Working? We Talking About Working?

If you’ve been paying careful attention to my blog posts, you might have noticed that I haven’t said anything about actually WORKING in Shanghai yet…  That’s because the process to get approved to work in Shanghai is quite complex and took 3 weeks before I arrived and another 2.5 weeks once I arrived in Shanghai.  One part of the process was completed before I arrived, and then once I arrived there were three more approvals needed in-country.

The first step was BY FAR the most different than anything I’ve ever experienced.  It’s called the “medical check” and is a commonly discussed topic by the foreigners working in Shanghai.  I went for my medical check the first morning I was in Shanghai.  I took a taxi about 30 minutes away from my apartment and met an immigration specialist contracted by Nike who speaks Chinese to help shepherd me through the process.  We had to check in with various people at various counters, present 2 copies of my headshot, and then I finally entered the doctor’s office part of the experience.

The first step was to get my height and weight measured.  Then I was handed a hospital gown and told to take off everything from my waist up, including my bra and jewelry.  They gave me a key to lock everything up in a locker while I was waiting, but I kept my phone with me as a sort-of security blanket just in case.  I was then escorted, by doctors and nurses speaking varying levels of English, through a variety of rooms each with a different purpose. 

One of the first rooms I passed through required me to untie my gown and receive an ultrasound of my abdomen.  In another room I entered, they asked me to lie down and untie my gown and then placed these strange suction cups on different parts of my skin so that they could do an EKG.  The doctors and nurses who work there probably have a really tough job doing the same test all day, every day for people who don’t necessarily want to be there and typically don’t speak any Chinese.  However, they almost never said anything more than “lie down”, “untie gown”, or tell me which room to go to next for the next test.  It’s a little unnerving to be in a foreign hospital setting with people taking your blood, taking chest xrays, or doing EKGs without explaining to you what’s going on.

My EKG.  My mom (cardiac rehab nurse) said I look healthy!  It's a running joke among the foreigners I know here that we all have "fatty liver" according to the medical report, which is actually a precursor to liver disease if any of us actually had it.

 The whole experience is also strange because you are going through it with a bunch of other similarly confused/culture-shocked people.  There are couches in the hallway outside each room so you end up seeing the same people in the same lines over and over again.  However, the hallway is pretty crowded so it wasn’t always clear which couch aligned with which room.  English is a common language across the foreigners who were there, but it wasn’t always easy to tell people who were about to cut the line where they should stand to wait.

The whole medical check took about an hour and a half, and I left feeling very bewildered.  I had only been in the country 18 hours at this point, hadn't eaten since the night before, and was severely jetlagged, but I wanted to do the appointment right away so that I didn’t delay my visa process.  After the actual appointment, it took a week for the government to process my results and declare me “fit for duty.” It’s not clear what they were looking for, but according to the internet they may be screening for things like tuberculosis and HIV.

Following the medical check, I next had to present myself at the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to obtain a residence permit.  This involved sitting in front of a window while a government officer looked at my passport and typed things onto her computer.  I didn't actually say anything to her or answer any questions, but maybe the immigration specialist answered some questions on my behalf.  I left my passport with her and then a week later I received an email from the immigration specialist that my residence permit was approved and that the final application for the employment license was submitted.  This meant I could go to Nike and start my new job.

The entrance to one of the two buildings at Nike's Greater China Headquarters

My first day of work was last Friday, March 17^th.  It was nice to get into the office and meet the people I’ll be working with.  My first day ended up being epically long – I had a call with Nike World Headquarters (WHQ) starting at 7a local time and then didn’t get home until after 11p because of a team dinner and visits to three Nike stores with my team to make sure everything was prepared for an upcoming visit from some WHQ Vice Presidents.  One of the coolest parts of the store visits was seeing the “Back of House”, the place where all the inventory is stored.  In one of the stores, the employees have drawn a cool mural on the walls and I loved finding this secret part of Nike culture that most customers don’t get to see.

In another store, there was a quote from Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman translated to Chinese and written on the wall.  I don't know what it says but thought it was cool that a little bit of Nike culture and heritage made it to the back of a store!

It was a great first day, and I was glad it was Friday so that I could take the weekend to recover and get ready for my first full week of work!