China Land

I wanted to write another blog post to make up what I have not been writing lately. I'm actually not THAT busy, but I kind of am. My average days look like this: I wake up around 10 30am and get ready for work. Usually I just wear nice pants and a nice top, but sometimes I'm lazy and I wear nice pants and a cotton shirt from Express or something of that sort... not too impressive. Some people at work wear stylish business clothing, while others wear black gym shoes and a shirt with some kind of pants (we can only wear jeans on Saturdays, and I don't work on Saturdays...I hate wearing jeans anyway!) Since my office is in the HR department no one really cares what we look like because we deal with the inter-workings of the company...only when my co-workers have to do presentations or we have an event, that they wear more office style apparel. Nevertheless I always have to look presentable because I teach my co-workers and other members of the company at night. If I looked like a messy 23 year old they might respect me less, or not at all even. During work I prepare lessons and do random things and then leave at 5 30 or 6pm. I either walk or get a ride to where I teach (not always in the same place, sometimes I teach in a conference room in the same building I work in). Lately walking to work has been a huge pain because it's 95 degrees outside and it takes me a little more than 30 minutes, so by the time I get to work I'm VERY ready to sit down at my desk and enjoy the air conditioning and the fan which I put directly behind me. I also always have my AC on at home, but some of my neighbors don't...they just open their door and create a breeze which is a HUGE pain in the #$% for me because I hear babies crying and kids screaming all the time.

For those of you who read my facebook updates, you've probably seen that I live across from an annoying baby who literally cries from morning till night, and better yet, a few doors down there is a rambunctious boy who runs up and down the hall in the morning screaming on the top of his lungs (when I still could have 2 more hours of sleep) The first time this little brat woke me up, I went outside and told him to "SHHHHH!!!" One time I angrily came out my room and went straight to his mom and started speaking to her in English with an attitude... I wonder what she thinks of me. I asked Lily what my options were and she called the management and they gave her the security's number. So now whenever the kid wakes me up I have to call Lily and she then calls security for me... how convenient for the both of us. Audre uses ear plugs when she sleeps and although this isn't something I want to get used to, I need them too, so I bought some in Taiwan. I am going to recommend ear plugs to all my students who have complained to me about annoying neighbors because these babies really work! I mean when I put them in, I feel as if the whole world goes silent! The bad thing is two days ago I think one fell out and that little shit woke me up AGAIN, so I went outside and was super pissed and yelled at him and his mother... I do feel kind of bad, but come on, EVERYONE here works so he needs to shut the %^&* up! Lily told me that she will come with me to speak with his mother next time this happens, but what is the mother going to do? Tell her brat ass son to shut up? Like that will help. Sadly, China has made me hate a lot of things that I used to love, like chubby little babies (well I don't hate them, but I've come to dislike the ones that cry all the time, like those who live across the hall from me). I also don't fancy the stray dogs anymore, they just creep me out! I think I have post-vacation depression because Taiwan was too good, and now I'm back here! Hopefully I will snap out of it soon! I am beginning to think about my future after I am finished with China and the Guangzhou area, and I am thinking of going to the US to take some tests for Grad school and applying to schools, then coming back to Asia (South Korea specifically) to teach for another year... who knows though? Because I don't!

I'm in a pretty good mood today because 1) it's Audre's birthday so all of us are going to Serena's and drinking and cooking and complaining about life in China (hahah I had to sneak that in!) and 2) I haven't had to teach for the past 2 days and don't have to tonight either since it's the middle of the 4 month term. I have been feeling pretty bitter and down lately because as I said, Taiwan was too good, and also because when I came back from my vacation Lily told me my boss was angry that I went to Taiwan for so long. Oh come on! Now I think of this as COMPLETE bull%#@. I told and asked my supervisor if it would be ok, and now suddenly when I come back there is a problem? I've talked and complained about this with Audre and she has her own issues with work, so mine aren't even that bad, but I just can't stand the Chinese way of doing certain things. Actually my friend in South Korea told me that he has definitely had similar problems with work... he thinks it's just a Confucianism thing! Audre says they solve problems by just letting things be... I'm not sure if that's exactly what she said but something like that. Lily told me my director was mad, but when my supervisor was talking to me about my vacation when my sister is coming, she just said she'd have to ask the director for permission and it might be difficult. I am going on this Chinese vacation no matter what! Hellloooo! I told them so long ago, get real people. Unlike Chinese people, I do not live to work. I do not work overtime because they ask me to and I definitely do not miss out on a once in a lifetime (probably) opportunity for a job that I will only have for one year... and that is the difference between me and Chinese people. I don't fell like I owe the company anything... it's not like they pay me thousands of dollars and stuff... I'm just being serious here. I came to China to travel and experience the culture, not just to work. I don't know if I'm being over dramatic here, because an issue with the Chinese business culture for me is the lack of communication and transparency. Actually I was reading in a book about Chinese business, and it is immensely different than the way the US does business. It's like my director can tell my manager something, then my supervisor will not know and neither will I. Or my supervisor can know one thing but NEVER tell me. Or my director can just keep something to himself, and so much information gets lost. For example, I wanted to get shots while I was in Hong Kong to be safe, and so I asked my supervisor, Kelly, if I could. She told me that I should wait until my company takes a trip to some really good hospital nearby and I could get them then. Two weeks ago Lily said, "Oh I forgot to tell you! Kelly said you could get your shots somewhere around here and they would reimburse you!" Great. Why in the world did I not know about this earlier, and better yet why didn't Kelly just tell ME? Lily doesn't even work in my division, she's just a friend of mine and my student! I still have to ask Kelly about this and see what she says. It's little things like this that I find annoying.