Well, not quite! But almost ... just a very brief entry to say that I am still okay and I will update more next week (when I have the whole week off for a holiday), and a special thank you to people whose mail has got through to me so far, most recently to Mariamelia. We had to find the postal depot because we were at class when it arrived, that in itself was a bit of an adventure, more on it when I write again, but it came through intact and now both you and I and everyone else knows that the addresses on my entry titled "CONTACT DETAILS" actually work when printed off and stuck to envelopes / packages / etc.
My unsubtle hinting here is that I could really do with some mail, just because I like it, and also because I want to decorate my walls a bit - so if anyone fancies sending me a postcard or a letter and some pictures or anything really, please just go ahead and do it :D I will love it (whatever it is) and you may even be able to poach my free time to receive a reply of sorts! :)
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Pissup in a Brewery, Anyone?
*There was an alternative title to this post. I'll leave it up to your imaginations, suffice to say it was clean but very much taking the biscuit*
Will it never end? Seems like we get a couple of days when things run smoothly, and then everything hits the fan again. Two examples from the past two days.
POSTING A PRESENT ABROAD
How hard can it be to find a post office with an international service? This is a big deal - every other country I have been to has a facility for international postage in every post office, regardless of size, location, or how often this function is required. Sending a package to another country is as simple as going to a desk, filling out the required forms, and watching your post disappear into the black hole of the post office backroom. Here, it's enough if I can find a place that's open when I want it to be. Doesnt help that on the most recent holiday (Mid Autumn Festival?) the post offices stay closed but the banks open. Kind of like an odd bank holiday. So my second attempt to send this parcel was scuppered by poor timing (my first was ruined by the post muppet telling me that the present - a mug, yes you guessed correctly Lucy - was for drinking tea, and the letters -rolled up inside the mug for convenience - were for posting; actually I thought this was quite insulting and I wanted to hit the bloke square in the face for being so obnoxious, I was already having a crap day). Anyway, finally the post offices were open and I thought I would get this sorted once and for all. I went in and was informed there was no international service at that office. Honestly, what is wrong with this stupid place? I asked where I could find a branch to send my package and they said Hongshan. I asked if that was the one near the Xinhua Bookstore and they said yes, take the 101 bus (yes, yes, I know THAT). So I took the bus, it was the middle of the day, blazing hot, and I wasn't feeling good at all. But I got there, and it was a lot cooler inside, and then the fun began again. Turns out they don't have an international service. And after I got quite frustrated with them, it turns out they aren't the Hongshan branch, it's another 2 stops up the road. Gaaaaargh. I asked why they couldnt just have an international service in all branches like in England (or anywhere else for that matter) and was told (in English), "Ah, but that is your country and ... this is China" (yes, it IS China, which is fast becoming synonymous for "difficult" and "hopelessly slow" - aptly I learnt a very good Chinese word this week, δΉ± (luan) which means "messy" or "disorganised".) Feeling even worse, I went to the Hongshan branch, where (after a LOT of hassle, rewriting my address on the parcel, and filling out various customs forms - acerbically I might add, the frustration by this point becoming tangible) the package was good to go and all that remained was the small matter of RMB 86 to pay for it. WHAT?! GBP £7.00!!!!!!! for a small parcel?! Gobsmacked, and with no other option, I paid for this service, but really, that is extortionate. I think post day is going to be a once a week, maybe once every ten days affair, and will mainly be limited to sending letters, certainly nothing much bigger if that's how much I'm going to have to pay!
On the plus side I wasn't required to show my passport (a first, maybe?)
OBTAINING A RESIDENCY PERMIT
It has been about 10 days since we got our temporary residents' permits, which took about 18 days from arriving in China (there was a 30 day limit, it wasn't exactly optional, but the process took forever). Now we need the permanent ones (apparently we have another 30 days to get this sorted, good, we'll probably need it), which are both a sheet of paper and a sticker in the passport (I think). This morning we finally got the uni to give us all the necessary documents for this permit, and off we went to the PSB office. For the record, our handbooks state that a member of the international school staff should accompany us, but I didn't see anyone offering, and like most other things I'm beginning to suspect it was a load of mouth and not much trousers. We got to the PSB offices at about 1220, took a ticket when we went in and noted the number ... 1070 ... the display was reading number 1032 or something ridiculously far from our turn, and as usual a massive crowd of people was aimlessly shoving and trying to plonk their docs on the table first (despite this numbering system, it would seem the Chinese attitude of "just barge and shove and get in front of everyone else" has infected foreigners now) ... so we decided to go for lunch and see what the numbering system was doing when we got back. about 45 minutes later and it was all the way up to 1042. hardly an improvement, and quite frankly shocking - if these people would actually QUEUE and follow some sort of discipline, I'm sure it would have gone a lot quicker. And finally, at 1330, the guard from the front door comes along and starts making a cut off point, because the office stops working around then (WHY?!) and informs us they will reopen at 10 the next day, please come back then. So we are skipping classes (I sent my teacher an apologetic text, explaining this), just to get this stupid bureaucractic rubbish done, when it should have been sorted weeks ago, we should have had more assistance, and it certainly shouldn't have taken longer than today to finish.
