So, what about that local sports team?

Hello from Guangzhou!  Yes blog readers, I have set up camp in the JinJiang Hotel in Guangzhou (Southern China) for 2 months as we get ready to launch our biggest radio station so far....and we have to do it in 6 weeks!  We have no office, no on-air staff, no research, 1 station manager, and 1 admin person.  It's going to be a busy few weeks.

In the meantime I have set up office in my hotel room.  Well, when I say office, I have my computer and an internet connection.  That's it.  I suppose all I need for now.  Next week it's round 2 of interviews, and I hope by this time next week we will have close to a full staff.  Still no office though (we move in on December 26.  I've never had to work on my birthday - until now!). 

OK, now to the subject of my latest blog.  I could have written about the change in weather in both Beijing and Guangzhou.  (Boring)  I also could have written about dancing to a cover of a Midnight Oil song in a Chinese bar last weekend.  (Surreal).  Or maybe my first visit to the doctor in China (expensive!).  Or bragged about my appearance in a local expat magazine (I'll do that at the end).

I was sitting at dinner last night with 4 of my work colleagues, and it hit me.  This is what I should write about!

 

One of the most difficult things I found when working in Bangkok, and now working in China, is the language barrier.  Out of all the staff with MyFM China (about 200), probably about 10 or 15 people can understand and communicate in English.  That's why I use a translator most of the time.  But when it comes to sharing dinner with my workmates, this is where I find the language barrier the most challenging.

Last night 5 of us went to a local restaurant for dinner.  Luca (my boss), Hongtao (Station Manager for Nanjing), Lillian (Admin in Shanghai), Milly (my translator/assistant/legend) and myself all went out for a local   Chinese meal (although in China, it's just called a meal).  It's a situation that I have found myself on numerous occasions.  Out of the 4 of them, only Milly can speak good English.  Luca is better at written English, Lillian understands a bit. Hongtao nothing!

So, as dinner starts, we talk briefly about work and kick around a few ideas and talk about the day.  Things are being translated, and I feel part of the conversation as we share a drink and some food (after last night, I can add a new food to my list - eel!).  As dinner progresses, the conversation is translated less and less as they talk with each other.  It's nothing that concerns me, and I was prepared for this as the same thing happened in Thailand.  But sometimes you do feel like you are the third person on a date (actually, at least on a date I could understand what they are saying).

I probably know about 700 Mandarin words, and pretty confident about what I have learned so far, and I listen out for words I know during the conversation.  Sometimes I can put together a few words and work out what is being said.  Most of the time, I sit their like a shag on a rock (I don't even know what that means).  It's a strange feeling watching a group of people talking, and having no idea what they are talking about.  Sort of like watching the last Matrix movie.

Every now and then Milly might translate something, or if my name gets mentioned I ask what is going on.  But at dinner, the momentum of the conversation prevents me from jumping in too much.  Any pause in the conversation, I feel like breaking out that great line "So, what about that ( local sport) team?".  But they just wouldn't get it.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy listening to the conversation, and feel very proud of myself when I can identify words and pick up on the conversation.  But it does get boring sometimes when you have no idea what is going on.  I have become an expert in fiddling - playing with the chopsticks, looking at my phone, picking food out of my teeth (even if it's not needed), checking my phone again....and my favourite,  trying to work out what I just ate.

Below is another photo, from my perspective last night.  Luca is on the left, Hongtao on the right.  As you can see, very animated discussion taking place - I just wish I knew what it was about!

Oh, and as promised (and just in case you missed it), I popped up in 'Agenda' magazine this week.  A fortnightly expat magazine, based around business people.  I appear in the "Brainiest Boss in Beijing" section.  And before you judge my 7 out of 12, I'm actually coming equal first!

If you missed it, have a look at http://issuu.com/agendabeijing/docs/agenda2012.12a/49 Plus, you're all getting a copy for Xmas.  But knowing the way China post works, it will be Xmas 2015!

