On Tuesday, I went to an AWCS-sponsored event called: Culture Shock Shanghai. The event was from 9am – 2pm. The lady who taught the course has been in China for right at 10 years, and I believe she did one/two semesters of college here too. She is one of the partners in a small firm that offers cross cultural training. Their website is www.occam.cn.
The course topics included: The role culture plays in our lives; How culture shock affects us, and strategies for success; Understanding China: Geography, people, language, government, economy, society, and history; How does Chinese culture influence behaviors?; Guanxi and Face; Successful relationships with Chinese.
Anyways, the course was very helpful. It is great to finally have some frame of reference for dealing with the Chinese and understanding their perspective. Rather than go into explaining everything full-force in this post, my hope is to incorporate some of the concepts in future posts to give more insight to the situations.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
AWCS
Early last week, I found out about an organization for expatriates in Shanghai, it’s called the American Women’s Club of Shanghai (AWCS). So to describe it, I’m cutting and pasting their own description from their webpage:
The AWCS is a social non-profit club focused on enriching women’s lives while living in Shanghai. The Club supports social functions such as monthly luncheons and coffees, cultural day tours and evening events as well as soft fundraising for local community outreach groups in Shanghai.
If you are interested in knowing more about them their website is: http://www.awcshanghai.org/index.html.
During the summer months, the club sort of becomes more dormant because a lot of the ladies return to the states with their children. That said, on Wednesdays, they do have a weekly Summer Coffee Morning. So last week I ventured off by myself using the buses and metro (subway) to find the ladies in Puxi. I felt a bit like Little Red Robin Hood – wandering through an unknown location to find a place that was supposed to offer me some comfort.
I tackled the bus and metro systems like I have been a major city dweller for years. After correcting the error of wandering the wrong way on one of the streets, I found the meeting place. Before I even left Pudong, I figured the worst case scenario was to become lost, hail a taxi and have them deliver me to the coffee shop. I was glad that didn’t happen. It was a nice event and even nicer to interact with a group that I felt more connected to than the Shanghainese.
The ladies were all pleasant, but maybe not my typical crowd. When talking to another acquaintance, she summarized the group as “Veteran Expat Wives,” which is pretty accurate. They are definitely full of information about the city and willing to share it, which is nice to a newbie like myself.
There is another girl, Suzanne, who I feel as though I have much more in common with and is closer to my age. She has been in Shanghai for about 4 months and only recently found out about the AWCS. She has sort of taken me under her wing, and after today’s coffee she and I went to lunch and then did some shopping at one of the pedestrian malls. We ate a Japanese-style noodle house, where we both had the lunch special (including iced tea) for $6. At the pedestrian malls the most common phase you hear is “Missy, you want watch/purse/bag/shoes/etc. I give you great deal.” So I got to practice my “Bu yao” (don’t want) quite a bit.
Suzanne is traveling to Beijing next week, but I figure I’ll still go to the coffee and maybe explore the Xintiandi neighborhood of Puxi more by myself.
The AWCS is a social non-profit club focused on enriching women’s lives while living in Shanghai. The Club supports social functions such as monthly luncheons and coffees, cultural day tours and evening events as well as soft fundraising for local community outreach groups in Shanghai.
If you are interested in knowing more about them their website is: http://www.awcshanghai.org/index.html.
During the summer months, the club sort of becomes more dormant because a lot of the ladies return to the states with their children. That said, on Wednesdays, they do have a weekly Summer Coffee Morning. So last week I ventured off by myself using the buses and metro (subway) to find the ladies in Puxi. I felt a bit like Little Red Robin Hood – wandering through an unknown location to find a place that was supposed to offer me some comfort.
I tackled the bus and metro systems like I have been a major city dweller for years. After correcting the error of wandering the wrong way on one of the streets, I found the meeting place. Before I even left Pudong, I figured the worst case scenario was to become lost, hail a taxi and have them deliver me to the coffee shop. I was glad that didn’t happen. It was a nice event and even nicer to interact with a group that I felt more connected to than the Shanghainese.
The ladies were all pleasant, but maybe not my typical crowd. When talking to another acquaintance, she summarized the group as “Veteran Expat Wives,” which is pretty accurate. They are definitely full of information about the city and willing to share it, which is nice to a newbie like myself.
There is another girl, Suzanne, who I feel as though I have much more in common with and is closer to my age. She has been in Shanghai for about 4 months and only recently found out about the AWCS. She has sort of taken me under her wing, and after today’s coffee she and I went to lunch and then did some shopping at one of the pedestrian malls. We ate a Japanese-style noodle house, where we both had the lunch special (including iced tea) for $6. At the pedestrian malls the most common phase you hear is “Missy, you want watch/purse/bag/shoes/etc. I give you great deal.” So I got to practice my “Bu yao” (don’t want) quite a bit.
