H S oKay

This evening I had my first Chinese lesson with my new Chinese teacher. Just like non-native speakers who study English have the IELTS and TOEFL tests, Chinese has the Hanyu (Chinese) Shuiping (level) Kaoshi (test) or HSK for short.

The test has a listening section, a grammar section, a reading comprehension section and a 'fill in the blanks' section - though don't let that trick you into thinking it's easy! Filling in those blank characters is enough to give me nightmares. My most recent anxiety dream is of sitting in the HSK exam hall and being given a whole test paper of blank squares. Any of you reading this who have any experience of this dreaded exam will know what I mean.

Last May I took the HSK in London. With the careful guidance of my lovely teacher, Sunny, I prepared and prepared and prepared. The test was hard. Really hard. But I did it and I was glad I did...until 5 months later when the exam board told me they had lost my exam script so I would not be receiving a grade. I was gutted. Writing this has reminded me just how gutted I was! As compensation I was offered a chance to take the test again...3 days after the Board sent the email to explain about the missing paper. I didn't grab this opportunity as I was too cross to even consider picking up an HSK book.

However, I am ready to start training again and I am determined to pass the HSK this year and get a grade that I am happy to tell people about. Writing about this on here is all part of my commitment. There are only a few chances a year to sign up for the test. I'm aiming to try once in June and once in November. Sitting in a classroom and staring blankly at some exercises this evening was strangely comforting as it took me back to days at Fudan where a particular word or sentence pattern wouldn't make sense to me for weeks and weeks until the penny finally dropped and then I'd got another string on my linguistic bow. Tonight's class was devoid of dropping pennies but it reminded me that the pennies are on their way.

How high to set the bar

The last 7 days have been rather tense and I haven't had the energy to focus on writing. I am really grateful to those of you who sent messages of support and encouragement. The Chinese call this "adding oil" or "加油" and I really needed it.

All the oil helped as the cogs seem to be grinding a bit more smoothly now. My pay deal was agreed yesterday, but without anyone checking with me whether a substantial cut in income would be a problem. I very nearly lost it and seethed all the way through the 'celebratory dinner' for having sealed the deal. My manner was duly noted and a new pay deal was agreed today resulting in a pay packet that still won't make me rich but will give me twice the amount agreed yesterday. I am bemused to say the least.

Deal done, I had a meeting with the construction team this afternoon to talk about finishing the bar on the 5th floor. The design for the bar is very simple, a rooftop terrace with a large glass roof over a deck and a cute Chinese style house for the days when the weather limits sitting outside. It will be lovely. I say "will be" because the man who designed the bar neglected to consider that a bar might need running water... and so there is no water supply inside the lovely Chinese house. The floor is also sloped so considerably that I can roll cans of coke down it with the Resident Poppet as the new best game of the year. Amusingly, when I mentioned this to the restaurant manager who has taken care of the construction thus far, he just replied that I never asked for it to be flat! I am now responsible for this renovation and for thinking of all the things that no one has thought of to date. Things like fridges. And air conditioning and the electricity supply to both things. It may sound tedious and it probably is but I had such a lot of fun figuring it all out.

I also have to start the designs for the cultural lounge on the 2nd floor. Remind me to say that I want the floor flat!

An Ode to Blocks in the Road

I was expecting some bumps in the road on my new working venture. Things have been rather smooth over the last week and it was making me nervous. Thankfully I need not worry much longer as we have hit something more like a giant hole in the road rather than a bump!

Contract negotiation is an interesting activity  here in China.  We have presented our bilingual  plan for the Phoenix lounge three times now.  The lady who owns the building and will be the main investor is very happy with the plans and does not want to change anything. This made me feel very  pleased with the level of our work and the ideas we've generated.

The road block is the management fee that she will pay to the company I work for. I had been assured that this was all agreed and covered off in the contract I signed before Christmas. However, the murky waters now reveal that she hasn't agreed the fee and that she wants to set it at 4000rmb a month for two people working full time. I know that labor is cheap in China - but it's not that cheap. If my company accepts this fee, I will earn less than the lady who works on reception! And I will be her manager, the manager of the bar, the project manager for the construction of the culture lounge on the 2nd floor and responsible for all the staff in the whole place. A mere 45 people.

My company insists that everything will be OK - but this odd system of negotiation where everything is vague, contracts are signed but don't seem to mean anything and no one will actually formally commit to anything is rather stressful.

