It’s been unseasonally mild of late but the other day the weather finally turned. The leaves fell off the trees in only a couple of days, things changed so fast.
Winter is just beginning, hopefully it’ll snow next week. Fortunately my apartment is very warm and often I have to open the windows to let in the cool air. 🙂 But I’m not complaining, having an apartment that is cold during the winter is enough to make anyone want to leave China.
Over the last few months I’ve been getting frequently frustrated with the way things are done at the publishing company I’ve been working at. It’s one of my various part-time jobs, It’s a challenge and often enjoyable but immensly disillusioning if you care about quality of work. I think it’s mainly because the errors I see are so easily fixed and yet no one cares as long as they keep on producing materials. I suspect many of the business practices I see here are mirrored throughout other Chinese businesses.
Everything is so terribly short-term, nobody plans ahead by more than 24 hours and this causes great strain on the operation of the company. On the 30th September everyone was told that they would have a 7 day vacation in line with the National holiday, from the 1st to the 8th. So most staff made arrangements to travel to other cities to meet friends and family. Imagine my consternation when on the evening of the 4th I received a phone call asking me to work on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Apparently the person in charge had a change of heart and decided that everyone must go back to work for the rest of the week! Stuff what was previously said, if people are travelling then they must come back to work! I, of course, told them there was no chance of me working however after some persuasion I gave them a compromise; You pay me triple pay and I’ll think about it. This worked becasue they never did call me back and no more questions were asked!
The next week I spoke with some of my Chinese collegages and many had to rush back to Changchun from their home towns or cancel visits to see people, but they all agreed to do it. Nobody questioned this. This is because there is basically zero job security, they can be easily replaced and there are no trade unions let alone employment laws protecting their rights. In many ways this represents the very primitive kind of capitalism China has adopted, at its worst. So I have come to the not-so-shocking-conclusion that if I were to work long-term in China, it would only ever be for a foreign company.
This company don’t seem to get it that it is so easy for them to produce quality materials, they have the resources to do it, it’s just they don’t want to change. The management are so afraid of changing things, even if that means continuing to produce sub-stadard material. As I see it, the problem is that there is no business incentive for them to produce quality work.
The company I work for produces the national examinations for high school students as well as various other English language learning materials – including a newspaper. They have a captive market; students have to take the exams and will subscribe to their newspaper regardless of the quality of the end product. They don’t have to worry about competition much less accountability to any government standards body.
I guess that’s just China and one of the problems of ‘communism’ as long as everyone has a job (even if their job is meaningless) then all’s well and good. Why rock the boat?
When this place finally fully opens up to foreign companies so may of the Chinese companies will have to change their act or face insolvency.
Much of the content of the English texts is composed by fake foreigners (Chinese people signing the work with a foreign name like John Smith) is factually incorrect. They could get real foreigners to write these articles (rather than just edit) or even copy from real sources. Or who knows, maybe even write all their own materials?
Imagine westerners writing articles about Chinese culture (in Chinese) who have never actually been to China, then using these articles in educational materials!
It seems that often the cultural content of these articles appears normal to a Chinese person’s eyes, but it’s clearly not a right perception of culture and world view. It simply miseducates students about foreign cultures.
Another problem is a considerably inaccurate world view presented in the articles. At least 50% of the articles cover two countries (US & UK) alone, with half of the rest covering Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland. And the rest of the world covering the rest! This gives the students a very skewed view of the world – and perpertuates those terrible stereotypes.
So much stuff is produced with no regard for quality, there is no standard followed regarding the usage of english and so it is almost impossible for me to tell them if their work is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. There is basic misconception that there is a right and a wrong way of doing things in English as if there is a ‘common’ English as there is in Chinese – 普通话
Things are almost always plagerised – which isn’t the real problem – that’s to be accepted, but if they plagersise they should at least do it well!!
Sadly, most copy from Chinese English sources (because they can’t understand enough english to be able to copy from a real English website!) so you get things that are already bad being copied and made even worse 🙁 – then it’s my job to try to make head or tail of things!!
