Expats in China
Today's Vignette
Jack Harris:
Hi. Going home to China?
Hiromi Araki:
No, I'm Japanese but work in New York. We're on our way to Beijing this trip.
Harris:
I see. Then we're both expats. I work in Shanghai. The name's Jack Harris.
Araki:
I'm Hiromi Araki and this is Lee Seymour.
Harris:
What takes you to Beijing, business or pleasure?
Lee Seymour:
Business. We have a branch office in Beijing.
Araki:
How long have you been in Shanghai?
Harris:
By now it must be five years. I run a plant that produces engine parts. From the look of it, I may be in China until I retire. Shanghai has become my second home.
Seymour:
What are the living conditions like? Hiromi and I never spend more than a week in Beijing, and we always stay in hotels.
Harris:
Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I have no complaints. I live in a kind of American-style enclave in the suburbs called Executive Estates. It's a lot like living a gated community in the U.S.
Araki:
But what about things like drinking water?
Harris:
Our tap water is treated, so it's safe to drink.
Seymour:
That's amazing. We've been warned not to drink tap water, even in five-star hotels.
Sandy Liu:
Hi, Lee and Hiromi. It's good to see you again. I hope you didn't get hung up at the new airport.
Harris:
That's the general rule in China. But the water is pure enough at home. Pretty soon our garbage will be sterilized.
Araki:
How much do places go for in Executive Estates, if I'm not being too intrusive?
Harris:
The company pays $20,000 a month to keep me and mine. Besides our ranch-style home, we've got our own school, golf course and shopping mall. And we're only ten minutes away from the new international airport. My son starts school next year. That will set the company back another $25,000 a year, on top of rent and the $50,000 annual membership in the local American Club.
Seymour:
That's quite an investment to keep one expat family happy if I may say so.
Harris:
Exactly. Most of the time we don't feel like we're living in China. My wife didn't have to go through culture shock. We can watch satellite TV programs in English. My son's friends are all American kids who live in the compound.
Seymour:
How's your Chinese?
Harris:
Adequate, I should say. I learned it in the Marines.
Araki:
I can see how the lifestyle minimizes adjustment trouble. lf you've got all the comforts of home and no language barrier, there's no reason to moan and groan about living conditions.
Seymour:
That's fine as far as it goes. But do you get home much?
Harris:
Last year we went back to Detroit to stay with my family. This year we spent two Weeks on Saipan and loved it. However, there are expats who can't deal with being so far from home and freak out in a year or two. I read that one out of six American expats can't back it, so they pull up stakes and go back to the States because the adjustment is just too tough.
Araki:
Don't you feel isolated? The compound does cut you off from contact with the surrounding Chinese community. And how can you understand the Chinese market if you don't mix with local business leaders?
Harris:
I admit that's a downside, Some feel the compound is the epitome of the Ugly American. Even so, executive compounds are popping up all over the place. We're living in a prototype of what will someday be commonplace.
Seymour:
I guess that's what it takes to keep senior. management expats safe and satisfied.
Harris:
Yes. And there's been a surge of expats worldwide. Since 1990, as I recall, the number of expats has gone from about two million to three million. And that doesn't include U.S. civil servants and military units stationed overseas or older Americans who choose to retire in foreign countries where living costs are low.
Araki:
Some find they no longer fit in when they get home. I know someone who worked for a bank on various overseas postings for ten years. He expected to get a great position when he got back to Tokyo, but got stuck in a back office on the grounds that his knowledge of his home market was ten years out of date.
Harris:
I didn't know that could happen in Japan, but it does happen quite often in the States. Around 20 percent of expts quit within a year of going back home. About four-fifths of them claim that the company didn't know how to use their experience overseas.
Seymour:
Some executives I know have said they consider a foreign posting a career-ender, not a career-booster. They've seen too many colleagues shrugged off when they came back home.
Araki:
On average, companies have to spend three or more times a normal salary and other costs to keep an expat manager. What a waste of money if the company doesn't know how to benefit from the experience that an expat can contribute.
Harris:
I agree. That's why my company has me come back to the home office once a year to share what I've learned. Also, I've got a mentor in the home office who looks after my job concerns and career expectations. I know I won't get the cold shoulder when it's time to go home.