It's hard for me to describe the cultural difference - but I shall relay an anecdote which I hope will reflect the experience.

The second floor of our building needs extensive renovations - in ou business plan I said that we would need 45 days for the building work to be completed providing the construction team starts work next week - this plan includes 7 days contingency for any unexpected issues. I have watched enough episodes of Grand Designs to know there are always issues.  I was told that 45 days was too long to put in the plan and we needed to say it would take 14 days. But it won't, it will take 45 days. But still, we have to say 14 days because we will be judged on how fast our plan says we can open the second floor for business. But the second floor will not be ready for business within 14 days. That doesn't matter. The plan doesn't have to reflect the actual activity or time frame. The plan just reflects the plan.

I am not in Kansas anymore.

Hopefully over the next week, I  will have a clear idea of what my actual salary will be (rather than the one that is in my contract or the offensive offer on the negotiating table). It's all fascinating - and horribly frustrating at the same time. Luckily I found chamomile tea in the supermarket so at least I can relax!

Dead Busy

This morning I had arranged to spend time working on reception in the hotel here. I wanted to get to know the staff and to understand all the procedures they use - including the all important system for reporting to the police who is staying at the hotel.

 

There's a special machine that processes guests' identities. By placing the card on top of a blue box, the card holder's photograph, name, address and personal details all appear on a computer screen. The computer then emails all the details to the local police station. The receptionist then has to fill in two paper copies of the information that are used as an audit trail. One copy is kept at the hostel, the other copy is filed with the police station every month for them to check that everything matches up.

 

The police had visited early this morning and dropped off a photo of a man. The man working on reception told me the police want us to be aware that the man is a suspected criminal and we should call them if he arrives. The man was asleep in the photo and looked very peaceful. I suppose that is sort of helpful if you think he might be staying in the hotel and you sneak in to look at all the sleeping folk.

 

A few hours later, a police man arrived. He was holding another copy of the photo and told the other receptionist that this man had possibly stayed  in our hotel in the past but he wouldn't be staying again. The police just needed her help to find the man's name. The man in the picture wasn't asleep. He was dead.  My colleague spent an hour flicking through all the photos of all the guests who had stayed within the period the policeman outlined. I felt strange looking at all the faces passing by on screen and wondering if one of them was now the dead man I was looking at on a piece of paper.

 

I was so distracted by this incident that it didn't occur to me to ask why the police weren't the ones flicking through endless photos trying to find the man's identity. No one else seemed to think that anything about this was odd, so my guess is it's a regular occurrence.  

Chinese Niu Year

Last night, we said goodbye to the year of the rat and ni hao to the year of the ox (niu in Chinese - what a nice ready made pun for my blog!). Shanghai was one huge bowl of firecrackers which went off all night and the icy wind that blew today sent red bits of tissue fluttering through the streets.

 

The cultural norm is to travel back to your home town to spend the holiday with your family, just like Christmas except the journeys back to home towns here can be extremely long and many people can't afford the time or money for the trip.  My new boss, Mrs Shi invited me to join the rest of the staff from the restaurant downstairs who stayed in Shanghai for the festival.

 

I felt a bit self conscious on my way down to dinner. There were 4 large tables laid and about 35 people I hadn't met yet were standing around and chatting. I really struggle to remember Chinese names and I think this will have to be the first thing I put lots of energy into during my year here. Thankfully Mrs Shi spotted me and ushered me over to a table where she dazzled me with her knowledge of UK football. Usually I can bluff my way through a chat with the taxi drivers here given that, although I like the beautiful game, I have never really supported a team (aside from paying attention to Sheffield Wednesday on behalf of a previous boyfriend). Mrs Shi is obviously an avid follower of the FA cup and she can talk about the differences in playing style between all the European countries. For the second time this week, I was way out of my league.

 

Once everyone was assembled we were able to sit down and eat! Everyone was in very good spirits and there was a lot of toasting and plenty of eating. Mrs Shi gave a speech to thank everyone for their hard work, and then asked everyone to welcome the 'foreign friend' which was nice - if a little cringe worthy as 35 sets of eyes search the room for the outsider! It's traditional for every person to offer a toast to the host of any formal dinner. I watched as poor Mrs Shi had to drink a toast with every one of her employees. By the end of dinner, she was D.R.U.N.K. In her inebriated state, she came to sit beside me, took my hand and basically gave a Chinese version of an 'I love you Mate' speech. It was nice to know that she likes me, but I'm not sure she'll remember it today!