In brief, I would suggest the following changes to improve efficiency and keep people happy:
* Make your postal service, just that.
* Do the same for your banks (remember the hassle we went through earlier?)
* Work proper hours, and don't send everyone off to lunch at the same damn time, that's what SHIFTS were invented for.
* Research, and subsequently enforce, the idea of queues in public offices (at least, if not everywhere)
* University, if you say you are going to provide a service, provide it.
As soon as we have this stupid permit sorted, we are going out to celebrate in a small (but very nice) restaurant near our house. And we're taking at least one of our teachers with us, we have two absolute stars to thank.
Will it never end? Seems like we get a couple of days when things run smoothly, and then everything hits the fan again. Two examples from the past two days.
POSTING A PRESENT ABROAD
How hard can it be to find a post office with an international service? This is a big deal - every other country I have been to has a facility for international postage in every post office, regardless of size, location, or how often this function is required. Sending a package to another country is as simple as going to a desk, filling out the required forms, and watching your post disappear into the black hole of the post office backroom. Here, it's enough if I can find a place that's open when I want it to be. Doesnt help that on the most recent holiday (Mid Autumn Festival?) the post offices stay closed but the banks open. Kind of like an odd bank holiday. So my second attempt to send this parcel was scuppered by poor timing (my first was ruined by the post muppet telling me that the present - a mug, yes you guessed correctly Lucy - was for drinking tea, and the letters -rolled up inside the mug for convenience - were for posting; actually I thought this was quite insulting and I wanted to hit the bloke square in the face for being so obnoxious, I was already having a crap day). Anyway, finally the post offices were open and I thought I would get this sorted once and for all. I went in and was informed there was no international service at that office. Honestly, what is wrong with this stupid place? I asked where I could find a branch to send my package and they said Hongshan. I asked if that was the one near the Xinhua Bookstore and they said yes, take the 101 bus (yes, yes, I know THAT). So I took the bus, it was the middle of the day, blazing hot, and I wasn't feeling good at all. But I got there, and it was a lot cooler inside, and then the fun began again. Turns out they don't have an international service. And after I got quite frustrated with them, it turns out they aren't the Hongshan branch, it's another 2 stops up the road. Gaaaaargh. I asked why they couldnt just have an international service in all branches like in England (or anywhere else for that matter) and was told (in English), "Ah, but that is your country and ... this is China" (yes, it IS China, which is fast becoming synonymous for "difficult" and "hopelessly slow" - aptly I learnt a very good Chinese word this week, δΉ± (luan) which means "messy" or "disorganised".) Feeling even worse, I went to the Hongshan branch, where (after a LOT of hassle, rewriting my address on the parcel, and filling out various customs forms - acerbically I might add, the frustration by this point becoming tangible) the package was good to go and all that remained was the small matter of RMB 86 to pay for it. WHAT?! GBP £7.00!!!!!!! for a small parcel?! Gobsmacked, and with no other option, I paid for this service, but really, that is extortionate. I think post day is going to be a once a week, maybe once every ten days affair, and will mainly be limited to sending letters, certainly nothing much bigger if that's how much I'm going to have to pay!
On the plus side I wasn't required to show my passport (a first, maybe?)
