爱美食，更爱这座城——一位惠普外籍员工的重庆生活

□ 李静

“来到重庆才算来到中国”

2010年，惠普落户重庆。越来越多的外籍员工因为工作的关系来到这座城市，在惠普工作的美国人杰森便是其中的一位。对于中国，杰森一点都不陌生，过去的十年时间里，他像“空中飞人”一样，常年穿梭于美国的休斯顿和中国的深圳、上海等城市。

2008年，惠普高层来到重庆考察，杰森才开始关注这座城市。回忆自己第一次到重庆，杰森说：“那个时候我看到这座城市的面貌，就感觉这才是真正的中国。北京、上海已经国际化了，而重庆，我看到了另一种中国文化特色。”杰森表示，自己刚来重庆就喜欢上了这里，重庆有时尚的元素，也有历史的缩影，现代与古代的文明相结合。“我非常喜欢这里的山水，这里的文化，这里的人都很友好，食物也很棒”，言谈间，杰森一脸激动。

也许是天意，2010年，本来是派到上海工作的杰森却因为公司临时调整到了重庆。在和家人的一番商讨后，杰森和太太、孩子们一起搬到了重庆，开始了新的生活。新鲜之余，杰森开始慢慢的适应这里的生活，“重庆是一个开放的城市，相对于上海来说，这里的外国人还不算很多，但这更方便我们这些外国人之间的联系和交往。大家都很熟悉，可以一起分享在这里工作生活所带来的乐趣。”

来到重庆以后，杰森开始和家人一起开始熟悉这里的一切，一家人去动物园、泡温泉、逛街，打高尔夫。杰森告诉记者自己最大的爱好就是寻找美食，所以他一到重庆就去尝火锅，两个不到三岁的儿子也和爸爸一样成了“火锅迷”，一进餐馆就开始用自己的小手“自力更生”去拿菜放进锅里烫，十分开心。除此之外，杰森还兴致勃勃地拿出相机向记者展示他最喜欢的重庆菜麻婆豆腐、土豆丝等，“我最喜欢的菜是干 煸 四季豆。我去餐馆就很喜欢这一道菜，很好吃。”到过中国这么多城市，杰森很坦率地告诉记者，上海是一个很适合外国人旅游的城市，因为那里可以找到世界各地的美食，比较国际化；而宜居的城市还是重庆。唯一让他不太适应的是在这里很难买到适合他的衣服和鞋子，每次回国都要从家里带上足够的衣服才行。

“我是惠普历史上第一个被派到重庆来工作的美国人”

在惠普重庆担任策略采购经理，从事笔记本电脑SC合作伙伴管理以来，杰森很适应这里的工作。“我是惠普历史上第一个被派到重庆来工作的外国人，”言谈中充满自豪。作为一个外籍管理者，杰森和同事们能很好地沟通，在他看来，重庆的员工思想很单纯，也很坦诚，这让他觉得工作起来很轻松，有时他也会和同事们一起去吃饭、唱歌 ， 彼此增进了解。前不久因为工作去上海出差，才去几天竟开始想念重庆了，让他自己也觉得很吃惊。

杰森表示，重庆是一个发展潜力巨大的城市，尤其两江新区成立以后，重庆的经济发展更快，他希望重庆加大物流和运输方面的建设。“惠普落户重庆后，我期待惠普总部所在城市与重庆两地能实现直航。”在他看来，惠普在上海业务发展很好，但成本高，而重庆劳动力成本低，人源稳定，这是很大的优势，只是英语流利、经验丰富的高科技管理人才也很紧缺，但因为重庆本地的员工乐于接受新事物和新思想，这让杰森很欣慰。

除了在惠普工作以外，杰森也是中国西南美国商会的代表，为了充分发挥自己在商会的作用，他也积极鼓励更多在重庆的会员企业和个人加入商会，帮助举行一些慈善活动。“随着重庆经济的快速发展，越来越多的外资企业落户重庆，在重庆的外国人也会越来越多，虽然我来自美国，但我也希望为重庆这座中国西部的重要城市的发展出一份力。”

Chapter 1: Moving to Chongqing, “the real China”.

In 2008 Hewlett-Packard first sent representatives to Chongqing to explore setting up a location here. In 2010 their operation was up and running, bringing more foreign employees with them. Jason Ortega is one of those employees. For the past ten years, Jason has traveled back and forth from Houston, Texas to Shenzhen, Shanghai and other Chinese cities for HP. He first visited Chongqing in 2008 and was quite impressed, “I felt this was the real China. Beijing and Shanghai are very international, but I saw more of the genuine Chinese culture in Chongqing. It's full of fashion, is a microcosm of the country's history and is a combination of modern and ancient civilization. I really like the landscape and the culture here. People are friendly and the food is great.”

Last year, after discussing with his family, Jason moved to Chongqing with his wife and children to start a new life. They gradually began to adapt to life here. “Chongqing is an open city, but there are not many foreigners compared to Shanghai. We live in a small neighborhood of expats where almost everyone knows each other. We can share information and talk about our experiences of living and working here.”

Chapter 2: Enjoying Chongqing, “hot pot fans”.

Jason and his family have started to explore the city, with trips to the zoo, hot springs, shopping and playing golf. Jason told us his favorite hobby is to look for good food. When he first arrived in Chongqing he tried the hot pot. His two younger sons also became “hot pot fans” like their father. They would start to put food into the hot pot as soon as it was placed on their table. Jason took out his camera to show us pictures of his favorite dishes of Chongqing, such as Mapo tofu, potatoes, etc. “My favorite dish is stir fry beans. I can go to a restaurant and just order this dish and some rice. It is so good!” Jason exclaimed with a look of excitement.

After traveling to so many cities in China, Jason told us, very frankly, Shanghai is a city for foreign tourists because you can find food from all over the world. But, for a foreigner, who likes to live here, Chongqing is the best! The only issue he has is the difficulty of buying clothes and shoes that fit. So, each time he returns to the United States, he returns with the clothes he needs.

Chapter 3: Working in Chongqing, “the first American sent to Chongqing by HP”.

As a Strategic Procurement Manager and working in Notebook SC Partner Management, Jason is very proud of the work in which he is involved. “I was the first American sent to Chongqing by HP.”

Jason's ability to communicate with his staff makes his job as a foreign manager very smooth. In his opinion, relations with his staff in Chongqing are quite open and direct, which he enjoys. Sometimes they will go to dinner, or singing with HP co-workers and friends together to enhance mutual understanding. Some time ago, when traveling to Shanghai for business only for a few days, he began to feel homesick for Chongqing, which was very surprising to him.

Chapter 4: The Future of Chongqing. “a city with great potential”.

Jason said, “Chongqing is a city of great potential, especially with the establishment of the Liangjiang New Area. The economic development of the city will grow faster and he hopes the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone will strengthen the logistics and transportation in Chongqing.

In his view, although HP's business in Shanghai is doing well, the cost is quite high. The labor cost in Chongqing is lower and human resources are more stable, which is a big advantage. However, experienced, high-tech management talent, with English fluency is very scarce. It is good that the local staff is very open and willing to accept new concepts and new ideas.

In addition to working for HP, Jason is also a board member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Southwest China. He actively encourages more companies and individuals in Chongqing to join the association, which holds a number of charitable activities every year. “With the rapid economic development of Chongqing, more and more foreign enterprises will settle in Chongqing and more foreigners will move to Chongqing. Although I am from the USA, I also want to try my best to help with the development of Chongqing, the major city of western China.”