Shenzhen

After what can only described as a "difficult" arrival in Shenzhen I prepared myself for a day full of student meetings. I had been warned that the students I would be working with had high expectations and that to them we were already behind schedule (mind you, it is still August at this point). So I walk into the office and quickly given a tour, meet lots of new office-mates and set up for my first meeting.

While I had already spoken to all 15 of my clients over Skype and had been in email correspondence with them for a couple of weeks, these meetings were enlightening. I was able to really hear the students for the first time. They were all eager to get started, and slightly terrified of what lay ahead, the dreaded college application. I didn't really have the heart to tell them that I was just as new at organizing applications as they were, so instead I try to keep the focus on them. I asked what they wanted, what they liked, where they wanted to go... I got lots of blank stares and "what do YOU think"? It dawned on me that these were not the overzealous applicants I had met when working the admissions circuit for Penn, these were a totally different type of kid.

Now I know that some of you may be thinking, "What did you expect Cata?" and the truth is I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. These are kids that are put under ENORMOUS amounts of pressure to succeed, but at the end of the day have a hard time expressing what they like and why. It's like they have a hive community where thinking as an individual is discouraged, and this is totally thrown me for a loop. I am not in the business of telling kids where to apply, what major to study or what to write their essays about, but to many of them it seemed like this was exactly the kind of "advice" they were looking for. Oh boy. So my job for that week basically was about managing expectations. Explaining (in as much as I could) that I would help guide them to the edge, but it was up to them to jump.

In addition to this new way of thinking of college counseling and working with high strung kids, I was also under pressure from my office to find an apartment. Ordinarily this would not be a terribly difficult thing to do, and I had been with some of my colleagues in Shanghai while they looked for theirs, and the market didn't seem too bad. Boy was I wrong. Before the excursion began, I was asked "what are you looking for?" I thought my request was simple enough, I need one bedroom, a kitchen where there is room to cook and a bathroom that has a separate shower (in case you didn't know, there are lots of bathrooms here in China where the shower is simply a handle hanging over the toilet, so in essence the whole bathroom is the shower and you have to maneuver yourself around said toilet in order to bathe properly). "Ok" and off we went.

I should mention that in order to find an apartment in China you have to go through an agent, and there are TONS of agents EVERYWHERE. The only trouble I had was that most of them speak absolutely no English. So my office colleague volunteered to translate for me. The first apartment we saw was near the hotel I was staying at. I was told that it was supposed to be "very nice." We walk in, I very quickly realize that my definition of "very nice" and the agent's definition of "very nice" are VERY different. The apartment is dirty, but more than that the kitchen is about the size of a broom closet and the fridge is places somewhere in the living room. I look at my colleague, this is nice? What happened to my requests? How exactly am I supposed to cook in this kitchen? He shrugs, says something to the agent in Chinese and we leave the apartment. The next is worse. The third one is a repetition of the second. The fourth one doesn't even have shower. I'm starting to get really frustrated.

Three days go by and the "office manager" comes to my desk. "I hear you are having a hard time find an apartment. Sounds like that you have very high standards" Now I'm willing to chalk this up to a 'lost in translation' kind of deal, but I'm about to lose it at this point. By now, I have realized that no one seems willing to listen to me, and why should they, I am the only foreigner in the office, they've never had to deal with someone like me before, they don't know what to do with me. And to make matters worse, I'm not staying for long. Friday rolls around and I email my boss, we need to talk. He calls asks me how I'm doing, I say I've been better and this sets the tone for what comes next. I'm frustrated, exhausted (I've been working late and hunting for apartments in the morning) and feeling completely isolated. I agreed to come to Shenzhen for the benefit of the kids and am now feeling like this was a HUGE mistake. My boss seems to realize that I am about two days from just calling it quits. He says he is going to make some calls. I say I'm going to look for apartments in the expat neighborhood (which is an hour away from the office and two hours away from the school).

Monday, I have found an apartment in the expat neighborhood that fits the budget I've been allocated. I tell the office. They look at me in horror. "You want to live in WHICH neighborhood? But that's an hour commute!!!" I know, but it's the only apartment I've seen (and by this time I've seen like 25 apartments in about 5 days) that fits my requirements and where I don't feel like a fish out of water. I need to meet people and make friends, and I can't do that in an office where no one really talks to me because they don't want to have to talk in English. They look upset. "We need to make a call." Ok. Off they go. Two hours they come back, "we want you to look at a couple more apartments." Why? "Becuase they are closer to the office and we think it will be better." Fine.

Tuesday morning, I see the same agent, same colleague and we are in a new apartment complex. "This place looks more expensive" my colleague tells me, "maybe the VP upped your budget." I sigh. We open the first apartment, more of the same, bathroom/shower/ toilet situation. Then the second apartment. The first thing I noticed was the light, I had been so focused on the kitchen and bathroom in other places I hadn't even considered how dark they were, but this place had windows. Then I noticed the kitchen. It was actually a full blown kitchen. Final test, the bathroom, there is a shower curtain separating the "shower" from the rest of the bathroom, not my favorite (particularly considering that it is about a foot short) but better than any of the other ones I've seen. All three men look at me, "well?" Sure. When can I move in?