March 27th 2010

So what is new from me? Well, I actually got some work done, since most of the administrative tasks like signing a contract, getting a bank account or Internet are done. However, getting a residence permit is not an easy task. Let me explain. When I applied for a visa I got a X visa, which is a student visa. This visa allows me to enter the country and stay for 30 days. In between this 30 days I had to apply for a residence permit. Now for this residence permit, I needed my original visa application form, photos, a health certificate and my registration as a resident at the local police station. I got the photos, visa form and health certificate already in Germany. So it should have been a straight forward process. Well: the photos weren’t right (wrong background color), my visa included a form which was not accepted (although good enough for the Chinese embassy in Germany), and they wanted a health certificate done at a local hospital. Thankfully, my colleagues and our secretary at the Institute helped a lot with getting this. Otherwise I might already be on my way home. I have been to the hospital, the local police station (twice, since the first time we didn’t have a copy of the housemanager’s identification), the local bureau for education (since they are supposed to put the stamp on the form), the office for foreign exchange (since they sell said form) and to the municipal office for registration three times. It would have probably been smoother if I wasn’t the first foreign member of our institute. Therefore we had to go to some places more than once to get things done. You shouldn’t get the wrong impression: the people are usually very nice and eager to help. But with administration it seems everybody has their problems. Well, now I have all my forms together and have already handed in. I was told that until I get my passport back (April 6th) I should stay at home. I think this means I should not travel. I really don’t want to spend the next 10 days in my flat :-).

Communication is still not easy with me speaking almost no Chinese and the common people speaking no English. For example: The institute has a laundry room, where you put your stuff in one of the machines and the washing lady cares for drying the clothes. So you should get it back after about one day. When I looked for it after 6 hours (since I was a bit worried whether everything was right) she tried to tell me something about my socks (wa zi) and underwear (no idea what the word in Chinese is). Something was not right. We both had to laugh after some time – me asking questions in English and she miming and answering in Chinese. Next time I will take a colleague there to clarify that issue. Another example: Today I was at a local hardware store. The moment I stopped at a shelf a woman asked me something (probably whether I need help). I told here I didn’t speak Chinese in the sentence I’ve prepared in advance: Wo bu hui shuo han yu. (For Tobi: 我不会说汉语。). This was a mistake, since it lead to her talking a lot in Chinese to me and me grinning and shrugging helplessly. Taking the bus is another interesting exercise: All the stations are in Chinese and there is no overview plan, showing where the buses go in the city. The first time I tried to get somewhere I found myself riding in the wrong direction after the first turn. Now I ask the colleagues which bus I should take, which is working fine. By the way: a bus ticket is about 0,10 € here. Also important: it is not enough to wait at the bus station. You also should wave to the driver. Otherwise he will not stop. I found that out after two buses had passed by. Some buses also don’t stop completely at the station but keep driving slowly, so you have to jump in or out very fast.

Sometimes I get the impression that the local people don’t see foreigners often. After the health inspection some girls, about 15 years old, tried to sneak a picture of me with their mobile phones. I gave them my best smile, hoping that they got a good photo. They seemed very excited ;-). During a bus ride some Chinese students from the Foreign Language College started to talk in English to me and ask me where I’m from and stuff. Some people also just stare when they see me. Usually I ignore that or smile friendly.

Although it is about -10 °C at night, it starts to melt during the day. Sometimes there are little streams going down the roads. Over night it freezes again and we can almost go skating the next morning. It is supposed to get rather warm next week: up to 10 °C. I’m looking forward to that.