November 2008

Being an ex banker I take notice of the banks in China.

We think that in Qld it is a tough market. I think in China it is a tougher market. Every province has their own Bank, Co-op or credit union. The number of banks is amazing.

The local Bank of China operates in this small town 7 days a week from 8am - 6pm.

I've made the paper!

I'm willing to try any form of natural therapy. My latest is Acupuncture. The acupuncturist in his Chinglish showed me some articles he has written for the paper. He told me that he was writing another article and could he take a photo with me for the article. I agreed.

The article appeared in the paper on 31/10/08. Can't read a word of it, but you can clearly see that it is me in the photo.

I noticed that some of my classes had shrunk. I didn't know if the students were truant. Not ever going to be able to know every single student by name I have name cards. I called a student only to be told he has gone home, the next student I had the same response.

I was later to find out that they had been sent home never to return for drinking. This is a tough call. In China there is no legal drinking age limit, however the school has a no drinking policy. But most of these students are between 18 and 25.

I really do not my thoughts on this.

Having been a banker I know the process for card replacements in Australia. In China though it is a whole new experience.

First you must report the card stolen and withdrawal all the money. Two days later you go back to order a new card. A week later you go an pick up the card. Now these cards are not like our cards they are pre-printed.

So tomorrow I will finally have a replacement card after 10 days without a card.

I had lost my watch and I needed to report this lost to the Police to make a claim under my insurance policy. I write a letter and I am met at the school gate by a Chinese teacher.

We go to the police station with the letter, my passport and my foreign expert certificate. The police station is an interesting situation. First you go in and wait. There is no police officer there. You wait until someone shows up.

Eventually someone shows up. The Chinese person is told that we need to report it to the school police. Didn't know there was such a thing. We go back to the school campus and the Chinese person organizes that.

My next encounter with the police is when I need to report my wallet stolen. This is interesting. I go to the police station and this time there are police officers waiting. I look at them and they look at me. I sat down at the desk hoping that someone would come to the desk. I given them the letter, the translated letter and my passport.

They continue to look at me. Eventually they ring an interpreter service. I speak with the interpreter and explain the situation. The interpreter tells me that next time I must have an interpreter provided by the school. She asked to speak to the police officer they do what they do and tell me to leave.

A very strange and uncomfortable situation.