Pleasant Weekend and Wolves in ATM Clothing

Classes started a week ago, but my Classical Chinese class is pitifully easy. Each day we go over a short story, character by slow and painful character, for two hours and fifteen minutes of class time. I feel like I die a little bit inside every time in class, and the last half an hour is like pulling teeth. Okay maybe it’s not quite as bad as that, but it’s really slow, really easy, and I question the usefulness of the content. It’s required for the major however so I don’t really have an option to switch out of it anyway.

The easiness of the classes has at least permitted more free time. We are basically able to eat, drink, and be merry whenever. One easy thing to do here is take advantage of the not only the cheap beer, but also cheap bootleg DVDs.

Yes, 10 kuai DVDs. Sure, the default settings are set to Chinese, the packaging is questionable, they don’t play on some computers, and the menu titles are sometimes in Chinese, but it’s still sweet. For less than a buck and a half you have a movie that you would have paid 10x for in America. Also, movies that haven’t exactly been released yet on DVD such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, or occasionally even movies that aren’t even out in theaters yet (The Dark Knight last year). Combine these all-region/region-free discs with a cheap DVD player and it’s quite nice. I’ve already seen Night At The Museum, Yes Man, Wolverine, and half of He’s Just Not That Into You. (I fell asleep halfway through, brought on by a case of overwhelming boredom.)

The sketchy/cheap part of China has its downsides however. As I noted last post, I took out 1500 yuan and went happily on my way. What I neglected to mention was that I tried two ATMs before the third one let me have my money. These first two were both on campus, and neither worked last year, however I decided to give them a try and see if they were back up. Sort of. The first one told me it was broken and I moved to the second. It seemed to be working okay, but when I put in the amount I wanted it told me that there was no money left and gave me back my card and I took a receipt. Normally, I am so very good at keeping receipts and other paper-trail items. I keep gas receipts for a week or so. However after I got my money from the third ATM, I returned to my room and the receipt was chucked in the trash. After all, the result was the exact same as last year, so I figured no problem.

A couple days later when doing a routine check on my bank account, I noticed there were two withdrawals, on the same day. One of these was for $148 from an ATM on Weijin Lu, which happens to be the street our campus is on. I immediately commenced a search for the receipt but the trash had already been taken out (it is done daily) and I was feeling quite royally screwed. After cursing a few times, I asked my bank (UW Credit Union) to dispute it and explained what happened. They responded that after the machine is audited which is done every week or so, the money in the machine may not add up with the withdrawals. So basically the fate of my $148 is in the hands of some sketchy-ass local bank official who is probably taking large chunks out of the dumb 老外 (laowai, a slightly derogatory term for foreigner literally meaning “old outsider”) who decide to use their ATM. My bank explained that it could be up to 45 days for an answer since it’s an international thing, but I’ve basically already written it off as a loss. In my account right now I see I have been reimbursed (minus a $1.50 fee but whatever) though I’m not sure if that is the credit I have been extended by my bank, or if I won this small battle. I’ll see if it goes away and then talk to my bank. Lessons can be expensive.

On Saturday we took a ridiculously easy test and were out of class by 9:00AM. The supposed afternoon classes to compensate for missing earlier never materialized, thankfully. After a small talk by a 警察 (jingcha, police) on the dangers of not respecting local customs and which bars not to go to, we settled in, watched movies and ate, then promptly went to one of the clubs we were warned against.

This is not some stupid rebellious move that is seeking trouble. The truth is that the program does not particularly want to be liable for what happens when a dumb American gets belligerent drunk in a night club, makes a pass at some Chinese guy’s girlfriend and gets punched up something fierce. And if one were to avoid all human contact, you could also avoid the same fate. But where’s the fun in that?

So the girls took a few hours to beautify, and I changed into a never-fail classic in China: my Say No To Scurvy shirt.woot.com shirt. This shirt has everything. First, it is awesome, even in America. Second, it has English on it that 特别少 (very few) Chinese people will be able to understand, which makes me look awesome. Thirdly, that ridiculous looking cutesy orange with a smiley face is completely in line with the rest of this country’s unhealthy obsession with things like Doraemon and 喜洋洋. So it’s a born winner basically. At the club we bought a bottle of whiskey, and my night ended up playing a lot of the totally awesome game of Liar’s Dice which involves way too much thought given it is a drinking game. Though I guess that provides extra incentive not to suck.

