Comments on: Things are hard http://www.shanwu.com/821/things-are-hard/ by: shan wu Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:26:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: v.c. http://www.shanwu.com/821/things-are-hard/comment-page-1/#comment-36517 v.c. Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:19:02 +0000 http://www.shanwu.com/?p=821#comment-36517 I always wonder in the back of my mind what happens if my electricity card fails. Now I know. wow. I had a Z-visa (yours is F?). There was a ton of chores to do upon entry; I still have headaches from the Kafkaesque situations you described. Still, at the end of the day, living in Beijing with a blue passport, identity issue aside, is probably easier than a local who doesn't have a Beijing hukou. I always wonder in the back of my mind what happens if my electricity card fails. Now I know. wow.

I had a Z-visa (yours is F?). There was a ton of chores to do upon entry; I still have headaches from the Kafkaesque situations you described.

Still, at the end of the day, living in Beijing with a blue passport, identity issue aside, is probably easier than a local who doesn’t have a Beijing hukou.

]]> By: angela http://www.shanwu.com/821/things-are-hard/comment-page-1/#comment-36497 angela Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:31:35 +0000 http://www.shanwu.com/?p=821#comment-36497 omg, i had the same experience! nothing was easy to get done. i remember once i had to go into beijing to get a package, and after i schlepped all the way there, they told me they couldn't give it to me because that section was "closed," ie, the person running that area wasn't in, although there was a big pile of boxes right there that the person i was talking to could have given me. i got impatient and raised my voice, as i'd do in america without a second thought, and i was seen as the impolite one. my cousin and her friend actually apologized to the post office person! ah, china, the country of inefficiency. omg, i had the same experience! nothing was easy to get done. i remember once i had to go into beijing to get a package, and after i schlepped all the way there, they told me they couldn’t give it to me because that section was “closed,” ie, the person running that area wasn’t in, although there was a big pile of boxes right there that the person i was talking to could have given me.

i got impatient and raised my voice, as i’d do in america without a second thought, and i was seen as the impolite one. my cousin and her friend actually apologized to the post office person!

ah, china, the country of inefficiency.

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