Even during an extended stay traveling somewhere is markedly different from living there. When traveling there are a plethora of resources at one's fingertips (read: concierge) and requirements for day to day life are less. There is no need to furnish one's living space and when public transportation is lacking, taking cabs isn't a problem. I've been in Tianjin for a little over a week. Many who are just passing through will spend longer than that. But because my situation is living and not traveling it gives me a different perspective. Hotels will give you deodorant. Chinese language universities will not. When traveling, lack of internet (and when you have internet lack of social networking websites, youtube and a handful of other websites) is a minor inconvenience. In my situation it leaves me cut off from at least 20 people who I would like to be in touch with.
My stay has thus far been fraught with difficulties. All transactions in China are needlessly complex, even when you're with someone who was born and raised in the country. Getting my cell phone was absolutely insane. Paying the bill should be a little simpler, but we'll see how it goes down. I just left the school with a list of about nine items I needed to buy and came back with two. Most of the items were due to not being in the right place (figuring out where to go will be interesting) but some were due to systemic issues. The largest size shoe the store had was like three sizes too small.
But beyond such hurdles, the nature of my time here creates further difficulties. There are certain items I use day to day, for instance an iron and ironing board. And unfortunately when you add all of the items up, even with monopoly money exchange rates, it comes out to be a figure too sizable to be justified by a six (now five) week stay. So I can't have any food that needs to be refrigerated. Nor can I have anything hot after the cafeteria closes. In terms of getting around the subway system in Tianjin is lacking. The Chinese government pours money into infrastructure like methanol into a top fuel dragster. The subway system in Beijing is beyond sick. But the lines under construction here are still a few years away. This leaves me in the position of needing a bicycle. It would come out to be about 40 U.S. (brand new), but the hassle of getting it will be immense (how does one explain frame size to the non-English speaking staff of the Chinese Wal-Mart equivalent?) So my standard of living is garbage for the next few weeks. My diet is unhealthy, and my mobility and ability to accomplish tasks are both severely limited.
Yet the question of if I could live here is still up in the air. If my stay was a year or two instead of six weeks my living situation would be normalized. After a few months I would learn how to get around. And learning the language to the extent required to accomplish day to day tasks wouldn't be all that difficult. Two or three months of study would do it.
Opportunities abound in China. For instance, I recently stayed at a Howard Johnson. The hotel was palacial. Marble floors, huge lobby, giant statue of a chariot and three horses in the middle of a fountain out front (probably 4x scale). We didn't believe it could be our hotel when we pulled up. When we found out it was we could only assume HoJo was a different type of chain in Asia. But the service was garbage and facilities slightly worn. We had to switch rooms two times due to the first two having broken air conditioners. The staff practically accused us of lying about the A/C being broken, sent a maintainence crew to the first one and then in the second room tried to bring a fan up to solve the problem. At that point I went downstairs and flipped on the manager. Ultimately our room was not free or even half price. We didn't get free breakfast and emergency calls to my bank at the business center that the Marriott probably would have given me for free cost us $20. It taught me two things. The first is that things are moving and being built so fast in China that a 20 or 30 year old palace like that isn't even worth renovating. Instead they just turn it into a three star Howard Johnson. The second was pointed out by a friend of mine. China needs Westerners even if they don't speak the language. That HoJo was badly vacant in spite of a rock bottom price. The reason is because when someone tells the manager "After the service I've received here I cannot ever stay at a Howard Johnson again" he just apologizes and doesn't offer anything to try and get return business. Even at the Marriott there were a handful of times things were simply done wrong, opportunities to make money missed out on and flagrant misunderstandings.
China is still developing and there's a need for westerners to help and show the Chinese how to deal with the developed world and other westerners. From my experience with that HoJo someone skilled in the hospitality industry could in all likelihood be living verrrry comfortably working for an upscale hotel chain. I would assume this is true across the board. China seems to be the wild west (or east) of capitalism and anyone can make their way. As an FSU alum who has been living here for two years told me right after I arrived in Tianjin, you've just got to be hungry.
My stay has thus far been fraught with difficulties. All transactions in China are needlessly complex, even when you're with someone who was born and raised in the country. Getting my cell phone was absolutely insane. Paying the bill should be a little simpler, but we'll see how it goes down. I just left the school with a list of about nine items I needed to buy and came back with two. Most of the items were due to not being in the right place (figuring out where to go will be interesting) but some were due to systemic issues. The largest size shoe the store had was like three sizes too small.
But beyond such hurdles, the nature of my time here creates further difficulties. There are certain items I use day to day, for instance an iron and ironing board. And unfortunately when you add all of the items up, even with monopoly money exchange rates, it comes out to be a figure too sizable to be justified by a six (now five) week stay. So I can't have any food that needs to be refrigerated. Nor can I have anything hot after the cafeteria closes. In terms of getting around the subway system in Tianjin is lacking. The Chinese government pours money into infrastructure like methanol into a top fuel dragster. The subway system in Beijing is beyond sick. But the lines under construction here are still a few years away. This leaves me in the position of needing a bicycle. It would come out to be about 40 U.S. (brand new), but the hassle of getting it will be immense (how does one explain frame size to the non-English speaking staff of the Chinese Wal-Mart equivalent?) So my standard of living is garbage for the next few weeks. My diet is unhealthy, and my mobility and ability to accomplish tasks are both severely limited.
Yet the question of if I could live here is still up in the air. If my stay was a year or two instead of six weeks my living situation would be normalized. After a few months I would learn how to get around. And learning the language to the extent required to accomplish day to day tasks wouldn't be all that difficult. Two or three months of study would do it.
Opportunities abound in China. For instance, I recently stayed at a Howard Johnson. The hotel was palacial. Marble floors, huge lobby, giant statue of a chariot and three horses in the middle of a fountain out front (probably 4x scale). We didn't believe it could be our hotel when we pulled up. When we found out it was we could only assume HoJo was a different type of chain in Asia. But the service was garbage and facilities slightly worn. We had to switch rooms two times due to the first two having broken air conditioners. The staff practically accused us of lying about the A/C being broken, sent a maintainence crew to the first one and then in the second room tried to bring a fan up to solve the problem. At that point I went downstairs and flipped on the manager. Ultimately our room was not free or even half price. We didn't get free breakfast and emergency calls to my bank at the business center that the Marriott probably would have given me for free cost us $20. It taught me two things. The first is that things are moving and being built so fast in China that a 20 or 30 year old palace like that isn't even worth renovating. Instead they just turn it into a three star Howard Johnson. The second was pointed out by a friend of mine. China needs Westerners even if they don't speak the language. That HoJo was badly vacant in spite of a rock bottom price. The reason is because when someone tells the manager "After the service I've received here I cannot ever stay at a Howard Johnson again" he just apologizes and doesn't offer anything to try and get return business. Even at the Marriott there were a handful of times things were simply done wrong, opportunities to make money missed out on and flagrant misunderstandings.
China is still developing and there's a need for westerners to help and show the Chinese how to deal with the developed world and other westerners. From my experience with that HoJo someone skilled in the hospitality industry could in all likelihood be living verrrry comfortably working for an upscale hotel chain. I would assume this is true across the board. China seems to be the wild west (or east) of capitalism and anyone can make their way. As an FSU alum who has been living here for two years told me right after I arrived in Tianjin, you've just got to be hungry.
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