This Blog installment is a guest submission. The author would like
everyone to realize that his China experience is not as easy as I make it
out to be.
The Work-a day world:
Daily life in a Chinese factory is much like in the US but with many more people and no heat in the winter. This means we sit in the office wearing sweaters and winter jackets, Alex the translator models the normal office attire below. The amazing part is that nobody thinks anything of sitting in an office at 50F for eight hours clutching a hot water bottle to keep your hands warm enough to type. We’re lucky in the office. The plant has absolutely no heat and the workers deal with whatever the weather brings.
Daily life in a Chinese factory is much like in the US but with many more people and no heat in the winter. This means we sit in the office wearing sweaters and winter jackets, Alex the translator models the normal office attire below. The amazing part is that nobody thinks anything of sitting in an office at 50F for eight hours clutching a hot water bottle to keep your hands warm enough to type. We’re lucky in the office. The plant has absolutely no heat and the workers deal with whatever the weather brings.
The plant staff, like most people in China, are a good spirited group with a lot of enthusiasm for the new things going on at the plant. They get a big kick out my attempts at Chinese. I can generally break up the room with any three word Chinese sentence. Guess I’m funny.
There is one big difference between my Chinese office and any plant in America where I have worked. The facilities are lacking as you can see below.
There is one big difference between my Chinese office and any plant in America where I have worked. The facilities are lacking as you can see below.
Now, I’m not generally squeamish. I went to camp. I’ve roughed it. I’ve even had to make my own TP on occasion from whatever mother nature offers. These things raise all kinds of questions. By the way, this is actually a nice bathroom in comparison to many of the more “local” offerings.
The Chinese exchange teacher at the kid’s school came to our house for a dinner just before we left for China. She actually sat on the couch and said with a straight face, “Oh, we don’t have any squat toilets in China anymore. You won’t see those.” I kept my mouth shut so as not to scare Jill and the girls.
The room itself raises questions but is pretty typical of Chinese plumbing outside the big hotels. Straight and level are not part of the work instructions when hanging fixtures, pictures, walls, masonry, plumbing, electrical lines, road signs or really anything that will not fail structurally or functionally as a result of being off-plumb.
The really interesting part, aside from the craftsmanship, is the stuff growing on the wall above the tile. It’s not just mold from a roof leak saturating the block. It is actually a very fluffy mineral secretion coming out of the wall with the consistency of cotton balls. The wall has actually sprouted a two inch thick snowy white beard. Really neat. I have seen this stuff all over China even in the lobbies of 5 Star hotels. A little water damage doesn’t seem to bother, see the comment above about structural impacts.
The prospects of anything but a short visit (read as standing up) to these things means you take extra special care in planning your day. This is a whole new meaning to daily planning – the consequences of going off-schedule are not to be considered. At least for me, I’ll go back to the apartment by claiming to have a case of the vapors.
We found out early in our stay in China that water is served warm to hot. Cold water is considered bad for your stomach whereas warm water is good for your Chi. Initially, hot water was undrinkable with meals. Now, meh! Not so much.
The other benefit of hot water is the HOT part. When your office environs are at 50F for eight to ten hours, your body begins to give up on heating some of the extra bits like feet, arms, fingers, ears and noses. Again, typing suffers and reduces productivity forcing the hiring of several more people to cover the work load. At 1500 – 2000 RMB a month ($200 - $400), still cheaper than heat plus we’d need another three or four guys to shovel coal into the furnace.
Well, once you discover that drinking hot water improves the flow of blood to your extremities (not to mention the Chi benefits), you drink hot water all day long. I literally drink eight or ten big travel mugs of hot water, with or without instant coffee crystals, during the course of the day. This requires me to visit the room of requirement every 30 minutes without fail.
Since I’m in their so much, I’ve been thinking about upgrading the facilities. Nothing fancy, just something to improve the atmosphere. The owner told me I could do anything I wanted to make my time in China more pleasant so I pimped that puppy. Now that’s good for my Chi.
The Chinese exchange teacher at the kid’s school came to our house for a dinner just before we left for China. She actually sat on the couch and said with a straight face, “Oh, we don’t have any squat toilets in China anymore. You won’t see those.” I kept my mouth shut so as not to scare Jill and the girls.
The room itself raises questions but is pretty typical of Chinese plumbing outside the big hotels. Straight and level are not part of the work instructions when hanging fixtures, pictures, walls, masonry, plumbing, electrical lines, road signs or really anything that will not fail structurally or functionally as a result of being off-plumb.
The really interesting part, aside from the craftsmanship, is the stuff growing on the wall above the tile. It’s not just mold from a roof leak saturating the block. It is actually a very fluffy mineral secretion coming out of the wall with the consistency of cotton balls. The wall has actually sprouted a two inch thick snowy white beard. Really neat. I have seen this stuff all over China even in the lobbies of 5 Star hotels. A little water damage doesn’t seem to bother, see the comment above about structural impacts.
The prospects of anything but a short visit (read as standing up) to these things means you take extra special care in planning your day. This is a whole new meaning to daily planning – the consequences of going off-schedule are not to be considered. At least for me, I’ll go back to the apartment by claiming to have a case of the vapors.
We found out early in our stay in China that water is served warm to hot. Cold water is considered bad for your stomach whereas warm water is good for your Chi. Initially, hot water was undrinkable with meals. Now, meh! Not so much.
The other benefit of hot water is the HOT part. When your office environs are at 50F for eight to ten hours, your body begins to give up on heating some of the extra bits like feet, arms, fingers, ears and noses. Again, typing suffers and reduces productivity forcing the hiring of several more people to cover the work load. At 1500 – 2000 RMB a month ($200 - $400), still cheaper than heat plus we’d need another three or four guys to shovel coal into the furnace.
Well, once you discover that drinking hot water improves the flow of blood to your extremities (not to mention the Chi benefits), you drink hot water all day long. I literally drink eight or ten big travel mugs of hot water, with or without instant coffee crystals, during the course of the day. This requires me to visit the room of requirement every 30 minutes without fail.
Since I’m in their so much, I’ve been thinking about upgrading the facilities. Nothing fancy, just something to improve the atmosphere. The owner told me I could do anything I wanted to make my time in China more pleasant so I pimped that puppy. Now that’s good for my Chi.
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