also Natalia suggested getting a mani and pedi this weekend, so I'm excited for that!

On a serious note though, I've been reading about the problems that Google is having with China and the Chinese government. I guess Google.cn is not obeying the filters or the censor laws in China, so their only option is to pull out from the country. I guess that means that we will not be able to use www.google.cn. I use google.com anyway. Supposedly, the Chinese government wants to enforce their laws on the google search engine, but google is standing firm to the democratic freedoms, so they will not be allowed to be in China anymore. To read more, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8581393.stm The most often used search engine in China is baidu anyway, but I know foreigners use Google (I noticed that I have started saying "foreigners" for all non-Asians just like the Chinese do).
A couple of other things I'd like to talk about are the grandparents here. Since I live by a kindergarten and a Chinese school, I notice that most of the time Grandmas and Grandpas take the kids to school and pick them up, then walk home with them. I think that similarly to many cultures I've been exposed to, except American, the Grandparents live with the family and take care of the children, while the parents work. I know that when I was born my great grandma and grandma took care of me :) I think it's cute to see the little kids with their grandmas after school, who spoil the kids and carry all their school things while the kids run around and play in the grass. I have a soft spot for Chinese children, I'm not sure why. I did see a woman feeding a Chinese baby rice and I wanted to take a picture so badly! AND she was using chopsticks to feed the baby! That is what I call talent. The babies here are so chubby and cute.

Lastly, yesterday I met with my first class, the beginners. They are all so quiet and barely speak any English. I have an assistant for this class (and basically an assistant at work, because anytime I need something, I just tell her or my supervisor...but that's because I can't speak Chinese) and that's good because she can translate to the class for me and help me out with what they need to know. In total, I have 5 classes. The other four are for managers, 2 classes for engineers, and 1 class for the Sales people and Overseas Marketing department, in which I will have to lead business English and Business etiquette class. That means I get to brush up on my own business etiquette and knowledge too! That should be an exciting class because I will learn all about Chinese business and then I can expose them more to Western business practice. If anyone has ideas of what I should cover in my classes, let me know :) I'm always open for ideas and suggestions, although I did receive many from my Supervisor and Manager...
I'm sure I will have much more to write in a few days. I think in the future I'll be glad that I have this blog, because once I'm gone from China, I can reminisce about the life here and its differences.