Battling Bureaucracy or how to spend much time achieving little or why learning Chinese would have been a good idea
The Post Office
Last Friday I organized a student for interpreting duty and we went to the local post office to post stuff home. After an about 10 minute walk we arrived to be told the office had run out of boxes and to return on Monday. The post office provides packing boxes in China and they must be used.
We returned on Monday afternoon after the student had had 6 hours of classes and was feeling rather fragile. The post office was small and was a confusion of customers and large bags of mail sealed and awaiting collection. Eventually the student managed to obtain a box and I placed some of my stuff in it and asked for another. We sealed them with tape and I addressed them. At some stage the collection truck arrived and the awaiting mail bags were slowly dragged out by the driver and one employee.
Finally we got one box on the scales and then the real waiting began. Meanwhile the student started stressing about cost. I filled in the dispatch forms in the half light and barely knew what I supposed to be writing. There were lights over the staff side of the counter but the ones on the customer’s side were turned off and dusk was approaching so there was no light from outside to help. Requests for a price on the box resulted in being told to wait, and wait I did. I’d put a value on one of the boxes and requested insurance which wasn’t available so had to redo both forms. The periodic attention of two staff members and an hour and a half of time had the transaction complete. I had gone with piles of money and my passport, but ID was not required and the price for sea mail was quite reasonable.
The armoured van and its helmeted, flack jacketed, gun toting attendants arrived to collect the takings while the final stage of my business was occurring. Fortunately we didn’t interfere with each other and soon the student and I were outside braving the dark and the crazy traffic which drives or rides at you from all directions.
Telephone Services
I have two pre-paid telephone accounts and little way beyond termination of service of knowing their status. My mobile is an old and simple one and won’t tell me. I did try to get an account for the landline a long time ago. It was protracted and while it shouldn’t have been impossible I decided my energy was better directed elsewhere.
A couple of nights ago when passing the campus mobile phone office with a student I decided to have her request the credit balance on my account. We got it without any trouble. When I have gone in alone with just my phone number written down and gestures I got nowhere. When I went in with a written phone number and my request written in English and Chinese I got nowhere. It was easier to pay for more credit and get the required information from the receipt. This is a phone company specific small office which sells virtually nothing but phone credit. Gestures and a word or two get me information all over China but doesn’t work for campus phone companies.
About a week ago I realized that my landline wasn’t working because I couldn’t make a call and a message told me I owed money. I went to the campus office, a different one, to discover the amount of debt and pay some money. It too led a protracted discussion involving anyone showing an interest. Basically the person manning the desk was only keeping the seat warm and I should leave my phone number and money and my account would be credited by someone else in the future. Given I’m leaving soon I didn’t want to pay too much, nor so little that the problem repeated itself so I wanted specific information. Someone dragooned two passing students to interpret. Their level of English was poor, but in the main they did well enough that I understood that I should return about 40 minutes later and someone would be there to operate the computer and tell me.
I returned at the appointed time to discover the two students in addition to a woman using the computer. My debt level was ascertained and discussion occurred around the amount I should pay. Before I knew it my account had been credited and they were hoping it all was over. However, the issue of rent had been raised before and I wanted to know when the next rent would be charged. I was concerned the next installment would wipe out my credit and I’d be back to square one. Question words like “when” are often a challenge for Chinese students and so it was yesterday evening. I’m unsure how the penny dropped but eventually it did and I got an answer. I then needed to pay a bit more to cover upcoming rent. I also wanted a receipt but that really was considered impossible. The money had been credited on the computer so I was prepared to leave it there.
An ability to speak Chinese would have saved me and others much time at the phone companies. Adequate foreign staff support and proper billing procedures for the landline would also have done the trick. However, it’s taken for granted that teachers automatically find their own way in the Chinese world with student assistance filling the gaps in association with learning the language from the same source. Generalised offers of help are made but people are always busy. I ration my requests to really important issues.
The idea that people have the time or ability to return for repeated visits is pervasive. The fact that it’s inconvenient or just unpalatable doesn’t enter into it. These are just some of the cultural differences I encounter on a daily basis.