Coming back to the club, I was once again feeling a craving. For a massage. So a friend and I went to the massage place at 2:00AM or something and got foot massages. They are open 24 hours, as I loudly noted several times. There is very little that feels better than getting a foot massage while starting to nod off and still a little bit intoxicated.

And being as how it was a one-day weekend, that is basically it. Class has resumed and is still easy. My tutor and I usually read those Pleasant Goat books together, because they are just a little bit above my level so are a pretty good way to learn, and there is not much for her to tutor me on really. I think some of us are planning some travel this weekend, but I’m not at all sure where. Our Beijing trip will be coming up the weekend after that, and I should have a veritable cornucopia of pictures from that.

下次

I do not have a fever

Or so the PRC Health Bureau tells me. After a quick 12+ hour flight, we landed, and sat and waited as health officials came onto the plane and took our temperature by zapping us on the forehead with what is evidently some sort of hi-tech thermometer. Fourth amendment concerns fell by the wayside as everyone on the plane simply wanted to get off. We did, and the dozen or so of us on the United 851 flight congregated then went through immigration, swine flu check, and customs. Customs, by the way, is a joke and the only exit is nothing to declare.

We exited the airport and waited for our bus. When it came, we boarded and suddenly everything seemed very surreal. Almost as though I had never left, and this was merely a regular commute. The perfectly paved highway, the ridiculous signs discouraging reckless driving, the people biking on the side of the 高速公路 (highway) as we trundled toward Tianjin.

One thing I noticed immediately was the blue sky. Last year our flight was delayed by about 5 hours and when we arrived it was dark. By the next morning, it was a solid light gray. This year it was really blue, clouds are visible, and it has only slightly darkened since getting to Tianjin. It’s really quite refreshing. I’m not sure how this happened, or what the impetus was now that the Olympics are long gone, but I like it.

We arrived at the hotel and proceeded to check in without drama. My 同屋 (roommate) Kevin had already arrived at the hotel/dorm, having been in China for a couple weeks already. I started seeing things and perceiving the building was moving all around me, so made the effort to stay up until 10:00 PM then crashed. Madison is 13 hours behind Chicago, so I had been awake for almost 30 hours, and had the additional fatigue associated with an intercontinental plane ride.

Our room:

Our quarantine officially started then too. Like many other policies of the glorious 中华人民共和国 (People’s Republic of China) this exists in name only. Upon arrival, we were given little cards that suggested a self-quarantine of 7 days. No thanks. The quarantine we are under is apparently not directed from the federal government in Beijing. I don’t know if it’s some local party hack who is trying to make a name for himself by protecting China from the sickened whiteys or what, but basically the American Embassy apparently helped us negotiate a shortened quarantine of 3 days. This has had no effect other than to provide us with free food for the period, as well as delay classes for a couple days. In theory we are not to leave the campus. We can come and go as we please however, and no one seems to care.

After withdrawing 1500 kuai/renminbi/yuan on Saturday I headed over to Homeworld and Carrefour to stock up. Toothpicks, Coke, bottled water, hangers, and pleother mundane items were all had for about 180 kuai. At 6.8 kuai to the dollar, it ran me less than $30 for a ton of crap. Cheap consumer goods get even cheaper when the distance between factory and store is two provinces instead of 150 degrees of longitude. One of the items was some incredible Doraemon-packaged toilet paper. Sadly the sheets themselves do not have any special printing.

That night several of us took advantage of the cheaply priced 啤酒 (beer) that is available throughout all of China. After playing the very un-PC named card game Tourette’s and a rousing rendition of Journey’s epic Don’t Stop Believing, a few of us went about a block or so north, crossed a fetid canal, and got to Alibaba’s, a very popular foreigner/expat bar. It was pretty popular among the students on the program last year but I actually never made it. After watching Manchester United for a little bit and mostly just sitting, drinking, and talking with other students, we came back.

On Sunday, I went again to Carrefour for no reason in particular. Didn’t have much better to do really. That night I also bit into my first, fantastic bite of McDonald’s since being back. The chicken is just as delicious as I remember. That same night six of us also went to my favorite massage parlor in Koreantown, the place with 90-minute full-body massages for 58 kuai. Sufficiently relaxed and having ate a dragonfruit from the nearby fruitstand, I returned and fell asleep.

