Well, I've had a lot of glowing things or at least fairly complimentary things to say about China lately. Of course, there have also been irritations, small and large. Today's post? Some things China/Beijing Language and Culture University need to improve on.
But before that... something I've neglected to say for a while.
I can't access my blog from here thanks to the Great Firewall of China. So I've been sending these posts to my Dad, and he's been posting them. He's the one who's made this even possible. So, Dad? Thank you so very much.
Back to the topic!
Firstly, the most recent irritation: Dryers.
It is not that hard to have a dryer that actually dries clothing, China. Even once you figure out that the hot air comes from behind the semi-difficult-to-clean lint trap, the dryer only -uses- hot air about 50% of the time (which is to say sometimes it just doesn't use hot air and just tumbles the clothes. Not the most helpful of methods). I'd be willing to dry my clothes naturally! But.
1) Beijing water -smells-. Seriously. It's really got a bad odor to it unless it's boiled. So letting it sit... yeah, the clothes reek after that.
2) There's no room to do it, really, especially with a roommate who has 3x the clothes I do (...I packed a full suitcase, how did he manage that?) and dryer racks in the laundry rooms that -never- have free space. Not ever.
So that tends to be an exercise in frustration, but one way or another I get dry clothes.
Second: Internet sites blocked.
Oddly enough, this is getting -worse- as Beijing gets closer and closer to the Olympics, which is slightly nonsensical. Sites blocked: blogspot (yo, Dad), YouTube (decently irritating), some American online newspapers (this varies on and off), anything related to sensitive political topics for China (including some stuff that isn't obvious). There's more, I'm sure. Google itself gets blocked half the time, although Gmail doesn't as often. It's just... uh, this is ineffective. I'm sorry, but it really really is, China. Quite frankly? I've found roundabout ways for all this except YouTube right now. I don't use any of them! But.
Third: Bureaucracy.
It took two or more weeks for my meds from America to get to me. And the post office system is really bizarre in that in theory, you should be notified of a package arriving for you. In practice? It was here for about a week, and I didn't hear about it. It's really hard to get them to let you check for your package if you don't have a notification slip, too. Plus, the package center where you have to go is only open on weekdays, 2:00-4:30 (although I think the sign said they'd start being open every day soon. Good).
Also, applying for anything here is a massive pain, even if you're fluent. It's a common joke for a lot of the foreigners that we're surprised we don't need to fill out a form in triplicate to order lunch.
Fourth: Friendliness.
Or rather, the lack thereof.
There are some Chinese who are willing to smile and talk to you if you want. Increasingly, however, especially in Beijing, you get either "scary American" vibes or even on occasion reactions bordering on hostile (those being rare, thankfully). Not much else to say about it. It's just unnerving.
Finally, not something about China, but rather a request for you all: Saturday morning, one of my fellow Western Michigan study abroad students learned that her father had just died of a heart attack. She is returning to America and will not be able to come back to finish the term. I would like to request for you all to keep Ashley Kloote and her father, Paul, in your prayers and/or thoughts. Thank you.
That's about it right now! A more cheerful update next time, I promise!
-Tom