Then there’s the attempts at direct translations from Chinese, which almost always fail. The thing is being able to simplyfy a translation without distorting the original meaning of the text is easier said than done. The idea of simplyfying something from scientific language into quite easy language, without destroying the idea of the writing whilst making sure the work still makes sense.This is a really high level thing to do, It is tough for a native speaker and I have only met one Chinese person in the place where I work that can do it well. Frankly speaking, I believe that most of the people producing the learning materials don’t have competance to be able to pass their own tests!
I fear that, in the not too distant future, a bastardised ‘chinglish’ dialect will evolve and this is being perpetuated by the learning materials the students have. And now I am a part of that system…
I’ve tried to put all of my experiences into several groups based upon the timeframe – I’m currently in the 4th stage.
1st stage: Just off the boat. Wide eyes. In shock. Everything is different. Absorbing everything. Notice things like spitting and the squat toilets. Still have those idealistic ideas about China.
2nd Stage: Honeymoon period. Realise purchasing power. Able to do things unlike back home. Have fun learning to communicate. Most foreigners don’t get beyond this as they don’t stay long enough. This lasted a year for me, looking back incredibly fun time.
3rd Stage: Cynical stage. Happened to me after 18 months in China. You’re starting to see how unfair and messed up China really is. Start to understand enough of the language and culture to be able to discern what is really happening. Become disinfranchised with most things chinese.
4th Stage: Pragmatic stage ‘ well that’s just the way it is…’ Learn to adapt and avoid bad situations. Gut instincts become very useful. Start to develop ‘chinese’ habits. Learn to live with certain things, life becomes less challenging and more rewarding.
Strangely living in a foreign land has actually made me less open minded and more judgemental of many things. It’s the reverse of what one would think would happen but I believe this is an indication of the surroundings in which I live – I have simply adapted to the way things are, whether that is good or bad.
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I haven’t been able to post any photos for a while due to the FTP port being firewalled but now I have found another way. 🙂
I’ve taken these over the last couple of months using the trusty mobile phone – probably the most useful thing I’ve bought in China.
Here’s a shot of people queueing for a bus – note the man checking for queue-jumpers.
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Saw this car the other day. It’s a Maestro with FAW badging. I believe that they produce these things in Changchun though I’m not 100%. Regardless, its still a terrible car – I never thought I’d see one here (Luckily I haven’t seen a Montego!) I wonder whether the Chinese bought the rights to produce the car or if they simply copied them? Either way, I think someone needs to tell them that this car is a heap of crap and should never be manufactured – even in China! To those condsidering buying one – 再别买这个车! 一文不直.
I wonder how long it is before I see some the more recent ex-Rover brands being driven on the streets?
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I’m kind of used to seeing this stuff ‘drying’ in the streets. The chinese cabbage or 白菜 is left to dry so that it can be stored and for the winter when the price of vegetables goes up considerably. Problem is that it tastes quite rubbery after several months storage. I know people that use disinfectant to scrub their vegetables with before they
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are cooked so they can get all of the black soot and dust off them.
Either someone is hoarding postboxes or this is the place where they are distributed from, your guess is as good as mine.
I leant this phrase yesterday 道貌岸然 dàomàoànrān. It means when someone says good things, but actually does something else. Literally meaning ‘looking sanctimonious’, On the outside one says they can do something but really this is a facade. On the inside they have no intention of doing so, of course it’s very difficult to know that these people are bad until you are In the bad situation yourself.
I’ve been trying to think of a good equlavant saying for this in English, maybe something like ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ but I can’t think of anything that is nearer, any Ideas?
I’ve experienced this phenomenon time and again right across different areas of life and I have developed a ‘radar’ that helps me sniff-out such things.
Regarding business related matters with people – I know this is cynical – but if someone is too nice to you at first, be suspicious. Look for the deeper reason behind ‘why is this person being so nice to me?’ ‘what do they want?’