Yesterday was a pretty slow day as well. I continued my habit here of waking up early, got on and surfed around on the internet, or at least while the internet was up and functioning. Later I took an oral test which turned out to be more of a chat with one of the professors about the problems the current generation of old Americans face, and who can solve their problems how. Not the easiest, and it involved some dumb pauses while I searched for words, but on the whole not too bad and it shouldn’t matter anyway. Later yesterday night, a much larger crowd of us went over to Alibaba’s again. In addition to thoroughly standard beer that cost 8 kuai (2-3 times a supermarket or convenience store) we also rented 2 hookahs. The only flavor we had was apple, though that might be because it was the only one we could translate into Chinese that they had. I was not in charge of procuring the hookah. Anyhow, it was decent but nothing near Memories. After one member of our party 喝醉了地呕吐 (I’ll let you look that up, and no it wasn’t me) we headed back. I played a couple games of euchre, won both (and actually came back from 6-0 to win 6-10 in one game) and then again made the nightly voyage to McDonald’s. I’m lovin’ it.

Today we had our orientation, met our teachers and tutors. Tomorrow my cell phone will be reactivated with minutes which should be convenient. We also went on a bus tour around the city and saw assorted sites like the foreign concessions, Olympic Stadium, and others. Finally to cap off the first official day of the program since being out of quarantine, we had a program banquet with very Americanized Chinese food and our teachers.

Classes start tomorrow, and we’ve already been assigned some preview material. It should be nice to get back to focusing on Chinese for a few hours a day, and start absorbing it again. The handouts I have so far don’t seem to difficult but it’s going to be a 4 person class for 3 hours which allows plenty of time for each of us to make lots of mistakes. Or learn. Or both.

再见

Up, Up, and Away from all the other Zhong Guo Ren

I'm now almost exactly 24 hours from boarding the great silver bird and taking off. Currently I am debating the virtues of staying up the entire night before and whether that will help me adjust, which in truth will all depend if I can fall asleep right away on the plane.

I also got an email from the program coordinator this morning:
Dear all,

We received urgent notice from the Bureau of Public Health today regarding a decision by the P.R.C government on dealing with persons from the infected areas of human cases of H1N1. This government regulation states that all persons who have been to the infected areas within the last 2 weeks shall be quarantined for 7 days.

Since all of you are coming from countries within which H1N1 human cases have been found, no-one could be exempted from this new regulation.

With the support of our local institutes, program staff negotiated on the terms and conditions related to the quarantine. The result turned out to be quite successful: instead of being quarantined for 7 days, we will only need to do it for 3 days. In the meanwhile, food will be provided by our hotel for free, as well as other complimentaries such as shampoo, towels, toilet paper, etc. Internet and room phone will also be set up by the time you check in.

What you need to do:

1. Make sure you don't have a fever when you enter China. Officers from Beijing Entry/Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (Beijing CIQ) will check every passenger once the plane lands. If you already have a fever, please do not board the plane.

2. During the quarantine, please do not leave our hotel building.

We understand that this governmental policy may cause you inconvenience. Please be reassured that we will adjust our schedule accordingly to make up for the class hours missed during the quarantine.

We appreciate your cooperation and will accommodate you as much as we can.
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3-day quarantine upon arrival. I'm not sure if this will be in a different hotel or the one we are scheduled to be in, but it sounds like our hotel in Tianjin. This will run into our scheduled city tour the first day after arrival, and will likely run into the first day of class as we'll since we arrive in China Friday afternoon and will likely get to our hotel Friday night. It'll probably be pretty boring, but oh well.

学期结束了

大家好! (Hello)

I’m now only 9 days away from getting on my 13 hour flight from O’Hare to Beijing. I finished finals last Wednesday so since then I’ve basically been hanging out with friends and slowly getting ready to go. I just ordered new contacts which should arrive before I leave, and have been slowly (as my mother can attest to) unpacking everything I brought home from my Madison apartment. It’s quite a lot of stuff and much is still sitting in the basement, where it will probably stay for the next 8.5 days.

I haven’t really started packing yet, other than to make a mental list. I’ll need to remember to bring hand towels, among other things, as they don’t provide those despite the fact we are living in a ‘hotel.’ Mostly though, packing will be sort of like for a long vacation: laptop, camera, large bottles of toiletries instead of travel-sized, tons of shorts and shirts, 1 pair nice pants, 1 pair jeans, and that’s it. The room I’m in will be lacking a proper dresser so I’ll be living out of my suitcase, technically speaking.