OBTAINING A RESIDENCY PERMIT
It has been about 10 days since we got our temporary residents' permits, which took about 18 days from arriving in China (there was a 30 day limit, it wasn't exactly optional, but the process took forever). Now we need the permanent ones (apparently we have another 30 days to get this sorted, good, we'll probably need it), which are both a sheet of paper and a sticker in the passport (I think). This morning we finally got the uni to give us all the necessary documents for this permit, and off we went to the PSB office. For the record, our handbooks state that a member of the international school staff should accompany us, but I didn't see anyone offering, and like most other things I'm beginning to suspect it was a load of mouth and not much trousers. We got to the PSB offices at about 1220, took a ticket when we went in and noted the number ... 1070 ... the display was reading number 1032 or something ridiculously far from our turn, and as usual a massive crowd of people was aimlessly shoving and trying to plonk their docs on the table first (despite this numbering system, it would seem the Chinese attitude of "just barge and shove and get in front of everyone else" has infected foreigners now) ... so we decided to go for lunch and see what the numbering system was doing when we got back. about 45 minutes later and it was all the way up to 1042. hardly an improvement, and quite frankly shocking - if these people would actually QUEUE and follow some sort of discipline, I'm sure it would have gone a lot quicker. And finally, at 1330, the guard from the front door comes along and starts making a cut off point, because the office stops working around then (WHY?!) and informs us they will reopen at 10 the next day, please come back then. So we are skipping classes (I sent my teacher an apologetic text, explaining this), just to get this stupid bureaucractic rubbish done, when it should have been sorted weeks ago, we should have had more assistance, and it certainly shouldn't have taken longer than today to finish.
In brief, I would suggest the following changes to improve efficiency and keep people happy:
* Make your postal service, just that.
* Do the same for your banks (remember the hassle we went through earlier?)
* Work proper hours, and don't send everyone off to lunch at the same damn time, that's what SHIFTS were invented for.
* Research, and subsequently enforce, the idea of queues in public offices (at least, if not everywhere)
* University, if you say you are going to provide a service, provide it.
As soon as we have this stupid permit sorted, we are going out to celebrate in a small (but very nice) restaurant near our house. And we're taking at least one of our teachers with us, we have two absolute stars to thank.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
More Culture Shock?
... where to start?
I have no idea how to begin this post, or even what it will be about. Quite a lot of things have happened recently, and I'll try and put them in some order. At the end I think I will include some observations of life around here, because there are some things that need to be said.
We started classes on Monday and the pace of work here is definitely faster than anything I've been exposed to before. Firstly, there was some confusion over our timetables - on paper I have about 24 hours a week (maybe 25), which is about double my lessontime in the UK (because all my courses in England require me to go away and research stuff and learn around topics, whereas here there is direct tuition and you go away and learn the stuff that is very relevant to the books, words you dont know, etc). So that alone came as a bit of a shock. But I discovered some of the lessons are optional (those on Chinese culture for example) and some are repeats (there are 2 culture lessons a week, one is taken at a slower pace, but both are optional and there is no test, it's purely for information and enjoyment). Some are optional but I will be attending (the HSK lessons, for example, more on that when I've actually had one - tomorrow? the teacher didn't turn up to the last one). And some are just nondescript, we were supposed to have a "Second Learning Class" this afternoon, but no one showed up, so we got the impression it's optional. We can ask tomorrow. At any rate we think it might just be a homework class, in which case sod that, I can do homework at home, as the name suggests. So my workload is now down to about 20 hours a week, hurray. But what a 20 hours!
This week alone I have been introduced to somewhere between 70 and 100 new words, new uses for words I knew, or combinations of words, and I've been expected to learn them within a day of seeing them. How it works is, my grammar and language teacher will go through a passage with us from the book. We'll see the new words, say them, use them in the passage, have things explained, etc. When we come back the next day, we have a test on these words. So you have about 24 hours to learn however many new words are being given to you, approximately 30 per lesson. We've had two lessons this week. Yup, that's right, twice this week I have had to learn 30 words (pronunciation, written form, meaning), and be tested on them. It was really brought home when the teacher got two students to go and write words she called out on the blackboard. I did not want to be shown up, so I got down and learnt the words! How much of it stays in my head is another matter, I'm guessing this pace is too intense to store EVERYTHING, unless you are recapping and using the vocab constantly. And even then you have to remember how to write it all. Yikes.
The same goes for listening class, all new words have to be learnt, and the reading class, and so on. This amounts to a LOT of new words. It doesn't help that sometimes I know some of the words in the list but don't know what other words in the book mean. I'm constantly using a dictionary to get the meanings of just about everything. Talk about being thrown in the deep end. Oh and my listening is rubbish. I barely understand the tapes when they are played, the people speak so fast. Talking of fast, that's one thing the day is not. Classes are two hours each, with a break every hour (about 5 or 10 minutes), but that's a lot of classtime. 0930 - 1130, 1140 - 1330, break for lunch, and then some days I have a class from 1600 - 1750. I imagine in the winter that last class will see me leaving university in pitch black and minus 20-something Celsius. Brrrr.