99% of the time you can be sure its not just for the benefit of your health!
For me, the many dealings I had with Star Education and simliar like agencies further re-infoces this point. They will be very nice to you at first, promise the world, coax you in, then once you’ve signed up- bang 道貌岸然. My dealings with the good organisations here have been quite the opposite, business-like and straight forward, for they have no need to put on a show.
So I’m going to quit one of my part-time jobs. I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks and now I reaslise that I need to have some free time in my life. At present 6 days a week I leave home by 7 and get home after 8 and It isn’t worth it.
My mind was decided last week when my boss thought it funny to pay me 200元 less than I was meant to get. Now 200元 may not be that much – when I first came to China I would have let it go – but not now. If he is going to mess with me then I’ll repay him with the same courtesy.
I get paid by the hour so he knows exactly how many classes I did, yet when I told him he said I was mistaken, he simply didn’t listen to anything I had to say. It’s strange because I have had a good working relationship with him previously, I have never had any complaints. Why would he try this on?
I told him in as many ways possible that he still owed my the 200, then I told him in Chinese, I asked him to him to ask the students whether I was there or not. He still continued to disagree with me. I think he must have really been short of cash or something (by skimming the 200yuan) because he knows that if I quit on him he is in a difficult situation. He also knows that there are lots of other places I could work and that I don’t have to work for him.
I will tell my boss after I get paid this week that my price has gone up. So If he wishes to retain my services he must pay me more as my time has now become more valuable. If he doesn’t agree (and this is what I really want) I will endeavour to find him a replacement teacher but I can’t guarantee anything. He knows how difficult it will be to get a replacement at this time during the term, especially as his classes are during the week and most teachers in Changchun work during the week. But this will be his problem not mine.
By forcing his hand I will either get a raise or I will have some free time to do the things I want to do. Either way I can’t lose.
Ultimately though it’s the students that will suffer. It’s very sad but that’s how it is. The administration at this university desn’t care abut the welfare of its students. I do care, but I can’t let that feeling put me in a disadvantageous position especially when it comes to salary. If I say that ‘I can’t quit because I owe it to the students’ then I cut my own throat as effectively it means I can’t quit. It’s tough but that’s just the way it is here.
I tried to go to an internet cafe this morning but I couldn’t go on-line as I was told that I needed to show my passport! You’re actually meant to register with the internet cafe before you can go on-line, they take your personal information (name address etc) but this is the first time that I’ve actually had someone try to enforce the law.
So I walked into another nearby net bar and they told me the same thing – you got to have ID. This time I asked why and whether all of the internet cafes were like this. The lady behind the counter then told me that until 4pm today the cops are checking out all of the net bars in town but if you come after 4pm it will be okay – no problem.
You’re meant to be registered so that the authorities can follow your online movements and if track you down if they feel like it! Here there’s thousands of government employees whose job it is to spy on others online movements – kind of scary when you think about it.
Fortunately though, laws are not enforced like the laws back home. Nobody really cares to much about them, its a relaxed attitude. That is unless you’re unfortunate (or stupid) enough to caught out in one of the many pre-announced clamp-downs. It’s funny how such crack downs work here. You hear all about them on the TV news – they show some poor guy being taken away by the cops – to prove to the viewers how ‘successful’ the operation has been.
I remember seeing something on the TV about the recent 100 day crack-down on pirated DVDs and them showing statistics of how many discs had been seized, how many people had been fined and how many businesses they have shut down.
Of course DVDs were still easily available. They were simply moved to shady back rooms or into little cubby-holes hidden away – out of sight, out of mind.
So it’s 2 years since I step foot in Changchun!
The last year has been very eventful but generally positive. Overall though, I think I have learned a hell of a lot about how things operate here. I have discovered so many new things and I believe this has made me a better person.
However this will almost certainly be my last year in Changchun as I have other plans that need to be started. Perhaps staying here too long isn’t a good thing as i’m slowly becoming so out-of-touch with the UK, that I think re-adjusting could be difficult!