One fortunate thing is that I have been granted a multiple-entry visa. This will allow me to visit Hong Kong, Macau, or some any other country if I so desire. The visa is in my passport below:

Last year I was given a single-entry visa, so this may end up being more convenient. The 多 means many, more, multiple, etc… We have a ten day field trip during the program, and I have also decided to stay in China for a week after the program ends. I have a friend from high school who goes to Northwestern University and we will have some time to go wherever. Macau is China’s gambling capital (it is illegal on the mainland) so that might be fun.

When actually in Tianjin, I’ll be taking Classical Chinese along with one semester of fourth-year Chinese. The textbooks for these will all be available in China so I don’t need to pick them up here. I did however go to the bookstore and buy plenty of Wisconsin-themed gifts. Last summer I met a friend named Shino (her Chinese name is actually Xiaohuan) and her parents and aunt invited me to eat with them several times, and simply everyone in China loves American stuff and anything with English on it, so they should like the various clothing items I got them.

That’s all I’ve done to prepare. Spring Break (in Guatemala) took care of all the shots and such that I need. I have already notified my bank that I’ll be in China. The next week will breeze by then I’ll be back in Tianjin again. I’m already salivating over the food I’ll be having soon.
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This post was made on my new blog, http://blog.studyabroad.wisc.edu/index.php/archives/category/summer-2009/eric-mathis a week ago. I will be dual posting to both blogs probably.

China blog redux

It's looking like I'll be back in Tianjin this summer. May 28-Aug 17 or so.

Stay classy.

Are you experienced?

Lets make up for some lost time shall we? I feel like I've already done an entry on Pizza Hut and the salad, but I can't find it anywhere so maybe I'm going crazy or something. There will be a much longer post still yet to come truly concluding my travels in China. I had this one mostly written from a while ago.

Pizza Hut in America is not exactly what I picture when I hear "classy dining experience." (I'm sorry if you do.) And outside of stuffed crust pizza, it tastes pretty bad too. Well my friends, the Chinese know how to run a restaurant. I believe I have stated here previously that every pizza place in this country is expensive. Pizza Hut is no exception, and for my two cents was probably the trendsetter. On the outside, it doesn't look particularly special; it has the same Pizza Hut logo and then Chinese characters underneath proclaiming as much. When you walk inside though, the restaurant really starts to separate itself from the crowd.

Most Chinese restaurants have the look and feel of any hole-in-the wall establishment, with interior decorating that usually includes newspaper on the floors to catch and cover any massive stains, as well as faded advertising on the walls which hasn't been changed in the last 10 years. Naturally there are more upscale restaurants, and this is precisely where Pizza Hut fits in. The lighting is slightly dimmed by design, unlike in their American counterparts where the luminosity and wall coloring makes you feel like you're in the devil's antechamber. The clientele is also markedly different. We ate at a non-peak hour that was around 3pm or so and at least 50% of the tables were still full. Most all of the tables were filled by groups of people approximately my age or a little older, and at least 2/3 of the patrons were women. Shino informed me that at dinner time the place would be completely swamped. The actual menu was pretty classy, and had some interesting menu items, including "Rise of the Oriental Hero." They also had a positively delicious supreme pizza on the menu. Shino's aunt (this one lives in Beijing, the Tianjin one is different) treated us, and made me eat 5 of the 8 pieces. Not that I was complaining; it was incredible. We also ordered chicken wings, and they tasted as great as they do in America. They had real American soups too, including clam chowder which I hate, and other thick soups. In China, a soup is basically hot water with salt, oil, and either dough, tomato & egg, or one other relatively tasteless and unfilling thing. The idea of a soup that is almost a meal by itself is extremely foreign here.

So the food there was delicious; it was truly among the best I had in China, which is probably a rather pathetic thing for the Chinese. It might have tasted better just because it tasted like home though, I'm not too sure. Here are some pictures; the 1st is a slice of the seating area, the 2nd is the salad bar and some seating, and the last is the salad we ordered. It was incredible, but only in its architectural beauty; it tasted like crap.

中国和美国很不同样。

This isn't dead yet. I am working on one last mammoth of a post, think something along the lines of the first sentence of Moby Dick. Pictures of my last week should also be uploaded soon. And as dirty, dreary, and jaw-droppingly corrupt and inhumane a country it can be, 我就想中国. From the beauty of Tiger Leaping Gorge to the delicious lamb-and-bread noodle soup and the funny and/or suspicious looks for being white, there is very little about China that is similar to the US. I'll have the post up within a few days I hope.