Thinking of "university", this place is WEIRD. It's not at all what I imagine an institute of higher education to be like. Perhaps the languages courses for foreigners recruit differently, I don't know. All I can say is the behaviour of some members of my class (notably the Kazakh males - the girls are really good students and I don't tar them with the same brush at all) is simply unacceptable. They turn up late for classes (three of them trooped in 50 minutes late today), are rude (one of the three walked past the teacher, who was telling him off, and just muttered "yeah yeah yeah"), and basically behave like they are in some crap middle school. Take for example the guy in Marta's class who was asked by the teacher to remove his chewing gum because they were doing pronunciation; he refused, the teacher insisted, so he opened the classroom door and spat his gum into the corridor. In the words of one of the teacher-trainers who will be working here for the next 2 years showing Chinese teachers how to teach Western-style, "I would have made him go out there, pick it up, and put it back in his mouth". Excuse my French, but too fucking right.
It's got to get to a head some time. I don't want to be in a class with these people really. Theyre not disruptive all of the time, but being even a BIT disruptive is inexcusable at a university. And getting up in the middle of a class to leave the room to use your phone ("sorry teacher" - yeah? if you are so sorry don't bloody well do it, moron) is bang out of order. Why the teachers don't take a firmer stance, or just kick people out of their classes, I do not know. It's even written in our handbooks (which we now, have, long story) that such measures can be taken. And yet for some reason they don't. If it goes on like this much longer I think I will be having a word with my teachers or writing a letter to the head of the school. These guys can go in their own damn class and maybe the rest of us can get on and learn.
In other news, Marta and I finally got our Temporary Residence Permits (YAY), and will soon have proper ones stamped into our passports (hope they look nice) ... and we were also given the International Students Handbook, which we should have got when we arrived, but our college forgot (how convenient). This book tells us how to do EVERYTHING from getting our residency permit to getting a dining card for the school canteen. In short, having this on Day 1 would have made things a lot easier for us. Still, we have copies now, that's what matters.
Penultimately, could someone please tell me if they have ever encountered something like this in child-raising around the world: the children here, up to a certain age (I assume whenever they know to go to the toilet on the toilet and not in their pants) have trousers that have been manufactured with a split around the middle, which allows the kid to squat / be held by their parents and urinate / defecate freely without soiling their clothes. This is bad enough, but when a parent is holding their child over paving and there is a grassy plot five meters away, one has to wonder about the workings of the Xinjiang mind. I've not seen it elsewhere in China so I don't know if it extends to other countries nearby, or other provinces, or what. I know nappies are expensive (and wasteful?) but there are things like terry-cloths, right? It's really brought home when you walk down the street and see a kid run out of a shop, squat himself down on the steps outside, pee, and then get up and run off again. I hope winter comes soon because they can't keep their kids like this when it's below zero. Disgusting. Simply disgusting.
Oh and finally, to Mum, Aunty Anne, or anyone else not technologically inclined, you can all leave comments on this blog (which will centralise things for me and save emailing everything) by clicking on the comments link, the grey bit underneath each entry that says how many "attempts to shut me up" have taken place. You don't need to be a member of blogger or wordpress or google, you can leave your name or remain anonymous, it's up to you, but I do like people commenting and I do (occasionally) respond! :)
I have no idea how to begin this post, or even what it will be about. Quite a lot of things have happened recently, and I'll try and put them in some order. At the end I think I will include some observations of life around here, because there are some things that need to be said.
We started classes on Monday and the pace of work here is definitely faster than anything I've been exposed to before. Firstly, there was some confusion over our timetables - on paper I have about 24 hours a week (maybe 25), which is about double my lessontime in the UK (because all my courses in England require me to go away and research stuff and learn around topics, whereas here there is direct tuition and you go away and learn the stuff that is very relevant to the books, words you dont know, etc). So that alone came as a bit of a shock. But I discovered some of the lessons are optional (those on Chinese culture for example) and some are repeats (there are 2 culture lessons a week, one is taken at a slower pace, but both are optional and there is no test, it's purely for information and enjoyment). Some are optional but I will be attending (the HSK lessons, for example, more on that when I've actually had one - tomorrow? the teacher didn't turn up to the last one). And some are just nondescript, we were supposed to have a "Second Learning Class" this afternoon, but no one showed up, so we got the impression it's optional. We can ask tomorrow. At any rate we think it might just be a homework class, in which case sod that, I can do homework at home, as the name suggests. So my workload is now down to about 20 hours a week, hurray. But what a 20 hours!
