Meant to get this out here this weekend, but this weekend just seemed to be filled up. Anyway, it gave me some time to gain perspective on the events of the week and to see if this week was also going to be as interesting!
Day 1
I covered some of the first day already, but thought I would share some thoughts. The week started with Tom flying to Beijing at 6:00 a.m. That meant that my first few dys of my new job were spent flying solo with Natalie. But that turned out to be no problem. Plus it meant the driver was available to take me to work and pick me up and night. Much more convenient. We headed off to Puxi around 7:30 after dropping Natalie at the gate to catch the bus. It was a bit melancholy to see all of the mother’s walking their kids. But, it was a decision I made to give up so I have to learn to adjust to it. Then there was the minor accident on the way to school. Check that summary out here.. So, the first day was interesting as it always is when you start at a new job. HR takes 2 hours of your life away by explaining all the things you can’t do, how not to get fired, and that your annual salary is so high already you will never a pay increase on their current compensation programme. Different country, same story! Sorry to all my HR-professional friends out there!
Then to my desk. Which didn’t exist. Nor any equipment. Oh, and no supplies. Luckily I brought a pen and my “professional management note taking device” (known as an account book for those of you in the know). And I was off and learning! I will admit that I had a huge headache at the end of the first day. I probably should have stretched my brain out a bit more before I made it run for 8 hours. Home to the house and Natalie. Oh, and the Ayi. She had dinner ready and Natalie had already eaten. So we ate together while Natalie chatted on about her day. Natalie did ok that day though she told me she missed me. Truthfully though I think she tells me that because she hears me say that to her. Anyway, we both survived. And we were both in bed by 8:00. I was so tired. And I slept like a log!
Tuesday was more of the same, but no headache this time. I did realize that navigating the roads at rush hour in Puxi is not a fun thing to do. But I knew that I was moving transportation mediums soon anyway! It is hard to describe the mass of humanity that exists the businesses here to head home at the end of the day. So few people live near where they work. But more on that later..
The third morning I had the driver drop me at one of the subway stations that is not too far from our house. It was about 7:45 when I got there. I got my ticket and headed downstairs. . I have ridden the subway quite a few times, but never at this time of day going to the heard of Shanghai. Not too many people waiting around, so I felt good about maybe it not being too crowded I was lucky enough to get behind one other person waiting, so I was pretty close to the front. Then the train came. OH MY GOD. There was so many people already on that train. I felt there was no way that the the 10 of waiting to get into that particular car would never fit. But then the rush of the other 8 behind me pushed me right into the car. I have no idea how it happened, but soon I was crammed into the middle of the car. No need to hold onto anything to keep from falling since you are so jammed in, there is no way to fall. And it got worse. We had three more stops before we even crossed the Huangpu river and 5-10 crammed into our car at each stop. The good news was getting from Pudong to Puxi in 15 minutes. Finally we got to People’s square, where I had to change trains from line 2 to line 1. I have decided that streaming of people moving from one train to another would be fabulous to watch from above. The throngs of people ebb and flow and rarely do large collisions happen. Anyway, two more stops on Line 1 Shaanxi Lu. It took me only 40 minutes from subway station to subway station to get a block and half away from my building. Pretty nice! Plus there is a Starbucks across the street from the subway so I treat myself to an American favorite as a reward for transporting myself in a very Chinese method! Don’t get me wrong. The first few days of riding put my personal space issues to the test. But, it is not too bad and it really was a matter of finding the right times of day to take advantage of it. After I got into the office Wednesday I had a laptop. So another half day of figuring out how to change some of the applications language to English.
Tom returned Wednesday night and Thursday Natalie had Student-led Parent / Teacher conferences. So, after three days at the grindstone, I took a half a day! What a life, right? After her conference I had plenty of time to take the subway at a much better time of day! I ordered my supplies. This consisted of looking at pictures of supplies that the admin took with a camera. The pictures all have the product number and description in Chinese on them and I just copied that file info into a form. So, it was not too hard for me, though I accidentally ordered a case of coke!
Friday morning, the driver dropped me at a different station where I purchased a transportation card (called Jiao Tong Ka). Now I felt like an official Chinese worker. I just scan my card and it automatically debits against the amount I placed on it. I keep it in my purse and I just wave my purse over the reader. Also, we changed to this other station for pick-up and drop off as it is much smaller and quicker. Though on the other hand the other station also had a large fake market in it where I could shop a bit after a hard day of work (Ok, I only bought 2 bags that week).
First week was pretty good. I love my job and what I am doing. The people are nice, though I feel uncomfortable about my inability to speak their language. Probably 95% of the communication among the rest of the staff is in Chinese. And I miss my girlfriends here. I am still on the email chains and see all of the fun places they are going and things they are doing.
Visa or Not to Visa, that is the Question
This week started with another visit from HR. Apparently there is “minor” issue with my Visa. The HR manager asked me if I could fly to Hong Kong this week and get “a Hong Kong” visa. Needless to say, I was more than a little unsettled. I was actually so confused, I wasn’t able to get stressed out. I always keep in mind that this is China, and you never hit a wall, you just have to be prepared to meander through situations. So, I listened to HR and told them I needed to check with Delphi as my visa is currently being sponsored by them. Anyway, long story short: I am now getting an official work visa, but it by no means resolved yet how I am going to do that. And yes, I keep coming to work anyway!
France Sucks
Also this week there was an email circulated by a department employee (for all I know he sits right next to me!) that contained pictures of the protests occurring around China at the Carrefour stores. I heard a little about that from Tom, but was not that familiar with the whole issue. Everyone in the office stood around and chatted about it all day. I couldn’t really understand what they were saying, but I picked up a lot of angry tones. For or against, I do not know. I will admit to currently being immersed in a culture that I do not always understand. This sense of nationalism is just not something that we experience in the U.S. At least not on the scale that they do here.
Natalie’s Emergency
And finally, Tuesday came. Natalie has gone to school now for 8 months. And in that 8 months never once did I receive a call from the school nurse. But today, on my 7th official day of working, the nurse calls at 2:55 to tell me that Natalie has fallen in P.E. and acquired a large bump on her head. I am at last an hour away. School is out in 15 minutes. Do I send her home on the bus and have the Ayi deal with it? Do I call Tom and see if he can get her? Do I run out to the street to catch a cab to head there? Whew. I talked to her on the phone and she said she could ride the bus, but then she started to cry again. She was trying to be sooooo brave. What a trooper. I decided to call Tom, and he of course was able to leave work and get to the school in 30 minutes! I also headed home a bit early as everyone know that father’s can’t be trusted to truly assess a child’ health. But she was fine. She talked at dinner as much as she always has, so I took that as a good sign that she felt alright.
Summary
Going back to work was the right thing for me to do long-term. So far the hardest adjustment is missing the extra time with Natalie and not getting to see my friends very often. I feel like I am growing personally by making myself use the public transportation and to try and be as self-sufficient as possible. Don’t get me wrong. It was wonderful to have a year off and to totally de-stress. It is up to me now to keep that balance and try to learn how to work without letting stress build up!
No comments:
Post a Comment