Going Chinese

Yesterday, I went into the office for the first time because I had a meeting set up with a colleague.  I’m not officially supposed to start work in the office until February 9th when I have a work license, so I’ve just been working with the Redmond office at home. 

I scheduled our meeting at about 11:30 not realizing that this was prime lunch time.  Everyone else was gone, and my Chinese colleague was the only one there waiting for me.  He asked if I had lunch yet and invited me to lunch.  Feeling quite obligated at this point, I went to lunch with him in the cafeteria in the basement.  He explained how the system worked, but honestly, I didn’t fully understand due to the complexity.  I paid 12 Yuan (~$2) to some lady before I entered the cafeteria because that’s what my colleague suggested.  But, I noticed people were paying different amounts depending on what they were going to eat.  I got a receipt that said I paid 12 Yuan.   Next I stood in a long line that was moving very fast, and grabbed a tray.  There were 4 people behind the counter.  I recognized the rice lady who scooped up a bowl of rice and dumped it on my tray (no bowl).  The other three people scooped up something unrecognizable from a trough and dumped it in piles on my tray.  I grabbed a pear and a soup at the end.  Not bad for $2.  At the end of the line, I gave my receipt to another lady, and apparently, I was done.  I found my colleague who had gone in a different line and looked like he got some pasta with sausage in it.  We sat down together, and I started to decipher what was on my tray.  One pile looked like sauteed zuchini. Another was a pile of sauteed cabbage and onions.  The third pile was mushrooms and other vegetables with hunks of fat.  I wasn’t sure what animal.  Maybe pig.  Maybe beef.  I had a little bit of everything, and although it wasn’t food I was accustomed to, I still felt good about getting my $2 worth of food. 

Afterwards, I went to Walmart, which is right across from my subway stop at work.  It was actually quite nice and was somewhat familiar.  They had a lot of things that Walmart normally carries, except they weren’t the cheapest store in town in China.  Tenille texted a short shopping list to me.  I went to the basement in the food department to look.  All of a sudden, I felt my $2 worth of lunch disagree with me.  I tried to suck it up and shop for the 4 food items on the list, but the disagreement was too strong.  I quickly made for the bathroom which was 1 floor up outside of the checkstands.  I left my basket by the bicycles, and ran for the washroom.   I quickly found it and opened a door to a stall where I ran into my first squatter toilet.  That’s ok… it looks easy enough… if only I could find some toilet paper.  There was none in the stall.  In a panic I looked all over the bathroom.  Nothing.  I ran outside… nothing… Oddly enough, with all the panicked running around, it must have distracted the disagreement in my digestive tract, because all seemed settled.  So, I went back to the basement to continue my shopping.  Along the escalators, there are piles of merchandise that you can pick up as your ride along.  When I saw something that looked like a package of tissues, I grabbed it (just in case…)  It said, “Breeze” on it.  Hmmm… hopefully it wasn’t some feminine product. 

I was a few items short, when the disagreement returned.  Armed with tissue paper this time, I quickly made for the checkstand to make sure I carried in my own gear.  I’ll spare the details, but I will say that the hole in the ground was not as intuitive as I thought it would be.  I’m sure the reader is probably thinking, “Seriously, how hard could it be?”  Next time you go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground, let me know where your pants went so you don’t pee on it.  I had my own solution, but I want to compare notes and see what you came up with on your own. 

I finished up my shopping and took the subway home.  It was a pretty significant “culture” day, and so I thought I’d share.