偶尔忙碌经常无事可做的日子

Tuesday, Aug 1st, 2017

Every since last week, I become bored again. It seems to me that my work in Beijing has been like this all the time and the biggest reason for this is that I was not given a proper position, that I’m needed whenever my boss needs me. It’s kinda sad. I can be extremely busy and on tight schedule at times and I can idle around for weeks. I didn’t like this kind of working style. It’s like I’m bound to this place, and there’re eyes and ears in this place that I’ll have to pay attention to what I said and what I did. Talking of that, I suddenly know what I can write to evaluate the pros and cons of this job.

Pros:

Well, I have to say, I never thought I’d be working in Beijing on my own someday in my life. This is the capital of China and a first-tier city. Life can be expensive here, how do I live if I wasn’t given a place to live. AsI go out often for shows in the city, I begin to love this city.

Traffic.

Beijing is a mega-city with more than 10 million people. We can allimagine the huge traffic. This whole place is full of red traffic lights andjams. However, the BRT system is so convenient: intervals between metro stationsare short and I seldom find it long to be a train. The fast transit of thebuses is my favourite. From where I live to the Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre is only 1-hourride, which I love so much and wish there’re free tickets I can enjoy everyweekend for their shows. It’s just such a pleasant journey to be there with AC all the way in the hot summer’s day!

Shows.

As the cultural centre in China, there’re so many different types of shows happening here in many theaters. Many famous directors and actors live here or they can come here very easily. I almost watched one show for the past month, all musicals except one drama about treasure hunting, not to my liking anyway. Many big productions also like to put Beijing as their touring destination.

Away from home.

Though transportation is much convenient here that Xishuangbanna, I do not feel like going home very much. I’m marching towards 28 years of my life- can’t believe I’ll be a middle-aged woman soon- sometimes they’d say get yourself into a relationship. But I don’t feel like so. I enjoy my single life so much that I can’t imagine a man staying by my side. All the bad words and gossip those relatives may have, I’m so sick ofit. Based in Beijing means I can’t go home often, all the gossip goes to my parents.I enjoy freedom of the highest degree. My free soul and spirit is relieved/released from the long adolescence that I really want to ride my own life and make decisions on my own.

Besides, where I live is relatively remote and I have a quiet life. I’m so happy that I do not live in downtown wherethere’re so many eye-catching stuff and temptations. I can’t really resist allof them. I can always live afar and work out freely. Without seeing too much, Iwon’t be much distracted and diverted from what I do. This is one of thebenefits too.

Cons

There’realways pros and cons about one thing.

Undefined work position

This is the most frightening one,and I always thought of me losing my job. I was a translator in the very beginning from last year. After 3 months, when one day Adam told me that I was needed in the office. I thought it was only a couple of days or a week at most. I think it’s because I didn’t fully understand what Adam told me, coz I was bewildered when he told me, which was like a goodbye. It was later that day in the office didI find out that I was going to be a buyer. WTF? I’ve never been one before, and I was so afraid. It’s easy to understand the worries, because whenever one is stepping out of her comfort zone, she’s walking towards unseen future, to the environment she’s not familiar with. The consequence of messing up with things got into their head that it makes us so afraid to step out of the comfort zone.I felt betrayal that I was contracted to be a translator, not a buyer position which I didn’t like to be one.

In the first 1 or 2 weeks, I was totally overwhelmed by the orders given to me, especially the very first day. Vendors' information just poured onto me and I almost drowned in that info pool. After the first crazy week, I went to my BFF’s wedding. It was such a short and consuming week. I was still busy with all the procurement and emails. After the trip, I suddenly understood the procedure of procurement, things finally went on easy with me. Well at the end of July, 2016, all of a sudden again, I was asked to do what Rainbow was doing. I really couldn’t understand the arrangement for months. Why am I being transferred with my job positions againand again? And payment application is really the last the thing in the world I’d do. I had filled in payment letters before for Rainbow, all works in bilingual, especially the numbers. Before that, we, me and Serina, witnessed how Disney peers replied in emails to track down products they thought they didn’t use.Some were just trackless and many people come onboard and offborad, information was lost in the process. What frightened me in the beginning is the two tracking forms Rainbow sent me. I had to check the numbers again and again, coz first, I don't understand the form and the point of it, second, I misread the contents sometimes, that I’ll have to start over again when the numbers were wrong, because the total will have to match.

I still remember that I talked twice to Richard about quitting the position and implied to him that I’d like to be translator once again, coz there won't be as much trouble. Anyway, extremely reluctantly,I took the job and walked to my today’s location. When payments are done, I really can’t think of anything I can do. What I do is assigned directly by my boss, including being dragged to interpret in a weekly meeting or tech meetings without any warning or background information, translated all materials sent tome, making quotations, making adjustments on formats, and business trips almost once every two months. I don't’ feel needed and the office is cold and not suitable for talking. It still baffles me what my job is. As I do not know my job, I don’t feel wanted, and feel like losing job every time that landline rings. Yet it still happens today by the time I’m writing this.

No insurance, no security

As I was and am hired and paid by third party labor company, I only have all the money with me. I don’t have any insurance. Once I went to the hospital for a blood test, it cost me so much,almost 500 RMB only for the blood test! Are you robbing me? Even though I was paid less in Wanda, my housing fund for almost a whole year is over 10,000 RMB, which is big money already! And my salaries are counted based on work days,which means I paid only for the days I work. I don't even know whether I have paid holidays. Fucking hell! I feel like falling into a trap. I should have made all this clear in the very beginning. You miss the time, you miss it all! Never wait for the boss to say something first, coz they won’t, they can get more work done in a relatively low price. I dare not be sick, living is so expensive!

This is what I can think of about advantages and disadvantages of working in Beijing. Hope I can have a betterand clear position with higher payment someday. BTW, I really miss theater now,I want to work in a nice professional theater or an arts center.