Seymour:
It's a shame that the rate of failure for American expats is the world's highest. Expats from Asian and European countries seem to cope more successfully.
Harris:
One mistake I made right off the bat was taking it for granted that American management techniques are the world's best. I got into arguments with my plant foremen about that. When the shouting was over, however, I began to listen and learn. What works at home doesn't always work well on the other side of the world.
Seymour:
The cardinal sin is to be stubborn and hard-nosed about our way of life.
Vocabulary Building
●from the look of it 様子(顔つき)から判断すると
From the look of it, we're in for a heavy snowfall this week.
(その様子では、今週は大雪に見舞われるだろう。)
●have no complaints 特に不満はない
Jed has no complaints about his sudden transfer to Mexico City.
(メキシコシティへの突然の転勤について、ジェドは特に不満はない。)
●enclave (国、都市の中の異民族、異文化小集団の)居住地、居留地
Japan had enclaves for foreign residents in the 19th century.
(19世紀の日本には外国人の為の居留地があった。)
●five-star 超一流の、五つ星の
Only a few restaurants merit a five-star rating in this travel guide.
(この旅行ガイドでは数件のレストランだけが五つ星の評価を得ている。)
●sterilize 殺菌する、消毒する
Reusable medical instruments must be sterilized before an operation begins.
(再使用可能な医療器具は、手術開始前に殺菌消毒されなければならない。)
●intrualve みだりに立ち人る、押しつけがましい
Well−meant but intrusive help is often rejected.
(善意であっても押しつけがましい援助は大抵断られる。)
●if I may say so 言わせてもらえば
If I may say so，it’s time to cut the cackle and get back to work.
(言わせてもらえば、おしゃべりをやめて仕事に戻るころあいですよ。)
●compound 囲いを巡らした敷地内、居住区域
Military compounds separate soldiers from civilian areas.
(軍事基地が軍人たちを市民の生活区域から隔てている。)
●pull up stakes 土地(職)を離れる、立ち去る
Most Forty-Niners pulled up staks because they didn't strike gold．
(ゴールドラッシュでカリフォルニアに押し寄せた者のほとんどが、金脈に当たらなかったために立ち去った。)
●epltome 縮図、典型
Liars in public office are the epitome of a corrupt society.
(官公庁のうそつきたちは腐敗した社会の典型だ。)
●pop up 突如現れる、(話が)持ち上がる
Rumors about Tom's“covert rebates" popped up in the office．
(トムの「裏リベート」のうわさが社内に持ち上がった。)
●that's what it takes …(するため)に支払う代償(必要なもの)
Patience！That's what it takes to negotiate with detail-oirented parties．
(忍耐。それが細目にうるさい連中との交渉に必要なものなのだ。)
●back office 非営業(事務）部門、出納専務、窓際
Paul likes the back office because be can set his own hours.
(ポールは自分で勤務時間を設定できるので、非営業部門が好きだ。)
●out of date 時代遅れの、旧式の
Manual typewriters are out of date so we can't buy ribbons anymore.
(手動式のタイプライターは時代遅れになっているので、もはやインクリボンも買えない。)
●shrug off 無視する、軽視する
Henry can't shrug off his 30percent drop in shoe sales this year.
(ヘンリーは靴の売上が今年30パーセント落ちたことに無関心ではいられない。)
●get the cold shoulder 冷遇きれる、冷たくされる
Lois got the cold shoulder from her coworkers for sucking up to the boss.
(ロイスは上司におペっかを使ったことで、同僚たちがら冷たくされた。)
"Quote... Unquote"
●Forgive others often, yourself never.
−Publilius Syrus(Roman writer, c.42 B.C.)
他人はしばしば許せ。己は決して許すな。
●Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after he grows up.
−Pablo Picasso (Spanish painter and sculptor，1881−1973)
子供はみんな芸術家だ。問題は、大人になってからも、どうやって芸術家のままでいるかである。
●Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
−John F. Kennedy (35th U.S.President, 1917−63)
汝の敵を許せ。しかしその名前は決して忘れるな。
●Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger.
-Franklin P.Jones (U.S. attorney, 1906-)
正直な批判は受け入れ難いものだ。とりわけ、親類、友人、知り合いあるいは見ず知らずの他人からの場合、そうである。