It never ceases to surprise me how apathetic and harmonious Chinese people are in some situations. Right now as I type the bloke sitting next to me is puffing away like a chimney, oblivious the no smoking signs plastered everywhere. Nobody (except myself) seems to care, or even notice this. If he wants to smoke there are other rooms for this, Is is unreasonable of him to move elsewhere?
To me (and I think most westerners) it’s completely anti-social and unacceptable to do such, as most of us believe that one person doing something at the expense of others is not okay – especially if that habit has a detriment on a third parties health.
Anyway, I was meaning to get onto where I went during the holiday or where I tried to go at least. On Tuesday I planned to go to Jilin city with a few friends however we ended up not getting further than Changchun’s suburbs before coming back.
In the morning we went to the Changchun long-distance bus station just south of the train station, to buy our tickets to Jilin. This was easy, each ticket costing 24 yuan each and a bus leaving every ten minutes. The bus station really is a complete mess of a building and should be demolished ASAP and replaced with something more suitable for a city the size of Changchun. Basically to find your bus you have to go back outside the bus station walk around to the left down a small hutong whereupon you’ll see buses and coaches all lined up back to back.
It makes the train station seem like a bastion of good organisation, and that’s saying something.
So we walked down the small lane (called yellow river road or huang he lu 黄河路) trying to find the coach to Jilin whilst avoiding the hawkers and rip-off merchants trying to get their extra jiao. The buses to jilin were lined up on the right side of the lane and after enquiring with one of the conductors we were told that we have to pay an extra 12yuan per person to get onto the bus – as these buses took only 1.5 hours. I immediatily (and wrongly) assumed that this was some sort of foreign laowai tax, a scam. However upon closer inspection they were (all the buses to Jilin) making everyone pay this extra ‘surcharge’ – so there was nothing we could do but pay the extra and forget about it.
Once upon the bus we sat down and waited. And waited. And waited. We finally left after 45 minutes of waiting. Waiting for what I don’t know. The coach was crammed with people, probably more people standing in the aisles than sitting. They brought their own fold-up wooden stools with them to make the ride more comfortable. When we finally started moving the coach must have got up to 20mph maximum. We coasted for 45 minutes, and it took 1 hour to get out of the city! I saw a sign It read Jilin City 108km.
Why this bus was so slow is beyond me, though I think we just got unlucky. Other buses were overtaking us. But what annoys me is that nobody else said anything about the bus being slow, they just accepted it – perhaps deep down they know that there really is nothing you can do about it. And that there is zero chance of getting a refund.
We all decided to get off the bus and come home as by the time we got there it would be time to come home anyway! So we bailed in a small town near to changchun and took a local bus back to town. It was an experience anyway!
Today is the Mid-Autumn day, the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. It’s a pretty large Chinese festival and people all over the country celebrate it, this year It also happens to coincide with the National Holiday and so I am still on holiday. 🙂
The other day my boss gave me a large hamper of moon cakes or yue bing (月饼) as a gift. These things have been on sale for weeks and many stands have sprung-up all over ther city flogging them. We talk about the over commercialsiation of Christmas in the west, but here the Chinese seem to take this to another level! From what I see – and like in the UK – most ‘festivals’ seems to revolve around the buying of something for somebody.
Moon cakes can be described as looking a little like pork pies from the outside but they are sweet tasting on the inside. They are quite heavy and would probably not be considered ‘cakes’ in the UK – I believe they are from the pie family though the name moon pies doesn’t quite sound as good.! 🙂
I personally don’t really like them much, I think they are quite bland in taste though I shall be eating one come this evening, if only because it’s festival time. 🙂 The cakes have various fillings such as lotus seed（莲籽) orange peel 🙁 or maybe even water melon seeds! (西瓜子)
I think if they considered making moon cakes with chocolate or banana filling they could appeal more to my sweet tastes – and if anyone knows whether you can buy such moon cakes in Changchun please let me know!