This is China

“This is China” (TIC). This was a phrase that has been told to me by several people who have had to deal directly with daily life and negotiations with the Chinese. The phrase is used as a soothing mantra when one is confronted with the confound confusion that arises from the clash between culture and the bureaucracy of China. After these first three days in China, I now understand why such an idea was developed.

When I spent fourth months in Beijing, my entire program was organized and arranged by CET, who was a conglomeration of North Carolina universities working in conjunction with a few universities in Beijing. My current position and the travel arrangements surrounding it have been organized by an American Company (Journey East), a Chinese agent, and finally with the Nanchang Institute of Technology. This is a perfect example of the almost baffling bureaucratic system that is employed in every facet of Chinese life. For example, when Max and I arrived at the Shanghai Hongqiao airport (handles domestic flights) we were told that our luggage was overweight. So, we were vaguely pointed in the direction of a distant counter where we could pay our overweight fee. We would not receive our boarding passes until this task had been completed. Max and I scurried over to the counter and presented our multilayer receipt to an unenthusiastic middle-aged man. After having me sign the document, he told us the cost and then told me to go to the counter directly to my left—literally only one sidestep away. At this counter I encountered yet another unenthusiastic man who asked for my money and then gave me yet another receipt. Then he told me to go back to the counter that I had just left. It was only at this point that I was given a final receipt which I could bring back to the ticket counter in order to get my boarding pass. In China, every task which should require one person ends up requiring at least two if not three. “This is China.”

The point of this story is to illustrate how easily things can become complicated in China. These first few days have been a crash course in traveling within a foreign culture and in developing greater patience in general. When I finally arrived in Shanghai, after a 14 hour plane ride and an hour long trudge through customs, my first task was to get some Chinese money (Yuan, kuai, RMB—I will refer to Chinese money as any of these throughout the remainder of the blog). I presented my passport and an envelope of money to the bank teller and received my Yuan and receipt (this will be important later in the story). I was then able to make a few phone calls back home, which was a luxury. However, after finishing these phone calls, I noticed that Max’s flight was going to be two hours late. So, our plan to catch a taxi over to the domestic airport had been shot. At this point I went into semi panic mode. I made a reservation at the New Asia Hotel, called Keith (from Journey East), and called my contacts at the school to let them know that we would not be showing up on time. It was now time for the six hours of waiting before Max’s flight arrived. The wait was originally only four hours. After having already not slept more than a few hours in the last 30, this wait was comprised of me struggling not to pass out.

When Max finally arrived, we were both happy to see another non-Chinese face in the crowd. It turns out that Max is about 6’6”, so my blonde hair does not stand out at all compared to a six to eight inch height difference. We both carried our two enormous bags through the taxi line and managed to successfully load it all into a small taxi. When we arrived at the hotel, the real trouble began.

At check in, we were asked to present our passports. Max quickly presented his Canadian passport eager to reach the room. Unfortunately, I was still reaching into every pocket of every piece of clothing and luggage trying to find my passport. I could not find my passport. I had lost my passport within the first 6 hours of being in China. This was a great start to the trip. After about 20 minutes of panicking and almost having a nervous breakdown in the lobby of the hotel I remembered that the only place where I could have left my passport was at the money changing desk. I had given them my passport then right? Had it just fallen out of my pocket somewhere along the way? I asked the receptionist to call the airport. I thought this would be a LONG shot. Losing an American passport in a Chinese airport is like losing a $100 bill on the streets, chances are it’s long gone. After a few minutes on the phone, the receptionist told me that the indeed did have my passport and that I could pick it up in the morning. Relief, exhaustion, frustration.

After a moderately successful attempt at sleep, Max and I were awakened by a telephone call at 5 AM from Keith. Our new flight out to Nanchang had been scheduled for 11:25 AM. I still had to take a cab to the international airport and then get back to the hotel in time to get another cab over to the domestic airport for our new flight. Thankfully, when I went down to the lobby a few cab drivers were already waiting for passengers. I ended up getting a very nice cab driver who was very talkative about the special Olympics and F-1 races that were both going on in Shanghai at the time (in Chinese). I was able to communicate with him fairly well. He thought that I was going to pick up a friend, but I told him that I had forgotten my passport. When we arrived at the airport he parked the car and led me inside. We walked over to the lost and found desk (I never would have imagined that this would have existed) and after a little communication and the signature of a few documents my passport was retrieved from a back room and I was on my way. I can’t even begin to explain how relieved I was to have my passport in my hands again. This trip would have been a complete disaster if I had not found it.

I returned to the hotel with plenty of time for Max and I to wonder around in Shanghai for a while and get some breakfast (fried noodles and shrimp dumplings for me). We headed to the airport and had no problems what so ever (other than the desk shuffle story from earlier). When we arrived in Nanchang, the real problems began, for Max at least.

As Max and I walked out of the baggage claim area we were greeted by two English Teachers, Ms. Li and Ms. He. The first thing that they told us was that Max and I would be teaching on different campuses. Campuses that are 30 minutes apart. We were both fairly shocked by this statement as we had been told numerous times that we would either be living in the same building or on the same campus. After the initial shock, I figured that a 30 minute ride was not too bad and we would both survive. However, Max had specifically requested to live near to me, because of his complete inability to speak Chinese. Furthermore, when we arrived at our respective campuses, Max’s had no power and more importantly no air conditioning. It was 88 degrees the day that we arrived. It was extremely humid. Max called the teacher who had brought me over to my campus and asked if he could come to stay with me until his electrical problem had been solved. I was more than happy to allow Max to stay with me for a while. I have a huge place with multiple rooms (as you can see from my pictures). Over the last couple of days Max has been communicating with both Keith and the school in order to be moved over to my campus (which is a lot nicer I must say, though 40 minutes away from the city). This morning he talked to Keith and is supposed to be moving over to my campus today, but with the way that negotiations have been going over the last few days, I would be surprised if this actually happens.

Max caught the 7:10 AM bus this morning over to his campus where he will be teaching class from 8:00-12:00, and here I sit in my apartment, waiting for my 10:00 AM class. I will be teaching two levels of general English which are comprised of sophomores and juniors who are either in three-year or four-year programs at the university. In addition I will also be teaching a Tourism English class. The general English classes come with no materials. I can do whatever I want. The classes that I teach are purely oral English. My whole job is to get the students to speak English as much as possible. That’s it. Thankfully the Tourism English class has a textbook, which I will receive later today.

A lot has happened in the last few days, but I am finally feeling a little settled. I really miss everyone, but I am glad that I have at least one Western friend here with me. Also, I often have to act as his translator, which is great for my Chinese skills. Generally I can’t complain right now. I’m just happy to be settled.

I will post pictures and videos as soon as I can get them uploaded. Links for my pictures and videos can both be found on the right side of this website. Enjoy!