Work and People

I don’t think I’ve explained who the other people in the photographs are yet. I’m working on this project with several team members, and we will be spending a lot of time together over the next month. Ryan (lower left) is a technician and equipment operator that works at my office in Cincinnati. He was assigned to this project a year ago and will be training the China plant operators on our equipment. He and I are the same age. Tanaka-san (back left) is an engineer from Japan who owns the equipment design and installation here in China. He hired in with P&G the same year that I did. Kazu (back righ) is a process developer, also from Japan. He has eleven years of experience and is a world traveler, and a great storyteller. Both Kazu and Tanaka-san have spent significant amounts of time in China in the past. They are both located here in Guangzhou on a temporary basis on an extended business travel basis. Kazu and Tanaka-san both have families back in Japan. They both speak a little bit of the Chinese language. Japanese and Chinese languages are similar, so they can understand some of the PinYin (phonetic spelling of Chinese characters).
This is a picture of the supplier headquarters where I spent most of my time this week. Note the palm trees. The employees live on the grounds at the company facility. They are provided with apartments (shown below), cafeteria meals, uniforms, and transportation when they need it, in addition to their wages. I can’t imagine a lifestyle like this.
It is a beautiful facility though. I think we got here right after the rainy season so everything is lush and green right now.

Now, I'm going to honor my roots here by discussing a taboo topic. Toilets. Toilets are as cultural as everything else - language, food, traditions, history. The larger part of Asia (at least China and Japan, where I have seen them) utilize a different style of toilet than what I grew up with. The version I was potty-trained on is called a 'western style toilet' here. These are not always installed, especially in public places like restaurants, train stations, and shopping centers. In places like these, you tend to find what's referred to as 'traditional toilets.' At risk of offending anyone's sensibilities, I've posted a photo. I must admit that this is one of the worst parts of culture shock I've had here, and since it's taboo, no one prepares you for it! Paper products (toilet paper and paper towels) are also included at only some toilets, so the user typically must BYO...P. At the supplier, they waited 3 days before telling me that there was a western style toilet tucked away in another building!
How fascinating! :)