The Best and the Worst: #3's

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All the time I've lived in China, people always ask me what I like best and what I don't like. It's a hard question to answer. Frequently, my answer changes. Now that I'm leaving, people ask what I will and won't miss. While similar in nature to the other question, the tone of this one makes it easier to answer. Everywhere I've lived and traveled has had its pluses and minuses, and each of these is a personal preference, usually based off of my own experiences. After much thought, I've decided to tackle this in five entries.

I've been here five years, so five of each seems right. I would like to point out that none of these is meant as a criticism of China or a, "China is better than everywhere else!" statement. After five years here, I know there's still quite a bit I don't understand and probably never will. It's impossible to form a full opinion or judgement for 1.3 billion people, and I wouldn't venture to try. I wouldn't dare--I'm only one person. These are just my opinions, formed both through my personal experiences and how I'm feeling right now.

I'd be lying if I said that leaving China isn't an emotional experience. It's been my home for five years. Part of me will always feel like this is home. But it's time for the next thing.So here's what I won't miss and what I will miss, The #3's:



Make-up Days

Without a doubt, this is the one "policy" in China I cannot stand. Allow me to explain.

Whenever there's a holiday--say May 1--we not only get that day off, we also get a few more with it. Unlike in the US, where we'd observe the holiday on a Monday for a three-day weekend, here it's always on the actual day. And with the lunar calendar, that means that many Chinese holidays vary from year to year.

Now, to get those extra days off you need to make them up first. Or afterwards. Or both. This year the Labor Day holiday was five days long: April 29--May 3. But I worked both the 7 days before and the 7 days following it. So by the time you get to the holiday you're exhausted. Then you try to have some fun on your holiday, but there's so much traffic because everyone and their cousin is going home to see family or go shopping. Because EVERYONE has the same holidays. Then, everyone works 7 more days and finally has a weekend to collapse. We stagger back into work on Monday, grateful that it's a normal, holiday-free work week.

The bigger downside to this is that no one (and I do mean NO one) is motivated on any of the make-up days. Sure, we're calling it Thursday, but we all know it's really a Saturday. And tomorrow we get to do it again. People leave early or don't show up. Some teachers I know don't take attendance. No one plans real lessons because we're afraid half our students won't show. (Most of mine did, but I'm in the minority.) Service and attention are at all time lows. Holiday hours at businesses are a mess.

We're tired, we don't care. All this for a long holiday? Defeats the purpose if you ask me.



Nap time

I hate to admit it, but nap time is my favorite time of the day. Built into the work schedule of many places (schools, banks, museums, etc) is a two-hour-long lunch break. I spent my first few months in China not understanding why it was so long. I knew my middle school students would often walk home for lunch, but two hours seemed excessive. My boss was always eating quickly and then telling me to go and, "have a rest." Did they think I was lazy? Did I look tired every single day? Then one day I walked into the office to find 90%!o(MISSING)f the teachers stretched out on folding cots, snuggled under blankets. I've since discovered many businesses have less staff during those hours, or immediately following the 2pm return to work. (Restaurants and some shops stay open then because business goes up; so nap time is from 2-3pm.)

Nowadays, I rush home (no lunch out for me!) and eat as fast as I can. Then I dive under my blanket for a good hour-long nap before I get up and prepare for my afternoon classes. I feel refreshed and full of energy. It's also a great way to beat the high heat we have at noon in Guangdong. When it's 40C/104F outside and you've just eaten, the only thing you want to do is take a nap. I'm so glad it's part of the culture!

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Comments

[samuel david]

Good
I like this blog

[sunketing]

:)
Thanks!

[aspiringnomad]

Siesta!
At work here in Shanghai, they provide me with a hotel style room with beds, shower, TV and internet. It is even written into my contract that this room is for rest during lunch hours. Oh and btw, next October we have to work eight 'make up' days before Golden Week...makes me want to take a nap just thinking about it!

[sunketing]

8??
How long is your Golden Week? I only ever got 7 days off with a make-up of 4.

[Donna and Neil]

Nap time!
Make up days sound awful, but nap time is a genius idea...we wonder whether this improves productivity in the post lunch haze?! An excellent idea that the rest of the world should implement.

[accountdeleted]

Forty Winks
Hi Kris, I’m really enjoying your “Best and Worst” series of posts. The whole “Hello” thing (in which a Chinese person—usually a teenage boy—hollers “Hello!!!” and then bursts into laughter) has happened to me a few times and is very strange. I was also thrown for a loop by the afternoon naps when I first arrived. I had to teach a class at 1.00 PM and the students were always on the verge of dozing off. When I asked them about this, they explained that they’d always been able to take an after-lunch nap in high school, so staying awake at 1.00 PM was difficult for them. I suggested that they drink a cup of coffee after lunch, but they said this would keep them awake at night…

[sunketing]

HELLO!
Usually, for me, it's an older man who yells it. When I first got her my school kept telling me to "have a rest" and I thought that they thought I either looked tired or was lazy. Now I know it's just part of the culture!