Resulting from this, does the training of the Chinese waiters take longer than usual?

The word training does not exactly meet the point; it is firstly an introduction and then later a perfecting of oneself in practical experience. It’s the same with every student, who while working as a waiter in gastronomy does slowly learn step by step how to do the procedures right, and who at the beginning just regularly spills the coffee.

What is it what you like about China at most? Why did you decide staying here?

Here in China, I see opportunities. Opportunities, which I haven’t seen in Germany for several years now. Take for example to open "Die Kochmützen", - to do this would have been never possible for me in Germany. The opportunities one gets here are really exciting. However, there are also many hurdles in China and being a foreigner is by no means helpful, because still today foreigner’s deficits in language and communication skills are taken as advantage in harming him more or less or to hinder him in doing his job. Although one should not generalize the problem, it however does not stop to happen again and again.

Are these hurdles of bureaucratic kind, or is it the dealing with business partners?

Both of them, there are no clear lines in between. Existing law is partly ignored or just not even known, many people try to make a deal even then, when it is clearly connected with the gray area, or one just tries to rip the inexperienced one off.

I give an example: During a refurbishment, a gas meter had to be moved. Such work has to be made by an authorized firm and at that time there were only two of them in the whole area. One of them was given the job to sort out the matter, and that firm could demand the price at its own discretion. At the end of long negotiations about the price, I finally did pay more than I would have in Germany for the same job and this in spite of a generally substantially lower price level in China.

Another example: workmen tend usually towards buying materials at overcharged prices and to ask afterwards the materials supplier to repay them the remainder between regular price and actual price as commission. One could tell still many further stories about these things. I am sure that something of that kind may also have escaped my attention.

Please, two final questions: What has been your most negative experience in China, and what was your most beautiful experience you had in China until today?

(He thinks for a long time.): So, the most negative experience: Those are these permanent intrigues in the pure Chinese companies. Although one gets a position that requires full responsibility, one is nevertheless permanently hindered in his job by positions that are on the same or higher level, and this is happening with approval or even by manipulation by the boss. A Chinese does not very much like to be shown by a foreigner how to do it correct, that would hurt his pride, and thus it is obviously necessary for him to put permanently obstacles on ones path. These daily little games proved to be very wearing, since at that time they were very new to me.

Now, in order to finish our interview with something positive…

A positive experience was working as chef in international hotels in China. There we managed to build up a kind of family. That’s in a way not possible in Germany, but in China, one knows that one is going to work closely together for the next 2 to 3 years, and for that, it was a fantastic team.

Once, I worked together with a Chinese colleague, who did complete his training in Germany. I remained in contact with him over all the years and he had been so supportive with my ‘Kochmützen’-project, that without his help, I would never have been able to open the restaurant in the way I did. Thank you very much for the interview.