Dear Bloggy,

I flew with Air China to come to Beijing yesterday. Since I have always been interested in the working cultures and attitudes of different countries, I have paid some attention with the services of the flight attendants. I think they have been trained pretty much the same as the other airlines, such as how to serve tea and coffee, how to put meals on tray etc. But there is still something missing. You don't feel that they are connecting with you or are putting their customers' comfort in the first place. I can't really describe it but you can just feel the difference. I think staff training only helps to a certain point, in the end it is the culture of the company that really counts. Devil is in the details.

Well talking about working culture and attitudes I have some not-so-pleasant experience just today. I bought and new sim card here and suppose to have 50 dollars in my account. Today when I tried to call a landlord I was surprised that it has been cut off already because there were not enough $$ in the account. How can one used up 50 dollars in Beijing especially I didn't make any long distance phone call? I went to the shop again and the attitudes of one of the staff there was just driving me crazy. He was essentially talking to me with his head on his hand and I had that sudden impulse of dragging him out of his counter and punch him at his nice little nose which his glasses is hanging on! Yuck!

But then all in all I think people here are friendly and helpful, it is just that the way of doing things are different than it is in HK. I don't want to say which one is better but I think for now I am still preferring the latter. Or maybe I am just bias I don't know.

Enough whining. I spend the day looking and searching for apartments. No luck and quite frustrating. In general, the apartments or rooms I have seen so far are quite old. In fact, many of them (including my motel) are quite decent on the inside. However, when you look at the building from the outside or the surrounding area, you just feel that there is something wrong. It is usually very dark, old, and sometimes even dirty. It is quite depressing walking through those allies....

I have also done body check today. Different doctors are responsible for different sections. One of them is very rude. I think she couldn't believe that in this world there is someone as stupid as me who doesn't even know how to put the "X-ray protecting armor" on. Oh well... :p I also did a blood test. The nurse took my blood, but I think it doesn't occur to her that it might even be a good idea to give something such as a bandage to stop her subjects from keep bleeding. :p
BTW, the hospital is kinda like the apartments I mentioned above: dark, old, and sometimes even dirty. It is a hospital GDI!

Oh well I think I shouldn't be just complaining. Maybe I am just too frustrated with the apartment-hunting. So let's cut it short and buy for now Bloggy.