Eric's Beijing Diary

Jordan is leaving in a couple days, so I took him to the Christmas dinner at the Bridge Cafe this evening. When I met him, he was waiting for his Korean employer, who was supposed to bring him his final pay. I was not optimistic, because she has been putting him off, and making excuses for not being able to pay him. She finally did show up, and we met her at the Wenjin Hotel. She told him that she would give him 500 now, and the rest later. She owed him over a thousand. Naturally Jordan objected; he is leaving in two days. She upped the amount to 700, and started counting it out. She gave him a few bills and then made a big show of counting out the few ones left in her purse. It was a ridiculous display, and I told her what I thought of it. I won't bore you with the details, but the three of us had a nice, pleasant conversation, after which she decided that it was in her best interest to pay up.

I am not without some sympathy for her. The Korean won has fallen almost fifty percent against the dollar. This has to be affecting her business. But it was clear this evening that she had artfully planned to defraud Jordan, and that was not acceptable. You do need to be careful who you work for in this country.