Lately I've been volunteering/interning at the McDonald's office in downtown Beijing, and you'll be happy to know that they've been filling me with Spicy McChickens every chance they get. We actually probably eat at Mike D's every other day...pretty intense. I've been rotating between different departments, from HR to Operations to Marketing. So when I'm not eating their Corn Cup (you can swap the Corn Cup for French Fries...Chinese people really like corn), I've been learning quite a bit and getting to do some pretty cool stuff. When I got to help cheer at the torch relay, that was with McDonald's. It was amazing: over 200 employees who were selected as the city's best showed up on their days off to meet at McDonald's at 8am in the morning. And they were all nuts about McDonald's.
At one restaurant I got to 
meet the Chinese Ronald McDonald, who was making his rounds. He did some pretty cheesy magic tricks, but his English was really good. He looked nothing like the real, more authentic American Ronald McDonald...a lot shorter and a lot more Chinese. I should be getting these pictures soon.
meet the Chinese Ronald McDonald, who was making his rounds. He did some pretty cheesy magic tricks, but his English was really good. He looked nothing like the real, more authentic American Ronald McDonald...a lot shorter and a lot more Chinese. I should be getting these pictures soon. I've also been taken to too many McD's to remember and talked to a countless number of managers. At a couple restaurants they gave me the grand tour and even let me make burgers. I failed miserably. Here I am, 21 years old about to graduate from a top 20 university, and I can't even flip a freaking burger. You can just see them laughing at me. The lengths the restaura
nt goes through for standardization is amazing. For example, when putting the burgers down on the grill, there is a certain way to place them so that when you take the burger flipper, the first patty down is the first patty up, ensuring the same cooking time. I felt I kind of bad for the customers who were getting my sandwiches, but the workers just laughed about it--they were pretty cool.
nt goes through for standardization is amazing. For example, when putting the burgers down on the grill, there is a certain way to place them so that when you take the burger flipper, the first patty down is the first patty up, ensuring the same cooking time. I felt I kind of bad for the customers who were getting my sandwiches, but the workers just laughed about it--they were pretty cool.Everyone has been so nice--not just the employees at the office, but also the managers and workers at the restaurants. I've had gifts thrown at me like Christmas is coming early--from Olympic pens to restaurant group photos. There's something different about these McDonald's. Whenever you walk in, you feel good. It's kind of exciting. There's pumping Chinese pop music, the facilities are m
ostly new and always clean, and all the service counter workers are young, happy, thin Chinese girls. When I was talking to one of the managers we got on the topic of age, and I found out her age...it came about through asking how long she'd worked at McDonald's, so lay off. I thought she was about 22-25, but turns out she was 35. She explained that working at McD's "Makes you grow up to look young", because everyone is so happy to work there.
ostly new and always clean, and all the service counter workers are young, happy, thin Chinese girls. When I was talking to one of the managers we got on the topic of age, and I found out her age...it came about through asking how long she'd worked at McDonald's, so lay off. I thought she was about 22-25, but turns out she was 35. She explained that working at McD's "Makes you grow up to look young", because everyone is so happy to work there. You can see in the pictures, all the girls have the stickers on their cheeks that say "I'm loving it when China wins!"...a promotional for the Olympics. But it's not just girls wearing these things--guys too. Trying pulling that in the States. You'd have employees walking o
ut. I was taken up to the break room for employees, and found them relaxing over some chicken nuggets. Then I saw a framed song on the wall. After asking about it and reading it, I found out that one of the employees, who in fact was right there, had written the song about how working at McDonald's is awesome and how it brings people together. I was pretty blown away. Not only did he write it, but he recorded it with his friends, and the rock video was playing in the break room as we talked.
ut. I was taken up to the break room for employees, and found them relaxing over some chicken nuggets. Then I saw a framed song on the wall. After asking about it and reading it, I found out that one of the employees, who in fact was right there, had written the song about how working at McDonald's is awesome and how it brings people together. I was pretty blown away. Not only did he write it, but he recorded it with his friends, and the rock video was playing in the break room as we talked.A lot of employees have asked why I'm here and want to know if I work at McD's in the States. I embarassingly reply tha
t no, because I'm paying for a large part of college I went for a job that pays a little more. You don't want to say that working at McD's is a bad job, because it's not, but it is certainly not what you want to do between college semesters to vault yourself to a good post-graduate job. In China, though, working at McDonald's during college breaks is pretty normal, and being employed there is pretty respectable. A lot of people just keep on working there and move their way up, and now I know why--it's a really good culture.
t no, because I'm paying for a large part of college I went for a job that pays a little more. You don't want to say that working at McD's is a bad job, because it's not, but it is certainly not what you want to do between college semesters to vault yourself to a good post-graduate job. In China, though, working at McDonald's during college breaks is pretty normal, and being employed there is pretty respectable. A lot of people just keep on working there and move their way up, and now I know why--it's a really good culture.Well, better go and rest up for Japan vs. Chinese Tapei in baseball tomorrow. I'm pumped.
1 comment:
Funny, that's kind of the same spirit that employees here at Maid to Order have! And I'd trade FF for corn any day. See what you can do about that when you get back, k? Love you.
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