UTAH here we come
16 years ago
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Tiananmen Square and Mao's Mausoleum, Beijing
A hundred thousand people wait in a creeping line every day to see Mao's formaldehyde-preserved body in the immense mausoleum on the edge of Tiananmen Square. That hundred thousand included Stirling, Sofia, Jacek and Isabel on Saturday, October 19th. I'm glad they all had the cultural experience, but I stayed outside, in part to carry prohibited backpacks and cameras and facilitate their entry, more because I don't want to participate in any sort of veneration of Mao. My staying outside counts nothing against the destruction and incomprehensible death and fear that Mao inflicted on China, nothing for anyone but me.
Wangfujing Street Night Market, Beijing
Wangfujing Street beckons in the dark. Vendors tempt hungry passers-by with skewers of everything imaginable on sticks. I ate bee cocoon and ostrich. I did not eat scorpion, silkwork larvae, starfish, seahorses, kidney, dog or sheep's penis.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Electronic Swindle
We've had very limited internet access and problems with the VPN, hence the lack of recent posts.
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On Wednesday evening, Stirling went to the ATM, the ATM that has served us so well. It is close to our apartment, only across the canal and two blocks down. It operates 24-7. It allows a maximum withdrawal of 3000 yuan ($440) which makes the $5 service charge per transaction our bank imposes a little less painful than for ATMs with a 1000 yuan limit. This time, however, our convenient little ATM balked. It took the card, took the PIN, smiled broadly, shuffled some money, and shut down. Stirling tried several other machines and they also refused to cooperate. Thursday morning, however, our bank account showed a $440 withdrawal executed at 6:12 am Utah time/8:12 pm Shenzhen time on October 7. We were robbed.
At the university, I printed out the bank record showing the debit to our account and asked, Cheryl, one of the law school employees, for help. She called the bank, then said “Let’s go” as she hopped into her car. Her confident manner and the fact that she actually spoke with someone, inspired hope for a quick resolution. I naively expected to walk into the branch office right next door to the ATM and, presto, chango, $3000 yuan in my pocket. ‘Twas not to be. Whoever she spoke to, it wasn’t at the branch office. On arrival, we learned that the branch office was still closed because it was the last day of the National Holiday (Holiweek really) that began with National Day on October 1, continued through the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 3, and extended to October 8 for good measure and travel time. It opened again on Friday, October 9, but we were already supposed to be on our way to Gaungzhou (formerly Canton) and wouldn’t be back until late Saturday. On a second phone call, the bank said it didn’t matter when we made the complaint. We could show up on Sunday or Monday with our passport and receipt and fill out a complaint form. I reminded Cheryl we didn’t have a receipt because the machine shut down. She smiled so innocently and said the bank would check its records, consider the matter for a few days, and “if it was real,” maybe give us the missing money. We are supposed to meet Cheryl at the ATM branch office Monday morning at 9:00 am.
At least we were robbed in a culturally appropriate way. Shenzhen was the first special economic zone in China in the 1980s. Nobody is going to stick us up on the street, but an electronic swindle fits right in with the high flying business zone.
Post Datum:
Stirling sent an email to our bank in the US which immediately filed an international fraud complaint. They said our account would be credited within 48 hours. We didn't go with Cheryl to the branch office because the US bank seemed to be handling the situation well. But, we're still waiting for the credit to our account.
_____________________________
On Wednesday evening, Stirling went to the ATM, the ATM that has served us so well. It is close to our apartment, only across the canal and two blocks down. It operates 24-7. It allows a maximum withdrawal of 3000 yuan ($440) which makes the $5 service charge per transaction our bank imposes a little less painful than for ATMs with a 1000 yuan limit. This time, however, our convenient little ATM balked. It took the card, took the PIN, smiled broadly, shuffled some money, and shut down. Stirling tried several other machines and they also refused to cooperate. Thursday morning, however, our bank account showed a $440 withdrawal executed at 6:12 am Utah time/8:12 pm Shenzhen time on October 7. We were robbed.
At the university, I printed out the bank record showing the debit to our account and asked, Cheryl, one of the law school employees, for help. She called the bank, then said “Let’s go” as she hopped into her car. Her confident manner and the fact that she actually spoke with someone, inspired hope for a quick resolution. I naively expected to walk into the branch office right next door to the ATM and, presto, chango, $3000 yuan in my pocket. ‘Twas not to be. Whoever she spoke to, it wasn’t at the branch office. On arrival, we learned that the branch office was still closed because it was the last day of the National Holiday (Holiweek really) that began with National Day on October 1, continued through the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 3, and extended to October 8 for good measure and travel time. It opened again on Friday, October 9, but we were already supposed to be on our way to Gaungzhou (formerly Canton) and wouldn’t be back until late Saturday. On a second phone call, the bank said it didn’t matter when we made the complaint. We could show up on Sunday or Monday with our passport and receipt and fill out a complaint form. I reminded Cheryl we didn’t have a receipt because the machine shut down. She smiled so innocently and said the bank would check its records, consider the matter for a few days, and “if it was real,” maybe give us the missing money. We are supposed to meet Cheryl at the ATM branch office Monday morning at 9:00 am.
