Saturday, August 26, 2006
Fresh traffic?
An interesting aspect of living in a large congested city is laundry. Everybody has to do it somehow so it’s not at all uncommon to see laundry draped around. Clothes dryers are still pretty much unknown, though nowadays one probably could buy one somewhere. Many of the buildings in this area have flat roofs with a room or two built on top with space outside for hanging clothes. I washed clothes yesterday afternoon. It was VERY warm in the little room where the washing machine is kept. But out on the roof was a glorious breeze. So, while waiting for the machine to fill (most are not automatic, and water pressure on the 4th floor isn’t the greatest) I could stand outside in the shade and cool off in the breeze. It’s also a good vantage point from which to observe the neighborhood so it wasn’t too boring. The machine has a spinner so the clothes are fairly dry when you pull them out. I hung them up in the breeze and two hours later they were dry. When I gathered them and took them downstairs I took a big whiff of the dry, still warm clothes. Ahhhh! Nothing like the smell of fresh traffic….
Avoid offending if you can
The other day we had a discussion around several case histories of interpersonal conflict between members of the same team or working on the same project. The point of the exercise was to get people to discuss conflict resolution, how they would go about it appropriately in their culture. I was astonished that in each of the 4 cases the unanimous decision was to separate the two offended parties, give them new job assignments, transfer one or both, fire one or both. They always recommended that a third party be involved. They saw a difference between personality clash and moral or money issues. Yet in no case did they think that a resolution or restoration of the relationship was possible.
In one case where someone was accused of misusing funds I asked if the party in the wrong would publicly acknowledge that he was wrong. Again the answer was unanimously “no”. The closest to a public apology would be in the case of a violation of traditional law where the offender was deemed guilty and fined. By paying the fine, the issue is considered finished. It is understood as the same as a public acknowledgment of guilt. But apology? Apparently not possible.
I wonder if the case histories go too far? Each of them describe a work situation which ended in some sort of open conflict – either an argument in front of others or an open accusations of wrong doing. Was is that open conflict (in front of others) which made the group unanimously declare that no restoration of the relationship was possible? What if we instead asked how they might intervene and help the two parties resolve matters BEFORE it got to the state of open conflict? Does this indicate that open conflict is to be avoided at all costs? And should it occur, it is invariably fatal to the relationship?
What was also interesting is that the group we asked was made up of people from various ethnic groups around this country, all attending the same course. It seems astonishing that they would all think the same way. Or were they reluctant to discuss the topic for fear of offending others in the group? Makes one really think about the extent one needs to go to to avoid offending someone else.
In one case where someone was accused of misusing funds I asked if the party in the wrong would publicly acknowledge that he was wrong. Again the answer was unanimously “no”. The closest to a public apology would be in the case of a violation of traditional law where the offender was deemed guilty and fined. By paying the fine, the issue is considered finished. It is understood as the same as a public acknowledgment of guilt. But apology? Apparently not possible.
I wonder if the case histories go too far? Each of them describe a work situation which ended in some sort of open conflict – either an argument in front of others or an open accusations of wrong doing. Was is that open conflict (in front of others) which made the group unanimously declare that no restoration of the relationship was possible? What if we instead asked how they might intervene and help the two parties resolve matters BEFORE it got to the state of open conflict? Does this indicate that open conflict is to be avoided at all costs? And should it occur, it is invariably fatal to the relationship?
What was also interesting is that the group we asked was made up of people from various ethnic groups around this country, all attending the same course. It seems astonishing that they would all think the same way. Or were they reluctant to discuss the topic for fear of offending others in the group? Makes one really think about the extent one needs to go to to avoid offending someone else.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Malls
It's always interesting to visit malls in capital cities. You see another slice of life that maybe isn't so apparent from a bus window. You see people wearing the latest fashion - currently for women that means tight low cut pants and tight short blouses of asymmetrical design. So it's especially interesting to watch how these upper class folk try to stare at the foreigners without being obvious. The mall I was in the other day has a lot of mirrors and if you walk at just the right speed and location you can stare quite easily without seeming to. One particular attraction was a family from somewhere in the middle east. The papa was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and short pants. The mama was covered from head to foot in black, including a veil across her face leaving only her eyes showing. A teenaged daughter was also covered in black but her face was showing. An 8 year old girl was wearing a sleeveless top and short skirt, no veiling for her. The locals were extremely interested in this sight and I could hear comments speculating that maybe unmarried women didn't have to cover their faces, after all how could an unmarried girl find a husband if he couldn't see her face? Who would marry a girl sight unseen? They were also very interested to watch the woman in a restaurant having to transport spoonfuls of food up under her veil to eat. Must get a bit messy at times.