Suzanne is traveling to Beijing next week, but I figure I’ll still go to the coffee and maybe explore the Xintiandi neighborhood of Puxi more by myself.
Monday, June 9, 2008
IKEA Stuff
Here are pictures of the larger IKEA items that led directly to the Rogue Taxi Driver incident. I’m proud because I assembled them by myself.
I think Jim was impressed with my skills too.
I think Jim was impressed with my skills too.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Jim's Haircut
Today, Sunday, Jim got a haircut at a different salon than where he usually goes. He typically would pay about $27 but today he paid $8.60. Both of those prices include the tip too. Here are his before and after pictures. I wanted to take photos for laughs, in case the haircut wasn’t as good, but it turned out OK.
Disclaimer: Jim has not seen the pictures below. He got me a copy of Photoshop Elements 6.0 for my birthday and I have been playing with it a lot. I don't think Jim has ever wanted his picture to be taken at Glamour Shots... I may temporarily lose posting privileges for doing this.
Disclaimer: Jim has not seen the pictures below. He got me a copy of Photoshop Elements 6.0 for my birthday and I have been playing with it a lot. I don't think Jim has ever wanted his picture to be taken at Glamour Shots... I may temporarily lose posting privileges for doing this.
Rachel's Bike
Jim and I went to the Giant bike shop in Pudong to get me a bike on Saturday. On the way there, we walked with Jim’s bike so we could both ride our bikes home. The part I haven’t mentioned is that there was an 80% chance of rain on Saturday.
So while we were shopping, it started to rain – hard. When we finished we tried calling for a taxi several times, but the lines were all busy. After waiting for the rain to let up for over 30 minutes, we decided to just go for it.
At first, I was scared to ride, because of the rain and the crazy drivers. Remember the markings on the roads are merely suggestions. But the nice thing about Shanghai is that most streets have dedicated bike lanes, which most drivers actually observe. The streets were pretty empty, so we were getting some funny looks from the people in shops lining the streets. But by the end of the ride, I was waving at them and exclaiming “Ni Hao!”
So while we were shopping, it started to rain – hard. When we finished we tried calling for a taxi several times, but the lines were all busy. After waiting for the rain to let up for over 30 minutes, we decided to just go for it.
At first, I was scared to ride, because of the rain and the crazy drivers. Remember the markings on the roads are merely suggestions. But the nice thing about Shanghai is that most streets have dedicated bike lanes, which most drivers actually observe. The streets were pretty empty, so we were getting some funny looks from the people in shops lining the streets. But by the end of the ride, I was waving at them and exclaiming “Ni Hao!”
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Rogue Taxi Drivers
On Monday, Jim's last day of vacation, we went to IKEA. On the way there we took the subway, which, luckily for me, posts every stop in Pinyin, the Chinese-style of writing that uses Arabic letters. Jim also helped me get a "transportation card," which is a debit-like card that I can now use for any subway, bus or taxi.
Fast forward to the end of our IKEA shopping trip...
We were loading up some of our larger items onto the cart and were starting in the direction of the checkout lanes, when we were approached by a man with very broken English carrying an IKEA delivery service brochure. Now, we were planning to use the delivery service to have some of the larger items delivered back to the apartment so we could take the subway home, so we started conversing with the man. About a minute into the conversation, we realized he was wanting to charge us a rate comparable to what IKEA charges customers who live outside the city (120 RMB = $17.30). When we told him we were Shanghai-based, he told us it would cost more because we live in Pudong.
Quick Geography Lesson: Shanghai is divided into two parts by the Huangpu river that runs through it. 'Pu' means river, 'dong' means east, and 'xi' means west. So Pudong is to the east of the river and Puxi is west of the river. We live in Pudong, and IKEA is in Puxi.
We argued with him that the rate inside the city was the same, regardless of which side of the river you reside, as it stated in the brochure. At this point, he started to tell us that the rate included shipment of our goods and us. Jim was trying to communicate with the man in a mix of English and Chinese, when I realized exactly what the guy was... a rogue taxi driver!! I stopped Jim and told him that the man wasn't employed with IKEA, rather he was an illeagal taxi driver. He was just trying to rip off what he thought were stupid Westerners. Jim realized what I was saying and we told the guy we weren't interested and started to walk away.
The faster we walked away, the faster the guy's price dropped. He kept trying to close the deal as we waited in the check out line, which ticked me off even more. In the short time I've been here, I've become somewhat accustomed to being stared at, but with this guy haggling us, even more people were staring.
So we checked out and went home. The checkout process was enough of a hassle that we skipped the delivery service and found a 'real' taxi to take home, which as it turns out was the best thing to do.
Here's a breakdown of what our choices were:
So the next time you're in China, keep a vigilant watch for rogue taxi drivers!