This week alone I have been introduced to somewhere between 70 and 100 new words, new uses for words I knew, or combinations of words, and I've been expected to learn them within a day of seeing them. How it works is, my grammar and language teacher will go through a passage with us from the book. We'll see the new words, say them, use them in the passage, have things explained, etc. When we come back the next day, we have a test on these words. So you have about 24 hours to learn however many new words are being given to you, approximately 30 per lesson. We've had two lessons this week. Yup, that's right, twice this week I have had to learn 30 words (pronunciation, written form, meaning), and be tested on them. It was really brought home when the teacher got two students to go and write words she called out on the blackboard. I did not want to be shown up, so I got down and learnt the words! How much of it stays in my head is another matter, I'm guessing this pace is too intense to store EVERYTHING, unless you are recapping and using the vocab constantly. And even then you have to remember how to write it all. Yikes.
The same goes for listening class, all new words have to be learnt, and the reading class, and so on. This amounts to a LOT of new words. It doesn't help that sometimes I know some of the words in the list but don't know what other words in the book mean. I'm constantly using a dictionary to get the meanings of just about everything. Talk about being thrown in the deep end. Oh and my listening is rubbish. I barely understand the tapes when they are played, the people speak so fast. Talking of fast, that's one thing the day is not. Classes are two hours each, with a break every hour (about 5 or 10 minutes), but that's a lot of classtime. 0930 - 1130, 1140 - 1330, break for lunch, and then some days I have a class from 1600 - 1750. I imagine in the winter that last class will see me leaving university in pitch black and minus 20-something Celsius. Brrrr.
Thinking of "university", this place is WEIRD. It's not at all what I imagine an institute of higher education to be like. Perhaps the languages courses for foreigners recruit differently, I don't know. All I can say is the behaviour of some members of my class (notably the Kazakh males - the girls are really good students and I don't tar them with the same brush at all) is simply unacceptable. They turn up late for classes (three of them trooped in 50 minutes late today), are rude (one of the three walked past the teacher, who was telling him off, and just muttered "yeah yeah yeah"), and basically behave like they are in some crap middle school. Take for example the guy in Marta's class who was asked by the teacher to remove his chewing gum because they were doing pronunciation; he refused, the teacher insisted, so he opened the classroom door and spat his gum into the corridor. In the words of one of the teacher-trainers who will be working here for the next 2 years showing Chinese teachers how to teach Western-style, "I would have made him go out there, pick it up, and put it back in his mouth". Excuse my French, but too fucking right.
It's got to get to a head some time. I don't want to be in a class with these people really. Theyre not disruptive all of the time, but being even a BIT disruptive is inexcusable at a university. And getting up in the middle of a class to leave the room to use your phone ("sorry teacher" - yeah? if you are so sorry don't bloody well do it, moron) is bang out of order. Why the teachers don't take a firmer stance, or just kick people out of their classes, I do not know. It's even written in our handbooks (which we now, have, long story) that such measures can be taken. And yet for some reason they don't. If it goes on like this much longer I think I will be having a word with my teachers or writing a letter to the head of the school. These guys can go in their own damn class and maybe the rest of us can get on and learn.
In other news, Marta and I finally got our Temporary Residence Permits (YAY), and will soon have proper ones stamped into our passports (hope they look nice) ... and we were also given the International Students Handbook, which we should have got when we arrived, but our college forgot (how convenient). This book tells us how to do EVERYTHING from getting our residency permit to getting a dining card for the school canteen. In short, having this on Day 1 would have made things a lot easier for us. Still, we have copies now, that's what matters.
Penultimately, could someone please tell me if they have ever encountered something like this in child-raising around the world: the children here, up to a certain age (I assume whenever they know to go to the toilet on the toilet and not in their pants) have trousers that have been manufactured with a split around the middle, which allows the kid to squat / be held by their parents and urinate / defecate freely without soiling their clothes. This is bad enough, but when a parent is holding their child over paving and there is a grassy plot five meters away, one has to wonder about the workings of the Xinjiang mind. I've not seen it elsewhere in China so I don't know if it extends to other countries nearby, or other provinces, or what. I know nappies are expensive (and wasteful?) but there are things like terry-cloths, right? It's really brought home when you walk down the street and see a kid run out of a shop, squat himself down on the steps outside, pee, and then get up and run off again. I hope winter comes soon because they can't keep their kids like this when it's below zero. Disgusting. Simply disgusting.
