Well, what is new in China. I’m still trying to get all the necessary things for working and living here. I now have got a Chinese bank account. Here I had to fill my name in the form as in my Passport. So Stefan Fischer didn’t work, but STEFAN FISCHER was acceptable :-). I now also have a computer at work: 8 processor cores and 6 GB RAM. So: bestcomp at our institute in Ulm can suck it :-). Also tell Manuel, that I got windows XP 64bit and I am very happy about it.
Next week I will also have to apply for the residence permit. I will probably have to take a physical again (since it is not clear, whether the physical done in Germany will be accepted). I don’t know yet how to get my laundry done. There is no washing machine in the house and I don’t intend to do it by hand. Maybe I will use a laundry shop.
My new boss (Yongfeng Men) found out about my birthday last week. He ordered cake to the institute and we gathered in our „coffee room“. Well – rather tee or water room. Coffee is not very common and quite expensive in shops (at least instant coffee is twice as expensive as in Germany). The cake is quite good. Next time he will order „black wood cake“. Good thing that Yongfeng has spent some time in Germany :-). I read in a book about China before, that it is not very common to celebrate ones birthday. But the colleagues disagree. I think it is very hard to make such general statements about China – the country is huge and people from the different edges are quite different, too. One can probably compare it to the differences in character between German, Britain, Italian and French people. And it appears that people from the north are having much trouble understanding the dialects of the south.
Last weekend I had a very funny encounter with a Chinese man. I was walking down the road when he greeted me from 10 meters away (while approaching): Hello, how are you? – Thank you I’m fine, how are you? – Where are you from? – From Germany. – Ah, I like Germany. … After exchanging a few words he starts to search in his pocket. Out comes a credit card in protective cover with our old chancellor Schröder stuffed in on the back side. He searches again: Out comes an original Deutsche Mark piece covered in cellophane foil. He searches once more: He finds a sticker with a German and a Chinese flag on it. He then proceeds to give me hotel advices for Changchun and tells me about his difficulties getting Euro coins from the bank. He is very funny. The next day I start to put some Euro coins in my wallet just in case I meet him again :-).
From 10th to 13th we have been in Shanghai for measurements at SSRF (Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility). It turns out that I am the first foreign user there. Officially it is not possible yet for foreign groups to apply for beamtime. This leads to some funny results. I cannot stay in the onsite hostel, since foreigners are not allowed there, yet, although the hostel brochure is in English and Chinese. I also cannot take the x-ray security test, since it is only available in Chinese. I get the badge therefore without introduction to the security measures on site. Well, I survived. Everything is quite new there and some things don’t seem to work properly, yet. I had some interesting discussions with the scientists at SSRF. They seemed to be very interested in my approach to data evaluation. They intend to try similar things, but their problems are very basic. Well, I gave them some input and my email address. I also discussed possible projects for me with Yongfeng. Right now we have about 3 – 4 ideas which I will pursue. I am really looking forward to this.
And finally some brief comments:
Last Monday we celebrated the worlds woman day by going out to have lunch. It is a Chinese restaurant with hot fish – Tobi, you would love it :-).
Taxis are extremely cheap. We paid 10 € for about 30 km. In Ulm I paid that for the 3 km from Hauptbahnhof to my apartment in Heilmeyersteige.
Potato chips are also available in the flavor of cucumber. They are not very tasty in my opinion.
It is not possible to change Office 2003 from Chinese menus to English menus. Believe me, I’ve tried. Since the general arrangement of menus is the same in all languages I am now using the Chinese version. Some times I even find what I am looking for.
I bought something in the supermarket which appeared to be cornflakes. Well, it was some packs of powder which contained the best of the flakes and the milk. You pour hot water over it and drink it. After tasting one cup I threw it away. 😉
It still baffles me, that there are not more accidents in traffic. People drive on the line instead of between them, change lines without using the indicator but while constantly honking. When I cross the street I run and usually try to take some Chinese people for cover.
I always thought Changchun means „Long Spring“. Turns out it can also be translated to „Waiting for spring“ [Edit: This might just have been a exaggeration by my colleagues.]. This makes more sense. I am told that in May the weather will become warmer.
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