Me Ol' China, a special week with a special guest

This week has been a very busy one. At work and in my private life as I had a special guest coming to visit me from Australia. A young man that I have known for a few years now. He enjoyed China greatly and he had the opportunity to see by himself that stereotypes are hard to die. By his own definition, Sydney hasn't got anything to do with Beijing despite the most favourable weather and the beautiful settings. I am sure that the problem there is this sort of self punishment banning fun and limiting it to some troglodyte habits like getting pissed every other day... Their problems, anyway.

The mystery of the missing laptop... A laptop has disappeared from our office... I tell you, this is really a big issue. I frankly think that if this had happened in Italy nobody would have cared. Over here this issue has thrown a veil of disappointment and sadness on all colleagues. This act has been really seen as something undermining the office safety: we are no longer safe in here! But I think that there is more to that. Chinese do not appreciate being judged according to stereotypes. one person stealing means that me, Big Nose, start thinking that they are all dishonest. This is not the case, of course, but culture is culture. One of the places I loved, and still love, most in my life is Buenos Aires where I was robbed gunpointed and it didn't change my mind about the people and the place... We are examining now the CCTV recordings and we hope to find the culprit! I dread to think of what will happen if the guy who stole it is found. I am not sure how tough laws for stealing are in this country but, deep down, I hope that they will never found him because, I am sure, it must have been a cleaner or someone that has a law income. Just the idea of someone thrown in jail for stealing a PC brings my thoughts back to Italy where if you steal millions, the worst that can happen is running for a seat in Parliament!

So, at the beginning of the week, this advert caught my eye:

I don't need your CV.

Your job will be to contact local brokerage companies (securities, 股票经纪) in Beijing. Your initial interview will be to meet me in person. Please respond with the best time and date you can meet me at the starbucks in wudaokou.

You will be selling Business English training courses using the following information about myself:

I have 3 years of teaching experience.
I have a TEFL certificate.
American 美国人
Native English Teacher 语母语教师
Stock Broker 股票经纪人
Insurance Broker 保险经纪人
Real Estate Broker 地产经纪人
Mortgage Broker 抵押经纪人
Financial Advisor 理财顾问
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If you can't sell at least one deal in the 1 hour that we meet you will be paid and fired on the spot. This may look like an hourly paid job but we prefer someone who wants to make a lot more than just 100 RMB / hour.
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YOU CAN GET A SECOND CHANCE IF YOU NEED MORE THAN ONE HOUR TO SELL A COURSE:

I WILL PROVIDE MORE SELLS training with this job IF you choose a purely commission based pay. This means you can have as many hours as you need to close a deal and learn you job.

If you close one deal with 10 people in the class you will get 25 of the course fee: 1,120 RMB for 16 Hour course x 10 students = 11,200 RMB x .25 = 2,800 RMB.

POTENTIAL INCOME 28,000 RMB / month: I can work a 40 hour week. 40 HOURS x 4 weeks = 160 hours. 160 hours / 16 hour long course = 10 courses in one month. 10 courses x 11,200 = 112,000 RMB. You get 112,000 x .25 = 28,000 RMB per month.

I wonder how many people have applied for this job...

Another important piece of information was the one appeared on the Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper. Big problems in China for the lack of diesel. This is due to the fact that the petrol companies are not able to make enough profit due to the prices (low ones) imposed by the State. long queues all over the country, from Shanghai to Beijing, to Tianjin to the smallest cities are becoming a big problem for the traffic and cars and buses are stranded without diesel.... Well I cut the shit here. I haven't seen anything like that in Beijing and I got a big petrol station just looking down from my high rise building. I have asked my colleagues as well and they are not aware of any queues... anyway, the anti-China campaign is continuing and I am sure that only when this eminent newspaper will replace Cavallara as their correspondent in Beijing, Italian will be able to read something more impartial about China. I am sorry I contributed to this journalist wealth buying tow of his books... Oh well...

Suzie Wong.. do you remember it? well, read back the blog of a month or so ago and compare it to this report...

Last time I was there we were a bunch of friends, amongst which some ladies too, this time it was only me and my Australian friend. Well, the 50-50 distribution between professionals and non professionals has gone awry... 99% pros, I would say... Amazing the quantity of prostitutes and female pimps in that place. Suzie Wong, where West meet East and where Bid (for sex) and Ask (for money) meet.

The place is distributed on different levels and pros are allowed only on the first level. The supervisors stop them from going to the second floor and the terrace.
In fact these two floors were empty... Just a few bunch of friends and some big noses.

For pros lovers, that is the place. For those that would like to enjoy some bars, seaside atmosphere, romantic walks and so on I recommend Hou Hai. A lively area packed wit hive music bars, discos, restaurants and, as usual, sex workers. Not even in Prague they were so pushy!

The weather has been really variable, we got heat, sandstorms, strong winds, heavy rains, fog, haze, smoke and God knows what other kind of elements!

I spoke before about pampering clients in China... The client is not always right, it's even a spoiled brat! When I read about corruption in China I wonder really what the definition of the word really is. Client entertaining here is absolute and I wouldn't be surprised if some ladies are added to the bills. Over here clients get taken out for lunch, drinks and more as part of the regular business activities. The entertaining bill goes up considerably just for the good relationship sake. It reminds me a bit of my days in London, when I used to be a Money Market trader and we had brokers inviting us out for lunches, drinks, making us presents and so on. I used to find it annoying and tried to avoid any collusion with them. Over here is every day's stuff. Even if one has to discuss about the agenda for a meeting, a business lunch or dinner is required. I was literally shocked to find out that our cupboards were packed with all sort of diabetic destruction weapons (sweets) and beverages but, what shocked me more was finding a cupboard full of cigarettes! A 10 packet box of the most popular brands. Amazing! I asked one of my guys over here how come we had all those cigarettes in stock and the answer was: "the clients asked for them". Believe it or not, this is a good reason to have the cupboard filled with tobacco sticks.

This week there will be the official opening of the new subway electronic tickets issue and checking. Let's see if there will be any special consequences on commuting! Looking forward to report about that!

Anyway, I hope to get the impressions of my Australian guest coming in so that he can tell you what he has experienced during his week in My China.

Talk soon guys!