The MOUSE-ing Jay

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I cannot get over how quickly the weeks are flying by these days. I feel like I am only just beginning a week when suddenly I am hitting another weekend. So, in general, my life these days has this feeling of perpetual motion wherein things are so different from one day to the next, that each day starts to feel the same… if that makes any sense.

My focus these last several weeks has unfortunately been on work, rather than on the beauty of the culture and environment by which I am surrounded. My Chinese friends continue to be absolute saints, and I continue to be thankful for that! But, today’s post will update you on some less mind-blowing abstracts because my professional self needs a vent. Stay tuned for future updates that may be more interesting 😉

See, work has not calmed down. In fact, it’s done anything but. I will admit that I finally raised my voice and threw something of a temper tantrum when I found myself being taken advantage of yet again this past weekend. Unfortunately, what I’ve learned from this is that nothing will change unless one makes oneself heard and, unfortunately, this particular management staff does not hear kind words. One trouble with our center is that we are a satellite center, in that we are not in Shanghai. As such, we are meant to be self-sufficient and are not heavily monitored. Often, this is good for us as a staff because it means a lot of leniency on some silly policies. However, there are times when a lack of checks and balances can mean utter destruction. This month has been one of those times. The trouble stems from a short staff to begin with, and then this short staff is wrought with self-centeredness that does not lend much to a positive team environment. We’ve had several people leave for vacation without confirming class coverage, much less leaving lesson plans; meanwhile the sales team is overbooking marketing demonstrations and to cap it all off, a major medical emergency that took away another staff member. Now, one would think that the staff would make note that this is not a good time to upset the status quo… but one rather unceremonious (35 year old… by the way) staff member decided to take last week as a no-call-no-show 3 day mental health break owing to homesickness as her mother had just returned to the States. We all make good choices sometimes.

Anyway, there is one staff member whose schedule allows for some flexibility when it comes to lending a hand with class coverage. Yes, that staff member would be me because the management staff can perform the marketing demos, but can’t really cover classes. The frustration that I’ve been feeling doesn’t come from covering classes, though. Rather, it comes from this, “oh Jessi will do it…” attitude that is trickling down from the management level. I am not asked to help with small tasks or large classes so much as provided with empirically-tensed statements such as, “you’ve got this 3:00 class, right?” Well, no. I don’t, actually, because the schedule that was written and rewritten and rewritten in pencil, print and –at one point – crayon says nothing of the kind. But by all means, thank you, sir – may I have another? Another source of frustration: my ever-undulating schedule. I haven’t had a predictable schedule since I arrived here in Hangzhou. One would not normally think of this as being that big of an issue, but it’s really a cause for anxiety. An example of where this has become an issue is in making plans for my life outside of work (wait… Jessi has one of those???). Last week, I made lovely plans with the lovely Peggy to have a lovely dinner and see a lovely movie on a Tuesday when I ought to have been able to leave the center at 6:00pm without issue… Until I was told that morning that I needed to hold off, arrive at 1:30 and not leave until 8:30. Folks, Peggy had been so excited about our little date that she had already gone to the theatre to buy our tickets in advance. You try making that cancellation phone call without getting a little upset. Especially when that schedule change came at the hands of the aforementioned unceremonious 35-year-old’s “I want my mommy!” meltdown.

So, this week, my body took revenge. My body took revenge in the best way that it possibly could: an upper-respiratory and throat-based illness that has left me sounding a bit like Tom Petty… if… Tom Petty had a sore throat. And a cough. And was a girl. Yeah. No Yellow Triangle songs for this girl this week! Oh, you’d like a day off to mourn the passing of your parakeet which happened 15 years ago on this date? Sorry for you. Hope today’s Hello World content isn’t “Baby Bird!” again.

I am not the type of person to moan and groan without proposing a solution. Bless the man, I hated him, but I had a supervisor in college who would come back at every whiner with, “well, what would you like me to do about this?” It drove me crazy, but it stuck. Well done, Bob. Well done. Anyway, the result is that – while I may seem to have every reason to become very bitter and angry toward this center, my boss, my staff and the Mouse at large, I really have no reason at all. Instead, I see room for improvement. This center has no set scheduling system in place – that’s something that’s been overlooked because we aren’t micromanaged. This center has no coverage incentive, so no one wants to help anyone. This center has no sense of community because the FTs hide in their rooms all day with no motive to get to know each other. That lack of community trickles into the learners and their parents. It trickles from their parents to their parents’ friends who may have otherwise been new members…

And so, I’ve started making Excel sheets and drafting proposals. It’s the White/Malsch family way. I’ve passed my ideas on to individual staff members under the guise of, “how do you suppose the staff would respond to a system like this? Let me know?” as though they are my single go-to person for that solution. I’m brewing alliances here by going to the people who complain the loudest on specific issues. Someone that has conflict with the hours that we work might be my ally for reevaluating the master schedule and setting ourselves into it appropriately. Someone who's been heard to complain about the disorganization of people’s rooms might be my ally in developing a system to regulate our rooms and cabinets (a major point of frustration for me who has to be in a different classroom every day). Someone whose biggest concern is this wretched act of sharing of computers with LPs might be my ally in working out partnerships among the Chinese staff – something we desperately need.

Maybe I’ve been a little too excited to have a new copy of The Hunger Games trilogy to read… but I am starting to feel a potential uprising here. But far from overthrowing the Capitol, I’m hoping to overthrow the ugliness that has settled in at the Hangzhou-Wulin center that has created such a horrendous divide among the staff.

And my hope? My hope is that once the dust settles… maybe I’ll have a chance to take a lunch break.

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