What I mean is, when things start going wrong, it really does seem they all do so in quick succession. Over the past two weeks, I have managed to lose the use of my phone, my computer, and my money. The good thing about blogging is that I can wait until I've sorted through everything, which is basically now. In this way, on here, everything has a happy ending though while the events are occurring it does not always feel so. I'll give away the ending first, just because I can: I've since regained all of these items (almost).
I'll start with the computer. I had heard that viruses were common in China, and my neighbor claimed to have had one attack his computer within hours of opening it in China. But for me, over a month had gone by with no problems, and I stopped thinking about it. I thought, the internet is the internet is the internet, why should it be different here? But I guess it is...
Slowly things started malfunctioning. This program would't open. That one crashed. I restarted but just got a blank screen. Each of these on it's own might just be a fluke, but put together there was a problem. Conveniently, Iluk's computer (that same neighbor) had crashed as well. One afternoon we determinedly set off to solve these problems, maybe once and for all. The first stop was the technology market, where at least a hundred different sellers had booths set up with digital and electronic items for sale, such as mp3 players, computers, cameras, and external hard drives, our target. After at least an hour of shopping around and trying to bargain the price down, I ended up with a 60G hard drive for about $6 less than the initial price I was quoted. I'm not sure it was worth that exhausting hour of my time .
Iluk was an old hat at this and found the Samsung fix-it place with no problem. I set to work transferring all my important documents to the hard drive, and he tried to explain his problems to the Samsung employees. After about an hour, I'd finished, and they were still working on his computer, so we left. Asking at several stores selling HP, we were directed to walk for several miles (or so it seemed) down a street lined to bursting with stores selling computers and shouting out with big dirty signs which models they offered. I kept getting excited to see the HP logo but no, there were still more miles to go to get to the one that would actually have a look at mine.
The HP fix-it place was full, but somebody still managed to get to work on mine right away. I figured maybe the Chinese would be experts on fixing Chinese virus problems, but they gave up quite quickly and just reset my system. At least it was free, and they even refurnished me with a version of Office when it was done (though entirely in Chinese). I asked what I could do to try to avoid viruses in the future, but my friendly technician said there was nothing to be done. Next time I could reset the computer by myself.
The next story is of my wallet. Last weekend I took a trip to Yinchuan, an 8 hour sleeper-train ride traveling northeast from Lanzhou. Yinchuan is the capital of Ningxia autonomous region, which is meant to be the region home to a Muslim Chinese ethnic groop. It turns out Yinchuan isn't really a tourist destination, and though it was nice to go somewhere other than Lanzhou, there wasn't much to see. We visited a very empty lake resort on the edge of a very small piece of desert, which looked like it would be decent fun in summer but mostly enjoyable for its off-season calmness during our visit. We ate steamed lamb dumplings, and strolled around Ningxia University. It was about this time that I noticed my wallet was gone. It can't have been more than an hour since I last used it, since which I had gotten off a bus and eaten dinner. After confirming three times that I did not have it anywhere on my person, I wailed in distress but then calmed down. It was 5:30 AM in the US, and so I called my parents with instructions about which credit cards I needed to cancel. I wasn't too concerned because I hadn't even yet been successful at using them in China (though I'd only tried a couple times).
I lost about 500 yuan. In China, that's a lot of money, and people felt quite bad for me, assuring me that not all Chinese were like that. 'There are so many Chinese people, naturally there are more Chinese thiefs too,' they said. The whole trip was a bit frustrating in this way - my friend lost/had his cell phone stolen as well, and we were lied to countless times by taxi drivers who whole-heartedly told us that there was no bus going to our desired destination, when the Rough Guide (correctly) asserted otherwise. I consoled myself by converting the amount I lost to British pounds (about £33), which I find an extremely effective strategy whenever I think I have been cheated.
I've since arranged to have most of my wallet reconstituted, meanwhile borrowing the kuai necessary to keep eating. I even had a kind of fun trip to my Chinese bank to request a new ATM card. First, I went to the branch where I'd opened my account only to find that it had disappeared overnight. It was covered in a red and blue striped tarp, apparently under total reconstructive surgery. I walked down the block to the next branch. Taking care of this type of official business in China can be very confusing. I walked in, and people were queuing up in several different lines, but I had no idea which one was appropriate to me. I asked the security guard, and he directed me to a desk on the side, which is where you seem to go first to fill out paperwork and have your ID photocopied. The attendant at this desk was particularly helpful - the form was entirely in Chinese and he helped me by writing out each of the characters I was worried I'd write wrong on a scrap piece of paper and letting me copy it to the form. It's funny how under pressure it's harder to be confident that each stroke of the character is remembered correctly.
Finally I joined a queue with my completed paperwork and photocopy. After initial confusion about whether my account could be found associated with my passport number, my visa number, or my residence permit number, I was reassured that my account had even more money in it than I had thought (must have received this month's stipend). Eight days later, I could go back and pick up my new card for a 5 yuan fee, back in business!
And last but not least, my cell phone:
I don't get a whole lot of calls/messages, but after a few days receiving nothing, I became suspicious. My roommate told me she couldn't get through. After struggling through the prompts on the China Mobile info number, I enlisted the help of a Chinese friend and she reported that i had a 144 yuan charge and so currently had been cut off from receiving calls or messages. After more discussion, it turned out that, basically, this was an additional roaming fee for using my phone in Yinchuan, and especially for using my phone from Yinchuan to call the US. If I call from Lanzhou, it's only 1.2 yuan a minute, which is not that expensive. If I call from outside Lanzhou (or maybe from outside Gansu province, still not really clear on that) it's five times that. There are all kinds of international and roaming fees that get added. Now how was I supposed to know that? So I just swallowed my frustration, paid it off and then some, and chalked it up to more money generously donated to my wallet stealer.
Finally, as of today, I can use my computer, my phone, and have the promise of being able to access my money in less than a week. Am I happier for it? I'm a little more relaxed, but otherwise about the same. One more reminder that between me and the one small suitcase I brought with me to China, those goods aren't nearly as valuable as myself and my experiences that I brought with me and will have here. All the rest is fluff and details, necessary but not so meaningful support.
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