My First Week in China!
The
first company I worked for in China was BHI Architects Australia, Shanghai
Office. On my first day at work, I was given a Master Plan to Photoshop to make
look as realistic as possible. My computer station including all computer
programs were in Chinese and I do not know Chinese. The company had known for
nearly two months that I was coming and still they made no effort to have my
work station ready. Thankfully, I knew Photoshop well enough to use it by
memory, granted I could have done the work a lot faster had I been able to read
the tabs, effects, and filters.
After
lunch, I was asked if I wanted to go on this business trip to ZaoZhuang. I did
not know how long the business trip was nor where that city was, all I knew was
it was north and we had to take the Hi-Speed Train to get there. Is there
anyone who says, "No" to their boss on the first day of work? So, of
course, I agreed to go. It was about an hour later that I was told we left that
day on the last train which left about 5pm or so and that I needed to finish
the Master Plan I was working on before we left. At no point did anyone say go
home and grab some clothes and other items you might need for the business
trip.
With
only two or three hour notice and no information about how long the business
trip will be, I along with some other colleagues including my boss headed to
the train station. That is actually not the correct use of words, we RAN
through the subway stations and through the train station because we left the
office at the very last minute. Right as the train was sounding the bell that
the doors were about to close, we stepped onto the train. I don't like to be
rushed nor to I wait to the last minute when I am trying to catch a train. On
the subway, I was praying we would miss the train but luck was not on my side
that day.
Once
on the train, I took my seat and I immediately started to send text messages to
the two architects I had already met since moving to Shanghai the Friday
before. Can you guess why I was texting them? I was asking them if they knew
anyone who was hiring because I wanted to change my job as fast as I possibly
could. Sad to said that didn't happen for another two months down the road.
Upon
arriving in ZaoZhuang around 10pm, we went straight to our hotel. I was happy
when a couple of colleagues asked me to go with them to find something to eat
for dinner since none of us had had dinner yet. It was a quiet night in the
hotel which was nice but I was nervous about waking up on time the next morning
because I had forgotten my tablet back at my apartment that morning which is
what I usually as my alarm clock and my mobile phone was nearly dead. My phone
did last until the next morning but died a couple of hours later.
The
first day in ZaoZhuang started with meetings with clients and governmental officials.
I would have be interested in learning about the projects my new company was
discussing but in this city, English is not as common to find as in Shanghai.
So, needless to say, the entire meeting was in Chinese and there was nothing
for me to do and no one translating so I could understand something that was
going on. I felt useless there.
We
did take a break for lunch which was very good and my first real experience
with Chinese cuisine. The only positive that came out of this business trip was
the food and seeing the "real China" unlike the international version
of China that you see in Shanghai. After lunch was more meetings which
continued into dinner which ended late around 9pm or possibly later, I cannot
remember the exact time.
By
this point, I had a lot of emotions going through my head including anger
(being sent on the business trip my first day with no notice), embarrassment
(having to wear the same clothes including underwear and socks for the second
consecutive day), pain (having my shoes that had already started to rub a sore
on both ankles the day before continued to do so which made it hard to walk),
and humiliation (being called or referred to as fat by people at the business
meeting as well as a colleague through the means of gesturing a large stomach
or told "this will help you lose weight"). I don't remember ever
telling anyone that I wanted to lose weight or that I was unhappy with the
weight I was. You would think that my boss would have said something in defense
of her new employee but that was not the case.
The
next day (count it, that is a total of three days in the same clothes....discussing!)
we had more business meetings which I did not understand with the only
difference that I went on a site visit with a colleague. Now if you think about
it, I had one day in the office and I was working on Photoshopping one master plan
of a project I had no prior knowledge of, and I was sent to do a site visit and
survey with a new colleague. I had no idea what I was looking at or where I was
in relation to the city plus the colleague I was with didn't have the best
English skills so he was hard to understand at times.
It
was Wednesday at this point and I still had no idea how long we would be there.
Everyone I asked said, "I don't know." That was very unpleasant for
me to hear as I expect a company to know and tell their employees how long a
business trip will be. Thankfully, later that day, a colleague and I left.
Again we took the last train to Shanghai which left around 8pm, at least this
time we got to the train station with time to spare. We arrived in Shanghai
around 11:30pm and by that point the subway had closed which I didn't find out
until my colleague told me on the train. I still didn't really know my address
that well nor how to say it in Chinese. I knew the street number and the street
name in English, I did not know my cross street at all. I did have my colleague
write my address in Chinese so I could show the taxi driver but the taxi driver
still had to call someone to look up the cross street which was a pain for him
and me.
After
spending 70 RMB on a taxi, I was home. My shoes had rubbed my ankles so much
they were bleeding and didn't heal completely until weeks later and I still
have scars on both ankles because of it. My clothes smelled so bad that I had
to wash them the moment I got home. Since it was so late, my roommate was
asleep I thought and I wasn't able to find my tablet that I had left on the
kitchen counter by mistake when I went to work Monday which had worried me the
entire trip. Thankfully, my roommate heard me come in and told me where my
tablet was which was a relief. My roommate said he and my landlord were worried
about me because they had no idea where I had been for the past few days which
made me even more angry because I caused them to worry about me.
From
the time I got back from the business trip, I was on a mission to find another
job as soon as I possibly could. It made me sick to my stomach and caused me so
much stress to even go into work at that place. I also felt like I couldn't say
anything to my boss because I was still working at getting my full work visa
and I was afraid if I mentioned I was unhappy or that I was looking for another
job, my boss would have made a phone call and cancelled my visa application. I
felt stuck and alone, so all my job searching was done in secrete including my
interviews. I would try to schedule them during lunch breaks or after work but
there were some that had to be schedule in the morning or afternoon. For those,
I would come to work late or call in sick.
I
was so happy that I found another job because I was planning on leaving China
at the end of August if I didn't find another job. It might not have been the
job that I really wanted but it is exponentially better than my first job here
plus my salary is over double my previous one. I have never had a job or
situation make me question whether or not I wanted to be an architect until
this company. Old colleagues and I agree it is the worst company to work for
with the disorganization, which was getting better thanks to the newest Aussie
employee, and the fact that we never got paid on time. My first paycheck was
three weeks late getting to my bank account.
I
had been told by colleagues as well as other people I had met that western
employees are often taken on business trips or present projects whether they worked
on them or not so that office appears to have westerners as the designers to
the clients. After I had heard that, I figured that was the only reason why I
was on that business trip so my firm could show off their newest western
employee. There was no other reason I could think as to why my boss would spend
the money to take a new employee, who had no knowledge of any current projects
in the office and who did not speak Chinese and could not understand or learn
from the business meetings, on a business trip the very first day of work.