Malls have become a sort of recreation site in large cities which don't have much in the way of public parks. They are big, airconditioned, and of course have everything from clothes to food to grocery stores and rides for the kids. Malls are where you can find the bizarre and unique too, for a price. You can also find internet cafes to post your blog from.
Malls have become a sort of recreation site in large cities which don't have much in the way of public parks. They are big, airconditioned, and of course have everything from clothes to food to grocery stores and rides for the kids. Malls are where you can find the bizarre and unique too, for a price. You can also find internet cafes to post your blog from.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thou shall not kill
One of the things that has always amazed me about Asians, at least those who live in big cities, is the ability to live cheek and jowl without killing each other. I suppose it would help if everybody liked the same kind of music, and if everybody was not on the same schedule. I have desk in a big bright room. I share the room with 6 other people. It is incredibly hard to concentrate at times what with phone calls, people coming in and out to discuss everything. Good thing I am staying just down the hall and can work early and late. Finally got a couple of nagging projects finished today. It just takes persistence I guess.
But I am having to stay up later to get some quiet uninterrupted time, at the same time I can't sleep later in the morning because once people start getting up slamming doors, singing in the showers, etc, well, you get the idea. I wonder if anybody ever fell asleep while teaching a class?
Don't get me wrong. I am not at all bored, just sleeeeeepy. Got up even earlier today to go to church. It was a very interesting event but even so I had trouble not dozing off.
I boarded a city bus to get to an internet cafe. Too bad I didn't have a camera - to take a picture of me sitting sideways. Some of the seats are so close together that barely anybody's knees would fit behind the seat in front of them. I am glad the trip wasn't longer, on the other hand, it feels SOOOO good to finally get off and walk. The driver's assistent did a good job of packing every seat full. He would hop off at intersections and sort of direct traffic till the bus got through Then he'd hop on again. Must be a tiring job.
But I am having to stay up later to get some quiet uninterrupted time, at the same time I can't sleep later in the morning because once people start getting up slamming doors, singing in the showers, etc, well, you get the idea. I wonder if anybody ever fell asleep while teaching a class?
Don't get me wrong. I am not at all bored, just sleeeeeepy. Got up even earlier today to go to church. It was a very interesting event but even so I had trouble not dozing off.
I boarded a city bus to get to an internet cafe. Too bad I didn't have a camera - to take a picture of me sitting sideways. Some of the seats are so close together that barely anybody's knees would fit behind the seat in front of them. I am glad the trip wasn't longer, on the other hand, it feels SOOOO good to finally get off and walk. The driver's assistent did a good job of packing every seat full. He would hop off at intersections and sort of direct traffic till the bus got through Then he'd hop on again. Must be a tiring job.
More on what people do to earn money
Haven't been able to access the blog because the place I am staying blocks a lot of stuff, This is from August 3:
In a mega-city there are seemingly an infinite number of ways to make a living. One man makes a living, and a very good living, looking at city maps to see where small roads are. He then looks for places where a road is planned and not yet build. Then he goes and checks it out. If the land is indeed not already built on he just takes it and builds something there and then sells it. Since land costs in this city are very high he makes an extremely good profit. Pretty slick, eh? About a block away is a narrow, three story high church building built within the last couple of years on such a piece of land. Next to the building where I am staying is another small piece of land which apparently falls into that same category. He has recently put up a fence around it, threatening those nearby (including the owners of this building) not to interfere or he will send his thugs to cause trouble. Comforting thought.
One popular way to earn a second income after one’s regular day job is to sell food. By late afternoon the streets start filing with push carts, bicycles and motorbikes, and temporary road-side stalls selling things like bread and cake, noodle dishes, fresh vegetables, ice cream, meatballs, and all sorts of other cooked foods. Yesterday on my little jaunt down the side street there was a guy on the side of the road with a frying pan on a burner frying batter-dipped chicken to sell. A little ways down from him was a tent where somebody was selling fish and rice dinners. Today we were working late so went down to see what the breadseller on a motorbike had today. He still had about 6 half-loaves of sliced white bread and two of sliced green bread. (Yes, bright apple green bread.) He had smaller breads filled with things like cheese, chocolate, bananas, peanuts. There was one kind that had a raisin or two in it too.