 

After dinner, the restaurant's resident poppet came to play with me. She's four and has bags of personality. Her Dad is the restaurant manager and she's the only child in the whole place.  She came to sit with me and started to play some sort of Chinese game along the lines of round and round the garden. It involved her playing with my hand and then tickling me! By this point I was sitting with Mrs Shi, the two restaurant managers and the head chef. Mrs Shi announced to them for the first time that I would be running the show upstairs and that everyone should do what I say. At about the same time, I was showing my new four year old friend that I can touch my nose with my tongue. Definitely the professional first impression I was hoping for! Word soon got round, not that I have a very long tongue but that I will be part of the management team, and suddenly my glass was filled faster, fruit and sweets were dished out and more people popped over to wish me happy new year. It was a strange experience and I admit to having laid low today as I'm not sure how to handle it yet.

 

More drinks followed dinner and karaoke and more drinks followed more drinks. I managed (somehow) to stick with my plan to drink more coke than anything else as the last thing I need in front of a new team of people I'm supposed to oversee is to lose my new years' dinner in the street! Sadly Mrs Shi wasn't so fortunate but something tells me they all will forgive her.

My First Meeting

This afternoon I had my first formal project meeting with my boss, Mrs Shi. I bombed! I made the huge mistake of preparing for the session in English and then spent a lot of time translating sentences (badly) in my head. It was painful for both of us! 

 

My Chinese is fine in informal situations and I don't mind that it takes me much longer to say things than my rapid fire English delivery - but when I have to access my business vocubulary and the verbs that you would use for your boss (rather than in regular speech), I am a bumbling mess.

 

We muddled through and got some decisions made but it had made me realise how much work I have to do, not only on this huge project, but also on my Chinese ability.

 

Once more into the breech!

Far from flat-pack

Today has been filled with magic. Shanghai has served up little treats for me all day, sunshine, blue sky, nice people, tasty food and, thanks to the skills of my friend Stephanie (from now on referred to as Beautiful Stephanie just like in Short Circuit!), the perfect Shanghai apartment.

 

We signed the contract while I was in the UK over Christmas, or rather Beautiful Stephanie signed it on my behalf, so I hadn't actually seen the place. I just saw photos and had a rave review from my friend and decided that it would be fun to move in somewhere I'd never seen. And if there were rats, I could blame her!

 

I was filled with butterflies as I followed her directions to our new home this evening. At least I think it was that and not my barbecued potato slices from last night. I walked into our compound and my heart sank a little. A series of very ordinary looking white tower blocks were lined up in front of me. Beautiful Stephanie and I had often talked about living in an old-style Shanghainese house and how fun it would be to live in a characterful old place. Her emails about the flat had described how it was just as we had talked about. I worried that perhaps our versions of the Shanghai dream flat were different as these white blocks just weren't doing it for me.

 

However, peeking through the white blocks is a shorter, squatter building with a zillion windows straight out of a 1930s Shanghai film. The kind of building where the hero's girlfriend lives. I skipped into the building and ran up the stairs. A mass of corridors led me to our front door. Actually that's a lie. Beautiful Stephanie led me to our new front door as I got lost in the mass of corridors! We are going to live somewhere lovely, somewhere that fills all my expectations of what a Shanghai old apartment should be - it even has a light that doesn't work and a washing machine you have to pull out to use. I am totally charmed. The big move happens over the weekend and that's when we'll meet the landlord, register at the police station and start making it cosy. I am in charge of the cosy part as Beautiful Stephanie is taking a well-earned break and flying off to India for a holiday. Photos will follow after the big move!

 

The other bonus is that it's a 5 minute walk to an incredible restaurant that Beautiful Stephanie and I both adore so we had a great dinner of dragon beans and deep fried taro balls and made a pact that we could only go there for dinner once a week or we would be too rolypoly to fit in our new bathroom.

 

Today I am very happy and excited about my new life here. Tomorrow I have a big meeting at work so I need to learn some useful words to add to my vocabulary and get some sleep. I am aware that Shanghai will pay me back for this perfect day with some yang to my yin. But for today, I'm just going to enjoy it.