Zaijian!

"D" is for drinking, and "T" is for Tequila

My first trip to China was back in 2006, when I was asked to come here to speak at the annual conference of the Shanghai Media Group.  It was a very quick trip - arrive on Monday night, speak at the conference on Tuesday, and fly back to Bangkok (where I was based) on Wednesday.  But during that 48 hours I was introduced, very quickly, to the way you do business in China.

Before I moved over here in May, I started doing some research of what I should expect.  I read 2 books about doing business in China, both of which had very big chapters on drinking.  And ever since arriving on 9th June, I have learned that pretty much everything that was contained in those 2 chapters, is pretty close to the mark.

Here are a few key points to understand about drinking with Chinese business people:

1.  Alcohol is served at every dinner or lunch you have with Chinese business people

2.  If you don't want to drink, you need to show you don't drink from day one.  Otherwise, come up with a bloody good excuse because you will be EXPECTED to take part.

3.  You will be served either beer, wine (most likely red), rice wine...or the dreaded "Baijiu", which is translated to white wine (but it's not white wine.  More like rocket fuel!).

4.  Everyone at the dinner will propose a toast, either to the group, or to individuals.  So, if there is 20 people at the dinner, you will be required to participate in 20 toasts.  

5.  When you do toast, it will most likely be "ganbei".  This means bottoms up, or loosely speaking drain your glass.  Luckily, you will be working from a shot glass

6.    Don't expect to leave before the host or guest of honour.  It is polite to stay the distance.  You get lots of brownie points if you're one of the last men standing.

Now that I've let you into a few tips about drinking in China, let me get to the purpose of this weeks blog - tequila!  On Thursday, we held the 3 monthly station managers meeting in Shanghai.  It included a day of presentations from each manager, plus a session from me.  Then it was dinner time.  Always expected to be a lively affair.

My drink of choice at dinner was beer.  The secret to staying the distance is to only drink when you are being toasted.  I learned this the hard way because they keep refilling your glass.  So, I kept my beer handy, and toasted everyone by taking a sip of beer.  Not much "ganbei" action on Thursday night, which is fine.  But I still managed to polish off about 10 beers.  Oh, and the point of the dinner was to present some awards.  And just to prove it, here's a photo.

After dinner, we moved to a local bar, and the drinks kept flowing.  No one was leaving (the boss was still there), so we ordered.  Wine and beer for most people, I ordered a double Baileys.  I can handle that better than anything else after drinking alot of beer/wine.  2 double baileys later, the boss decided to wrap things up - not before he bought a bottle of Tequila and shots for everyone.  At this stage there was about 10 of us left, and not many of the team had ever had a tequila shot.  So, it was up to me to show them how it was done (Hey, I'm just improving China/Australia relationships).

Before I showed them, I thought I would tell them how we REALLY do it in Australia.  "Have you ever heard of the Stuntman?" I asked.  No.  Well this is how we do it in Australia.  You snort the salt up your nose, throw the tequila over your shoulder, then squeeze the lime/lemon in your eye.  This was received with a few shocked looks, but mostly laughter as they did realise I was joking. Ah that good old Aussie sense of humour!

I downed the first shot, complete with the lime and salt, then joined in when everyone else did theirs.  Hey, if they can handle Baijiu/Rocket fuel, a shot of tequila is nothing!  We finished off the bottle (I had 4 shots), and called it a night.  I was a little worried about how I would wake up on Friday, but surprisingly woke feeling OK.  Maybe it was the fact that the boss bought a good tequila...or maybe it was the fact that I am slowly becoming used to the way we do business in China.

Ganbei!

What a crazy winters day!

I started writing this blog with the view to writing an entry every week thinking I would have plenty of time.  I mean, how long does it take to write a blog?  Add a few photos, write a few things about what I did, throw in the odd funny observation, and it's done!  But I didn't realise I would also be very busy.  That's why it has been a few weeks between blogs.

