Hello, Liu

Our new driver, Liu, has been with us for a week now. We like him, but we don't know much about him. The language barrier makes it difficult to have any conversation beyond "hello." He seems to be about 30 years old. Next time I'm in the car with him alone (so far I've only been out with Mike and the kids), I plan to ask him if he is married or has kids.

I think that he used to be a taxi driver based on the way he drives. A little fast, but totally in control. He is constantly looking and aware of all of the cars around us. And, best of all, he is an expert at anticipating what the traffic around us will do (a skill our old driver never had). So even though we are driving faster and more China-like, I feel safer with him.

I am definitely using my Chinese more and he is working to learn more English. With the help of technology (electronic translators), we have managed to communicate our needs so far.

One of the key components of building relationships in China is guanxi. At the most basic explanation, this involves doing favors or other nice things for people in an effort to build the depth of the relationship. The expectation is that then you will give back to them.

So when Liu picked Mike up from work yesterday, Liu gave Mike a bottle of blueberry juice (the label actually said bilberry). When Mike said he liked it and he thought the kids would like it (although I'm not sure how he actually said this!), Liu stopped and bought him 4 more! Of course, the complicated part of this is that Mike would have said he liked it even if he didn't just to give face (or make Liu feel good) and would've felt obligated to accept the juice even if it tasted awful. In return, I sent some homemade muffins with Mike to give to Liu this morning....and I'm sure he'll tell Mike they were great even if he didn't think so.

We like that he is making an effort to build a relationship. Since I feel safe with him, I hope he will stay with us for awhile.
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