Of Work

As I have already mentioned, I have been looking for work in Beijing for a while now, sending out emails and resumes to companies and organisations that look interesting. Although I am not looking for one particular thing, I know what I am NOT looking for and can tell my requirements to potential employers --- and then leave it up to them whether they are willing to give me what I want or not.

So, in the middle of this job hunting process, I was stopped today for a while to think about the situations that many Chinese young people are in. They do not have the luxury to present their own demands when trying to find work, and often end up working in conditions that I would never dream of accepting.

I was pulled to think about this as I went to the hairdresser to get a wash and a dry, combined with a lovely head, shoulders & arms massage. (All this was a ridiculous 10 yuan or 1 euro!!) The girl doing the massage told me about how she had moved far away from her hometown in Sichuan and come to Beibei to find work. Being only 17 years old with no experience or higher education, she was lucky to find a job at the hairdressers. There she must work 11 hours a day, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. almost every single day, only getting 2 days off each month! This means practically no time for anything of her own , all her time is spent at work. Only once a year does she get to go home to meet her family. And for all this, she barely gets enough money to buy food (on normal days she eats the food brought from the common kitchen at work) and pay for her housing.

And yet, she is one of the lucky ones. After all, she did find a job.

On a lighter note, she could not stop talking about how strangely soft my skin was and how lovely my haircolour was. I was just a little too thin, she said. I'm taking care of that right now, munching on chocolate chip cookies.