Oh and finally, to Mum, Aunty Anne, or anyone else not technologically inclined, you can all leave comments on this blog (which will centralise things for me and save emailing everything) by clicking on the comments link, the grey bit underneath each entry that says how many "attempts to shut me up" have taken place. You don't need to be a member of blogger or wordpress or google, you can leave your name or remain anonymous, it's up to you, but I do like people commenting and I do (occasionally) respond! :)
Monday, 8 September 2008
CONTACT DETAILS
I hope by now everyone has recovered from the mammoth amount of updating I did in the last couple of days ... I'm sorry for the verbal diarrhoea, and it will probably stop now I have a regular net connection. Today was my first day at uni here, and I'm sure there'll be a blog about it sometime later, maybe at the end of the week when I can better judge how things are going - suffice to say I feel quite a bit out of my depth right now!
Maybe it's because of this that I would really appreciate some kind of contact other than email or blog-comments (though these are much liked!) ... and possibly something to put up around the house or create an illusion of being elsewhere (anyone who wants to send me Western shower gel, deodorant, a pair of casual trainers UK size 9, or some nice coffee is more than welcome! Chocolate never went amiss either.) So, I made some address printouts. If they load up you should be able to just save them as images to your hard drive, and then print them out to stick on items of post. I personally think a better idea is to print one copy and then photocopy any further ones, because photocopier toner is far less likely to smudge or become illegible if it gets exposed to wet (rain, snow, it's all possible here!)
EDIT - SECOND LAYOUT DELETED BECAUSE IT WAS INCORRECT! IF YOU SENT MAIL USING THIS LAYOUT DONT BE SURPRISED IF IT DOESNT GET TO ME. REALLY SORRY EVERYONE!
The telephone numbers are so the postmen can call us if we are not in when the mail arrives (honestly, I have no idea how it works here, we don't have a letterbox or anything - I don't even know where to go if I'm not in when post comes, and if I'm at university then I don't see how I'll be able to answer my phone even!). When I gave Lucy my address I also included the Pinyin (ie: transliteration of the Chinese), but I don't think this is necessary as long as people are printing the characters and they are coming out clearly. You may need to resize in Word or Paint or whatever you use - just make sure it looks CLEAR! If you are absolutely pedantic and worried no one will be able to read it, you may add the following to the address.
Yes, it's quite a lot smaller. But that's because I don't think it's 100% necessary (and also because when I was sizing it, it was supposed to fit alongside the Chinese and still be able to go on a postcard!) ... Anyway, that's how to get in touch with us, sorry it all looks a bit complicated, and also I'm not sure if I should have put the address on backwards (you know, Country, Region, Street, House Number, Room Number) - I don't think it will make THAT much difference. Lucy, by the way, your letter to me still hasn't arrived, but I got impatient and want everyone else to start trying to send me things and we'll find out how this system works (or doesn't). On that note, would people mind telling me if the postcards I sent to them have reached their destinations? I posted them at least 10 days ago now.
Maybe it's because of this that I would really appreciate some kind of contact other than email or blog-comments (though these are much liked!) ... and possibly something to put up around the house or create an illusion of being elsewhere (anyone who wants to send me Western shower gel, deodorant, a pair of casual trainers UK size 9, or some nice coffee is more than welcome! Chocolate never went amiss either.) So, I made some address printouts. If they load up you should be able to just save them as images to your hard drive, and then print them out to stick on items of post. I personally think a better idea is to print one copy and then photocopy any further ones, because photocopier toner is far less likely to smudge or become illegible if it gets exposed to wet (rain, snow, it's all possible here!)
EDIT - SECOND LAYOUT DELETED BECAUSE IT WAS INCORRECT! IF YOU SENT MAIL USING THIS LAYOUT DONT BE SURPRISED IF IT DOESNT GET TO ME. REALLY SORRY EVERYONE!
The telephone numbers are so the postmen can call us if we are not in when the mail arrives (honestly, I have no idea how it works here, we don't have a letterbox or anything - I don't even know where to go if I'm not in when post comes, and if I'm at university then I don't see how I'll be able to answer my phone even!). When I gave Lucy my address I also included the Pinyin (ie: transliteration of the Chinese), but I don't think this is necessary as long as people are printing the characters and they are coming out clearly. You may need to resize in Word or Paint or whatever you use - just make sure it looks CLEAR! If you are absolutely pedantic and worried no one will be able to read it, you may add the following to the address.
