The daily grind

End of my fifth week in my new job at an engineering company in Xian, and the end of a slightly slow week. I haven't been given much to do at all, so spent the best part of the week farting about on the internet and chatting on QQ. Today was a little bit more interesting.

Mrs Boss (head of HR, wife of Big Boss) seems concerned about my health, and on hearing I had a migraine earlier in the week, recommended I do 'eye exercises' that all school kids do. (Should be able to post a video of it next week.) It involves rubbing the acupuncture areas around the eyes in various ways to relieve stress, etc. I'm a fraction cynical about it (no surprise there), but everyone is convinced that it is beneficial. I asked why most people wore glasses, and they said because, being forced, they never did the exercises properly.

In the afternoon, the tax inspectors were coming round to check the books (and to enjoy a free large lunch with free alcohol), so they put me in the HR office, which contains the HR boss (big boss' wife) and two or three other members of staff, including a manager. I spent most of the time chatting with the other two, and even Mrs Boss when she came back. Even the manager spent most of her time chatting to me or on QQ. Finally they gave me something to do - translation of electrical engineering theory. They also shared their snacks with me, including something that looked like a twig and smelled like a school physics lab.

The last hour of the week I try and teach English to the translators. I'm going to be avoiding anything to do with China or the cultural differences in the future, as any perceived slight against their motherland is pounced on. I was saying how some Westerners have trouble crossing the road (true) or don't look after their valuables properly when taking the bus (also true). This was interpreted as yet another Westerner attacking and mis-understanding China. The whole patriotism and 'victim-complex', while understandable, gets tiring after a while. One girl spoke fluently about the Terracotta Warriors, but was a direct translation of the guff they learn in school - 'It shows the wisdom and intelligence of the Chinese people, many foreigners like to admire the greatness of our First Emperor', etc,etc.

I think they also might be pissed off I get paid (a lot) more than them, which is true and also pretty unfair. The communication between them and their managers is pretty terrible, there seems to be a lot of bad feeling between them. Mrs Boss thinks they are inexperienced and don't understand the ways of the world, they think they are lied to (which would not surprise me), underpaid and disregarded. I think somewhere in the middle is true, legitimate complaints all round. I have to find a way to steer through it, stay as friendly as I can, which being the foreigner makes it extra interesting. I also said no to Mrss Boss' request that I take part in her daughter's cosplay performance (cosplay being something from Japan where you dress up as computer game characters). No doubt I've caused her to lose face, as well as hurting the feelings of all of China, but I've been to a cosplay thing before, and prancing around as some wizard from the year 3000 with my boss' daughter is not my idea of a fun weekend.