My First Night...

... as a bar dancer. It has to be the strangest job that i have ever had. Well.... working for a Chinese owner helps that. See, the thing is i have to be there at 8:30 to clock in. But we don't even dance until around 10:45. So, what does one do with all that extra time? I inquired about this to Joey (the girl that got me the job) but the best and only answer was because "this is China."
So after sitting and doing near nothing for thirty minutes Joey turns to me and says, "i'm going to wash my hair. Do you wanna come?" I thought this was a bit strange. Surely she meant at the bar and not a hair salon. Didn't we just clock in? I mean, how could we just leave? Easy, as it turns out. She turned to the manager and said, "we're going to go get our hair washed, okay?" "sure," he replies. And then we left!
So we walk across the street to the salon (which is of course still open because its huge business in china and they don't seem to close any earlier than midnight) and i'm getting an uneasy feeling. See, being from the west when you first start a job you bring a professional attitude and for sure try to stay under the radar until you learn the ropes. Its not for a few weeks until you learn when and where you can slack off a bit. But here i am on my very first day leaving to go get a scalp treatment!
"Are you sure this is okay?" in inquire. "Oh yeah," she says. "It is just so boring in there and you looked really bored too so i wanted to get you out of there! Besides, we already clocked in." "Riiiiiiiiiight." was about all i could manage to say.
Now for those of you who have not experienced a Chinese hair salon its quite a trip. First off, a hair wash is not just a hair wash. Its a deluxe treatment complete with head, shoulder, and arm massage, q-tip ear cleaning, wash, rinse, dry, style, and a friendly conversation that consists mostly of, "wow, your chinese is so good." in reply to your telling them no thanks i dont want a hair cut. All of this for a maximum of 3 USD.
So then we go back to the club wait some more and only then is it time to do what i am being paid for.
The instructions were simple. A security guard and the other male dancer guided me to one of the platforms explaining over the music along the way. I was going to be number 3. When the second dancer is going at a different part of the club i am on standby. When they finish, step on the stage thingy. The dancing platform will rise. Once the light hits you, go. We did 2 sets and were done. bada-bing. just like that. I'm supposed to do 3 sets but they let me go early so i can get home and sleep for me real job... a teacher. Now since i technically only "work" for 15 minutes you would think this job is too good to be true.... especially i you knew how much was being paid. But its really exhausting. The waiting, the constant noise from the music (i bring ear plugs now), NO one speaks to me in English (a good challenge), and the smoke is unbelievable. Chinese people love nothing more than to smoke and the filtration system for that thing i love called oxygen isn't exactly to western standards. But i have to try hard and do my best to make this work. Why? Because this job doubles my salary. Believe it or not i'm paid as much as a teacher to shake my ass.