Staxxx in My Jeans

Getting paid here feels suspiciously like doing a drug deal.

I get paid every month in cash. On pay day, I'm ushered into a dimly lit office at the end of a dark hallway and discretely handed a large wad of 100 RMB notes bound with a rubber band. I then take my wad of cash to the corner to count it as quickly as possible so that no one sees me. I'm making more money than the Chinese teachers, so I'm encouraged to keep my pay secret, plus it's pretty awkward to carry around that much cash. Side note: as an avid credit/debit card user, it has been particularly strange to make the transition to an all cash lifestyle; more on that later. I then take my wad of cash and scurry back to my room to hide most of my paycheck in a shoe in my closet because it would be nearly impossible to spend all of my meager paycheck here in the village.

 

Overall it's quite shady but thoroughly entertaining.

 

Even though I'm barely making any money by US standards, it's more than enough to get by in China, especially with most of my food, my housing and utilities, etc. being paid for by the school. The only thing that I really have to buy is Starbucks, alcohol, the occasional toiletry, and dinner on weekends. I'm really only spending about 25% of my paycheck. There's not much to buy here.

 

The village is an interesting place to live. There's a distinct polarization between the rich and poor and consequently a large range of prices. Things in China are, as a whole, much cheaper than in the USA… The notable exceptions are western products like Starbucks and Apple merchandise (all electronics really).

 

Everything else is dirt-cheap. I can eat a large dinner for around 10 – 20 RMB*. A case of 40 oz bottles of local beer is 34 RMB. A diet coke (luxury!!) is 2.5 RMB. A chicken sandwich from KFC is 12 RMB. A half of a roast duck with chili sauce from the open air market is around 15 RMB. And I'm definitely getting ripped off with the duck. You're supposed to bargain, but my Chinese isn't really good enough to get me the best deal possible. A bus ticket to Nantong is 18 RMB. A cab there is 100 RMB.

 

On the expensive side, a Grande Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks is 34 RMB. Pretty pricey. Avocados are 20 RMB each. Cheese, when you can find it, is also up there.

 

My point here, even though I'm spending roughly 20 per cent of my income at Starbucks, I'm still saving enough money to cover my epic backpacking trip around China for the summer.

 

I've got staxxx in my jeans, but unfortunately no Phantom up in my garage. Yet.

 

*Current exchange rate is 6.3 RMB to $1 USD.