So, for those who are playing along at home, a quick summary of what I've been up to since my last blog.  Prepared 6 powerpoint presentations for training, flew to Xi'an for 3 days, flew to Hefei for research study. Then got the call to fly to Guangzhou for a day to have dinner with our new station partners, then flew back to Hefei.  Then flew from Hefei back to Beijing.  Caught up for a few beers and some bowling with my Beijing peeps, hosted 2 days of training for my Program Managers, throw in a few Chinese lessons, some Chinese meals (including a surprisingly tasty turtle soup)..and that brings you up to date.

Last week at bowling, a few of us decided to go to the soccer (apparently they call it football in other countries).  The local Beijing team (Beijing Gu'an) were playing their last game of the season at Workers Stadium, which is only about 20 minutes walk from my apartment.  Great, my first ever live soccer match, and I am watching a little known Chinese team play another slightly lesser known Chinese team.  Bring it on!

As the day grew closer, the weather got colder.  At one stage, they forecast the first snow of the season.  Could be interesting, but I am willing to try anything, and in any condition.

The game was due to start at 3:30, so we decided to meet at Switch Bar and Grill, and bar near the stadium.  After I suited up in jumper, jacket, scarf and umbrella, I met my neighbour Andy and we walked down to the bar.  Joining us on our soccer adventure would be Al (Kiwi), Bruce (Scot), Phil and Alistair (another 2 Poms), and Sue (American).  After a few Heinekens, Tsingstaos, Mooseheads and steak sandwichs all round, we marched up the stadium.

The scene at the stadium was, in one word, mad.  The riot police were on hand, along with a massive security presence.  The rain was absolutely tipping it down, and even though our tickets had seat numbers, it was a matter of finding the best place to stand/sit.  We decided to walk right to the top of the stand, and watch from the nosebleeds.

Let's face it, I don't know much about soccer, but I'm pretty sure the Picton Under 12's could have given both teams a run for their money.  Kicks for goal went high and wide, and it wasn't until about the 89th minute that Beijing Gu'an kicked the winning goals winning 1 to 0.  (Did someone say rigged?) The crowd went wild, and it was all over.  What then followed was the longest ever team song I have heard.  I think it went for about 10 minutes.

Just in case we didn't realise, the announcer (in English), told us "The game is over".  Thank god, otherwise we would have stayed there all night.  We made our way out, and discovered the temperature had dropped by about 5 degrees, and with the wind chill, it was about 0 degrees!  So, what better way to finish a football game, than a beer and pizza.  A quick stop at "the Den" for a beer, then I had to make a quick exit.  I promised another friend I would meet her and a few others at a Malaysian place on the other side of town.

I walked the 20 minutes back to my place in the now freezing cold.  Wind, rain, and inside out umbrellas was what greeted me on the streets of Beijing.  A quick change, then it was out to try and flag down the ever elusive Beijing taxi.    Standing in the wind and rain under my cheap umbrella, I was almost going to chuck it in.  It took about 20 minutes to flag down a taxi, at which stage I was running late.  Meeting at 8:30 was turning more into 9:00.  I got dropped off where I believed the restaurant to be, only to find out I still had a bit of a walk.  After phoning Wen (my American/Chinese/Malaysian friend), I finally made it to the restaurant wind blown, cold, and in reasonably good spirits.

When I walked in, I discovered that out of the 7 or 8 people invited, only 4 of us turned up.  And on top of that, the restaurant was closing at 10pm.  So, it was the worlds quickest meal, pay the bill, then the 20 minute obligatory wait to get a taxi.  Made it home by about 10:30, and turned on every heating device in my apartment.  

It was a crazy winters day in Beijing.  But, well worth doing and would do it again tomorrow (actually, I did do it again tomorrow, but that's another blog).  After the crazy events of yesterday, I woke up to the first Beijing snow this morning.  And 0 degrees!