19: 工作

I was originally going to write about something else, but due to popular demand, I decided to write about my job! I’ve been having such a great time, too, so I want to write about my time so far.

Anyway, without divulging too many details, I work at a clothing store that is popular in America, and has 3 stores so far in China. The store is located in Sanlitun, or the current hip area to be for foreigners and fashionable Chinese alike. My duties are on the sales floor, helping hang up clothes, bringing clothes out of the backroom and distributing it around the store, and helping customers. My coworkers are all Chinese, and only one is fluent in English, while some can speak some, and the rest only know “Hello.” What’s funnier is that they’re all required to have Chinese names. Some have regular English names, like Kevin, or Alice, and some have names that are quite… uncommon. For example, there’s Wave, or Little (named so because she’s the smallest one), and Twiggy. Ironically, most of them can’t pronounce my name (the th sound is generally a North American thing), so they just call me by my Chinese name, 明修, Mingxiu. There have been many times where Little shouts for me across the store, and customers are surprised to see a white guy coming!

The customers are generally Chinese, and we do get quite a lot of “fringe” fashion, like punk kids. I found out later that because these punk kids think that America is open, they often flock to Sanlitun, which I find absolutely hilarious because many Americans would be surprised to see some Chinese punks walking around. Many customers are a part of the new generation of Chinese people, who can be somewhat obsessed with fashion. In America, the store I work at is relatively cheap, with good quality clothes, but here in China, I know I can easily find clothes 1/10^th the price of what the clothes go for. So these people are willing to shell out bigger bucks for a fancy label, or foreign clothes. We also get many foreigners, with whom I usually deal. In my opinion, foreigner customers can be worse than Chinese customers (I say this with caution, because I know there are good and bad of each). On my first day, I learned that only foreigners shoplift. In fact, the Beijing store is notorious for having the least amount of shoplifters compared to the American stores (this could be biased, an employee told me this). My friend, who works at the DC store, told me she gets about 5 shoplifters a day, whereas I’ve had only one my entire 3 weeks here.

Working with Chinese people does, of course, bring its cultural clash moments. On my first day, during a slow moment, John asked me if I liked going out to party. I told him “Of course, I’m a student, I love partying!” to everyone’s surprise. They were shocked that American students liked partying and then asked me about where American students got the time and if their parents were embarrassed by it (I know my parents are. Sorry, mom and dad!). Also, they asked me if the stores in America told people they were closing, what the customers were like, and if they sold the same clothes. We also talk a lot about whether or not Chinese fashion is good, and they often ask me if their outfits would look good to an American. I’ve had discussions about how Chinese people don’t usually wear a wedding ring, and how in America it can be an issue for some people. They were surprised that people would get upset over a silly ring. One day, Kevin told me that I was one of the nicest people that he had ever met, and that threw me off, because I’m not necessarily EXTREMELY nice. I usually walk in and say 你好, ni hao, or 你怎么样？How are you? Kevin explained to me that that phrase is not really used in China, so when I used it in the American cultural context, they thought I was being super nice, when I was just using it as a formality. I learned that their equivalent is 你吃完了吗？Have you eaten? There’s plenty more where this came from, and I love every time I have one of these experiences.

I really do love my job. I had a shitty first week, where one day I was late more than 30 minutes due to a time management error on my part and Beijing traffic, but I bounced back. At first, the prospect of standing on my feet for 7 hours straight sounded terrible, but it’s actually had its health benefits (it’s the latest fad in America, check it out!), such as reduced back pain. Also, I get to practice my Chinese in a non-educational setting, which has forced me to just be confident. I’ve noticed my brain shifting to accommodate complements, which is one of the hardest things about the Chinese language. I’ve also made some of the best friends I will have here in China. I can’t wait to see what the rest of my time at this store will look like!