Fast forward to the end of our IKEA shopping trip...
We were loading up some of our larger items onto the cart and were starting in the direction of the checkout lanes, when we were approached by a man with very broken English carrying an IKEA delivery service brochure. Now, we were planning to use the delivery service to have some of the larger items delivered back to the apartment so we could take the subway home, so we started conversing with the man. About a minute into the conversation, we realized he was wanting to charge us a rate comparable to what IKEA charges customers who live outside the city (120 RMB = $17.30). When we told him we were Shanghai-based, he told us it would cost more because we live in Pudong.
Quick Geography Lesson: Shanghai is divided into two parts by the Huangpu river that runs through it. 'Pu' means river, 'dong' means east, and 'xi' means west. So Pudong is to the east of the river and Puxi is west of the river. We live in Pudong, and IKEA is in Puxi.
We argued with him that the rate inside the city was the same, regardless of which side of the river you reside, as it stated in the brochure. At this point, he started to tell us that the rate included shipment of our goods and us. Jim was trying to communicate with the man in a mix of English and Chinese, when I realized exactly what the guy was... a rogue taxi driver!! I stopped Jim and told him that the man wasn't employed with IKEA, rather he was an illeagal taxi driver. He was just trying to rip off what he thought were stupid Westerners. Jim realized what I was saying and we told the guy we weren't interested and started to walk away.
The faster we walked away, the faster the guy's price dropped. He kept trying to close the deal as we waited in the check out line, which ticked me off even more. In the short time I've been here, I've become somewhat accustomed to being stared at, but with this guy haggling us, even more people were staring.
So we checked out and went home. The checkout process was enough of a hassle that we skipped the delivery service and found a 'real' taxi to take home, which as it turns out was the best thing to do.
Here's a breakdown of what our choices were:
- Real Taxi Ride: 55 RMB = $7.94.
- Illegal taxi driver's original offer: 120 RMB = $17.30
- Illegal taxi driver's final offer: 70 RMB = $10.11.
- IKEA delivery & Subway: 72 RMB = $10.40.
I know it's only change, but every penny (or RMB) counts, right?
Illegal taxi drivers aren't uncommon here, we had a similar encounter at the airport on Saturday when we arrived. We were walking out of the terminal with all of our bags, and almost immediately we were engulfed in a sea of taxi drivers making us ludicrous offers to go back to our apartment.
So the next time you're in China, keep a vigilant watch for rogue taxi drivers!
A Visit to the Jin Qiao Market
Sunday afternoon, we made our way to the Jin Qiao (pronounced Jin Chow) market, which is about 2 miles from our apartment, and Jim introduced me to the bus system. As mentioned in an earlier post, buses are one of the cheapest ways to get around - one way costs 2 yuan, which is about $0.29. Since it is the most economical form of mass transit, it usually means that there is standing room only. But on Sunday afternoon we were actually able to grab a seat on the way home.
The market place is very similar to that of Thumb Plaza. It has a Carrefour and several restaurants. It also has a store called Pines which specializes in stocking western goods with astronomical mark ups. For example, Pines had the McCormick seasoning packets (taco seasoning, meatloaf seasoning, gravy mix, etc.) for around $2.50 each. Now don't be fooled, these are the same 1-1.5 oz. packets that you find in the spice section of any grocery store in the states.
They also had a wide array of imported beers. That said, I haven't seen any Shiner on the shelves yet. :(
Jim says the other thing about Pines is that they don't consistently restock the shelves with the same items. So if you love {insert hard-to-find item name here, i.e. Kraft Mac & Cheese}, and you see it there one day, you better buy it then.
We walked out of Pines with saran wrap and fresh-cut green beans. Apparently, French-cut green beans are more common here and Jim knows I prefer the fresh-cut, so we indulged on the last 2 cans they had in stock. :)
The market place is very similar to that of Thumb Plaza. It has a Carrefour and several restaurants. It also has a store called Pines which specializes in stocking western goods with astronomical mark ups. For example, Pines had the McCormick seasoning packets (taco seasoning, meatloaf seasoning, gravy mix, etc.) for around $2.50 each. Now don't be fooled, these are the same 1-1.5 oz. packets that you find in the spice section of any grocery store in the states.
They also had a wide array of imported beers. That said, I haven't seen any Shiner on the shelves yet. :(
Jim says the other thing about Pines is that they don't consistently restock the shelves with the same items. So if you love {insert hard-to-find item name here, i.e. Kraft Mac & Cheese}, and you see it there one day, you better buy it then.
We walked out of Pines with saran wrap and fresh-cut green beans. Apparently, French-cut green beans are more common here and Jim knows I prefer the fresh-cut, so we indulged on the last 2 cans they had in stock. :)
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