Last week the newspaper ran a story about a certain lane on one particular major road. That lane has a reputation for being full of nails causing tire punctures and so drivers avoid it, thus causing the rest of the road to be quite congested. When police finally went to investigate, they found several kilos of nails scattered for quite a distance on that lane. They have been going out early in the morning to sweep that lane – and continue to find several kilos more nails every day. They suspect that someone is trying to make a living, either because they have a tire repair business nearby or because they hope to benefit by robbing stranded cars. (See? All it takes is a little imagination…)
In a mega-city there are seemingly an infinite number of ways to make a living. One man makes a living, and a very good living, looking at city maps to see where small roads are. He then looks for places where a road is planned and not yet build. Then he goes and checks it out. If the land is indeed not already built on he just takes it and builds something there and then sells it. Since land costs in this city are very high he makes an extremely good profit. Pretty slick, eh? About a block away is a narrow, three story high church building built within the last couple of years on such a piece of land. Next to the building where I am staying is another small piece of land which apparently falls into that same category. He has recently put up a fence around it, threatening those nearby (including the owners of this building) not to interfere or he will send his thugs to cause trouble. Comforting thought.
One popular way to earn a second income after one’s regular day job is to sell food. By late afternoon the streets start filing with push carts, bicycles and motorbikes, and temporary road-side stalls selling things like bread and cake, noodle dishes, fresh vegetables, ice cream, meatballs, and all sorts of other cooked foods. Yesterday on my little jaunt down the side street there was a guy on the side of the road with a frying pan on a burner frying batter-dipped chicken to sell. A little ways down from him was a tent where somebody was selling fish and rice dinners. Today we were working late so went down to see what the breadseller on a motorbike had today. He still had about 6 half-loaves of sliced white bread and two of sliced green bread. (Yes, bright apple green bread.) He had smaller breads filled with things like cheese, chocolate, bananas, peanuts. There was one kind that had a raisin or two in it too.
Last week the newspaper ran a story about a certain lane on one particular major road. That lane has a reputation for being full of nails causing tire punctures and so drivers avoid it, thus causing the rest of the road to be quite congested. When police finally went to investigate, they found several kilos of nails scattered for quite a distance on that lane. They have been going out early in the morning to sweep that lane – and continue to find several kilos more nails every day. They suspect that someone is trying to make a living, either because they have a tire repair business nearby or because they hope to benefit by robbing stranded cars. (See? All it takes is a little imagination…)
Chaotic mess
Outsiders coming to a large Asian city for the first time often see it as a chaotic mess. This city, in the second of my worlds, is no exception. You could easily get motion sick just by standing still and watching things whiz by! But if you look carefully you will begin to see the layers of organization that really do exist.
Traffic looks chaotic, and sometimes gets into horrendous snarls. Yet, most people do manage to get where they need to go by the approximate time that they need to be there – most of the the time. The chaos somehow works. Just around the corner from where I am staying is a narrow lane that manages to carry busy two-way traffic. Somehow pedestrians, bicyclists, push carts, motorcycles, passenger vehicles made from motorcyles, vans, cars and small trucks all mange to make progress down this lane even in the dark. I am sure that accidents do happen but considering that this little scene is repeated street after street all across this metropolis every day all the time, there are relatively few accidents. For those of us who come from smaller, slower places, it is truly miraculous the way this vast interweaving of people and vehicles moves along all day and all night, day after day, week after week, and year after year.
There are worlds with in worlds. Yesterday I went to a nearby mall complex, I think it is the tallest mall in the city having 7 or 8 floors. I was able to do all my errands there, such as get cash from an ATM, buy medicine, get a phone card for my cell phone, and buy some groceries, and that was all on the same floor! But tonight when I walked down the busy little lane around the corner I found that I can also get cell phone refills and some medicines, right there. (If it were daylight I could probably see further down the road and might find more…)
Traffic looks chaotic, and sometimes gets into horrendous snarls. Yet, most people do manage to get where they need to go by the approximate time that they need to be there – most of the the time. The chaos somehow works. Just around the corner from where I am staying is a narrow lane that manages to carry busy two-way traffic. Somehow pedestrians, bicyclists, push carts, motorcycles, passenger vehicles made from motorcyles, vans, cars and small trucks all mange to make progress down this lane even in the dark. I am sure that accidents do happen but considering that this little scene is repeated street after street all across this metropolis every day all the time, there are relatively few accidents. For those of us who come from smaller, slower places, it is truly miraculous the way this vast interweaving of people and vehicles moves along all day and all night, day after day, week after week, and year after year.
There are worlds with in worlds. Yesterday I went to a nearby mall complex, I think it is the tallest mall in the city having 7 or 8 floors. I was able to do all my errands there, such as get cash from an ATM, buy medicine, get a phone card for my cell phone, and buy some groceries, and that was all on the same floor! But tonight when I walked down the busy little lane around the corner I found that I can also get cell phone refills and some medicines, right there. (If it were daylight I could probably see further down the road and might find more…)
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