Yes, it's quite a lot smaller. But that's because I don't think it's 100% necessary (and also because when I was sizing it, it was supposed to fit alongside the Chinese and still be able to go on a postcard!) ... Anyway, that's how to get in touch with us, sorry it all looks a bit complicated, and also I'm not sure if I should have put the address on backwards (you know, Country, Region, Street, House Number, Room Number) - I don't think it will make THAT much difference. Lucy, by the way, your letter to me still hasn't arrived, but I got impatient and want everyone else to start trying to send me things and we'll find out how this system works (or doesn't). On that note, would people mind telling me if the postcards I sent to them have reached their destinations? I posted them at least 10 days ago now.
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Bureaucrapcy
Not a spelling error there, sorry, just a rubbish pun. Honestly, the amount of stuff that needs signing and photocopying to get anywhere in China is ridiculous. I bet they lose half the stuff we give them anyway, and why nothing is done electronically is beyond me. In order to register for a temporary residence permit we have to do the following:
1. Get forms from XNU
2. Make sure we make 4 photocopies of all the documents
3. Fill them out and take them back to the International Office for the school stamp
4. Take them to the Police along with copies of our landlady’s ID and rent contract
5. Don’t forget passport photos!
6. Obtain a residency permit from the local police station
7. Take it back to the University
8. Have it signed and stamped, and take it to the main Police office in the city
9. Here, they will issue us with actual residency permits (not sure, don’t ask) and include a stamp in our passports.
So, why can’t we just go straight to the main Police office? And why did we only get told about these other forms (specific to the University, regarding living off campus) after we had been to the Police station with our landlady’s ID and rent contract? And why is there no one to help us fill in one of the forms which is completely in Chinese? This is madness. The local Police office pretty much just waves us past the gate security now, we’ve been back so many times (and still have to go back again). I have about 15 days left before I am considered an illegal resident in China. I have no desire for this to occur, let’s hope some people pull their fingers out for us and get us these residency permits. I bet they don’t allow entry to China though, so if I want to travel internationally I will need to get another visa from someplace – or just not travel internationally. I hate the Olympics and all the heightened security measures that surround them.
On another note, I have finally completed my medical examinations and been registered for classes even though I’ve not yet received my student ID. The medical exams were not great but not the end of the world either – we had to fast for about 12 hours beforehand (and people that know me know I can pass out when I’m having my blood taken even on a full stomach), and in the morning we had to spend some time at the uni taking some language tests for class placements … I didn’t do as well as I wanted on those tests, but I didn’t do so badly either. I’ve been put in an intermediate class, and I know at least one other member of the group, there are only going to be about 15 of us total, I hope the others are good students or I will have to do more complaining (both here and formally!) … The medical exams were simple though – a blood test (a quick confirmation of blood type and then a sample or two to be sent to a lab for overnight testing, things like, white / red blood cell counts, HIV, Syphilis, Plague, and so on), a urine test (blood sugars and so on), X-ray (mobile not static, they sort of move the X-ray box around and it scans you in real time), 12 SL ECG, blood pressure, heart rate, vision, and an abdominal / lower chest ultrasound. Apparently I have type O blood – this I did not know. Now it’s possible, but mum always seemed sure I had type B. And Marta’s blood also showed up as O, but she is sure she has type A … whether the Chinese test was botched or not, we don’t know … but at any rate, at least O can be given to anyone, so if we have to receive maybe it’s just easiest! The X-ray was interesting, the doctor refused to sign off my sheet fully until he had seen my ECG report (which came back with the notes, “sinus bradycardia with sinus arrhythmia”, which they ummed and ahhed over for a minute or so, made a note on the paper, and then he signed me off as “healthy”) – really great for my confidence, eh. Blood pressure was stupidly low on the first reading (94 / 48) and not much higher on the second (103 / 58) but that’s hardly surprising given that I usually have it quite low, and that I’d not been eating for ages. The tests lasted about half an hour, and we paid RMB 283 (about £22.50) for them all, came back the next day and collected our health examination booklets which have our photo and all the results printed on the inside – they look like little passports, and have to be taken with us if we go travelling, inside or outside China I am told. At least we got all the results quickly – next-day service in the UK? I don’t think so, you’d have to wait a week. But it would be free I suppose. Swings and roundabouts really.