At least we were robbed in a culturally appropriate way. Shenzhen was the first special economic zone in China in the 1980s. Nobody is going to stick us up on the street, but an electronic swindle fits right in with the high flying business zone.
Post Datum:
Stirling sent an email to our bank in the US which immediately filed an international fraud complaint. They said our account would be credited within 48 hours. We didn't go with Cheryl to the branch office because the US bank seemed to be handling the situation well. But, we're still waiting for the credit to our account.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Mercedes Sosa, 1935 -2009
Mercedes Sosa, one of our very most favorite Latin American singers, died today in Buenos Aires. Stirling and I both saw her live in different concerts in Buenos Aires in 2003. She had a magnificent presence and stunning voice.
Every Christmas (and other times too), we listen to "La navidad de Luis" which she sang with Leon Gieco. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNygMUZdmpk . I've copied the Spanish lyrics below and translated them into English.
Every Christmas (and other times too), we listen to "La navidad de Luis" which she sang with Leon Gieco. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNygMUZdmpk . I've copied the Spanish lyrics below and translated them into English.
La Navidad de Luis
Toma Luis, mañana es Navidad.
un pan dulce y un poco de vino,
ya que no puedes comprar.
Toma Luis, llévalo a tu casa
y podrás junto con tu padre
la Navidad festejar.
Mañana no vengas a trabajar,
que el pueblo estará de fiesta
y no habrá tristezas...
Señora, gracias por lo que me da,
pero yo no puedo esto llevar
porque mi vida no es de Navidad.
Señora, ¿cree que mi pobreza
llegará al final comiendo pan
el día de Navidad?
ya que no puedes comprar.
Toma Luis, llévalo a tu casa
y podrás junto con tu padre
la Navidad festejar.
Mañana no vengas a trabajar,
que el pueblo estará de fiesta
y no habrá tristezas...
Señora, gracias por lo que me da,
pero yo no puedo esto llevar
porque mi vida no es de Navidad.
Señora, ¿cree que mi pobreza
llegará al final comiendo pan
el día de Navidad?
Mi padre me dará algo mejor,
me dirá que Jesús es como yo,
y entonces así podré seguir...
Viviendo,
viviendo,
viviendo,
viviendo,
viviendo,
viviendo,
viviendo,
viviendo,
viviendo.
Luis's Christmas
Here, Luis, tomorrow is Christmas
Some sweet bread and a little wine,
Things you can't afford to buy.
Here Luis, take it home
At home with your father
You can celebrate Christmas.
Tomorrow, don't come to work
The entire village will celebrate
There won't be any sadness . . .
Ma'am, thank you for your gift
but I can't accept it
because my life is not like Christmas.
Ma'am, do you believe that my poverty
will come to an end simply by eating bread
on Christmas Day?
My father gives me something better
He tells me that Jesus is like me
And so, I can keep on
Living,
living,
living,
living,
living,
living,
living.
Dish Detergent
My last bottle of dish detergent smelled like ginger, the current one like kumquat. It doesn't foam much or cut through the peanut and sesame oils that cling stubbornly to plastic bowls, but the smells sure are fun.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day
Isabel told me last night that she wants to live in Macau. I reminded her that after we visited Costa Rica, she wanted to live there too. She said "I'll live three years in Macau, then three years in Costa Rica, and switch back and forth."
More than half a billion Chinese were on the road for the Mid-Autumn Festival which is today. Most traveled before Chinese National Day on October 1st. The official holiday goes from October 1st through October 8th. Did you see any of the parade in Beijing? The best part was the all female militia unit in red mini-skirts, white boots, white berets, white gloves and black SUBMACHINE GUNS.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Breakable Bones
After being in China for four weeks, the people in Macau struck me as a sturdy lot, certainly far sturdier than the many people in Shenzhen whose frames are so slight they could easily break. Their ancestors’ near starvation for hundreds of years etched famine in their descendants’ bones. Shenzhen is a city of migrants; nearly everyone is from someplace else. Even that genetic mix combined with Shenzhen’s status as a special economic zone for the past thirty years and second richest city in China hasn’t fattened up the general population.
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