Back to my classes, I’m not sure what all of them comprise – I couldn’t translate all the Chinese – but I know I have quite a few! First class runs from 0930 – 1130, second from 1140 – 1330 and third class from 1600 – 1750, all Beijing times. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I have all three classes (oh fun), Wednesdays and Fridays I finish at 1330 (woop) … altogether I think I have something like 24.5 hours a week, much much more than I am used to in the UK! Although all the classes are in Chinese (as far as I know), I think four of them are not language classes per se – two are in Chinese culture, and two are for the HSK – a sort of exam to show what level of Chinese you have, internationally recognised (I think) … oh and one, I think is homework session, it’s the only one Marta and I share.
1. Get forms from XNU
2. Make sure we make 4 photocopies of all the documents
3. Fill them out and take them back to the International Office for the school stamp
4. Take them to the Police along with copies of our landlady’s ID and rent contract
5. Don’t forget passport photos!
6. Obtain a residency permit from the local police station
7. Take it back to the University
8. Have it signed and stamped, and take it to the main Police office in the city
9. Here, they will issue us with actual residency permits (not sure, don’t ask) and include a stamp in our passports.
So, why can’t we just go straight to the main Police office? And why did we only get told about these other forms (specific to the University, regarding living off campus) after we had been to the Police station with our landlady’s ID and rent contract? And why is there no one to help us fill in one of the forms which is completely in Chinese? This is madness. The local Police office pretty much just waves us past the gate security now, we’ve been back so many times (and still have to go back again). I have about 15 days left before I am considered an illegal resident in China. I have no desire for this to occur, let’s hope some people pull their fingers out for us and get us these residency permits. I bet they don’t allow entry to China though, so if I want to travel internationally I will need to get another visa from someplace – or just not travel internationally. I hate the Olympics and all the heightened security measures that surround them.
On another note, I have finally completed my medical examinations and been registered for classes even though I’ve not yet received my student ID. The medical exams were not great but not the end of the world either – we had to fast for about 12 hours beforehand (and people that know me know I can pass out when I’m having my blood taken even on a full stomach), and in the morning we had to spend some time at the uni taking some language tests for class placements … I didn’t do as well as I wanted on those tests, but I didn’t do so badly either. I’ve been put in an intermediate class, and I know at least one other member of the group, there are only going to be about 15 of us total, I hope the others are good students or I will have to do more complaining (both here and formally!) … The medical exams were simple though – a blood test (a quick confirmation of blood type and then a sample or two to be sent to a lab for overnight testing, things like, white / red blood cell counts, HIV, Syphilis, Plague, and so on), a urine test (blood sugars and so on), X-ray (mobile not static, they sort of move the X-ray box around and it scans you in real time), 12 SL ECG, blood pressure, heart rate, vision, and an abdominal / lower chest ultrasound. Apparently I have type O blood – this I did not know. Now it’s possible, but mum always seemed sure I had type B. And Marta’s blood also showed up as O, but she is sure she has type A … whether the Chinese test was botched or not, we don’t know … but at any rate, at least O can be given to anyone, so if we have to receive maybe it’s just easiest! The X-ray was interesting, the doctor refused to sign off my sheet fully until he had seen my ECG report (which came back with the notes, “sinus bradycardia with sinus arrhythmia”, which they ummed and ahhed over for a minute or so, made a note on the paper, and then he signed me off as “healthy”) – really great for my confidence, eh. Blood pressure was stupidly low on the first reading (94 / 48) and not much higher on the second (103 / 58) but that’s hardly surprising given that I usually have it quite low, and that I’d not been eating for ages. The tests lasted about half an hour, and we paid RMB 283 (about £22.50) for them all, came back the next day and collected our health examination booklets which have our photo and all the results printed on the inside – they look like little passports, and have to be taken with us if we go travelling, inside or outside China I am told. At least we got all the results quickly – next-day service in the UK? I don’t think so, you’d have to wait a week. But it would be free I suppose. Swings and roundabouts really.
Back to my classes, I’m not sure what all of them comprise – I couldn’t translate all the Chinese – but I know I have quite a few! First class runs from 0930 – 1130, second from 1140 – 1330 and third class from 1600 – 1750, all Beijing times. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I have all three classes (oh fun), Wednesdays and Fridays I finish at 1330 (woop) … altogether I think I have something like 24.5 hours a week, much much more than I am used to in the UK! Although all the classes are in Chinese (as far as I know), I think four of them are not language classes per se – two are in Chinese culture, and two are for the HSK – a sort of exam to show what level of Chinese you have, internationally recognised (I think) … oh and one, I think is homework session, it’s the only one Marta and I share.
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