“It”s China”

Basically lots of things happen here that seem crazy to foreigners like ourselves…our response is always “well it’s China”.  The repairman came to fix our water pipe with only a hammer in a grocery bag…it’s China.  They serve fajitas at the German restaurant...well it’s china (see not all crazy things are bad).  A person can get frustrated very easily if they let the little things bother them (I know this is true no matter where you live but more so in my country).  I choose to turn it into a funny story…I have to admit sometimes I start out frustrated, but after we laugh…sometimes at how frustrated we were!

Today I had an “it’s China” day even though I basically spent all day in the apartment.  My plan was to start on washing all things baby, I needed to run to the ATM and exchange security cards to get into our apartment building.  My cleaner was coming so I like to be out of the house when she comes, so I figured I would treat myself to a lunch or snack out (depending on when she came) and run my errands there.  After work Adam and I were going to meet some friends at the Starbucks that was opening that day…the very first Starbucks in Huizhou!

I woke up and for the second day in a row our internet wasn’t working…yes I said second day.  I didn’t think of it the first day because that happens…we randomly lose internet…hey it’s China.  However this is the first time we have lost it for a full day and it was still not working the next day.  Two thoughts came to mind…first thought: Maybe the internet shuts down for Chinese New Year; second thought: maybe we signed up for a limited plan that only works on certain days.  Odd thoughts but possible in China.  I called Adam to see if he could have his co-worker call the company to see what the problem is.  He called me back to say that there would be a worker coming at noon to see if it is a problem with our router, or their network.  I don’t know much about how the internet works but I feel like if it was a network problem that lasted over 24 hours they would know about it.  The internet guy didn’t come until 3:30 and I had the secretary at Adam’s office on the phone to help with translations.  She said there was a problem with the money and he would maybe send someone later to look at the internet.  I called Adam back before I let the internet guy leave (it’s amazing how scared workers are of a foreign lady) he had his coworker call the company again and check what the issue was with the 1 year subscription we paid in cash and have a receipt for was.  The problem was they hadn’t imputed that we had paid into our account information so they shut off the service because we didn’t pay.  So why couldn’t they look up our information when we called in the first place?  Why did I have to wait in the apartment all day for their company “engineer” to come, try to fix and call the company only to find out the issue?  Why when I showed him the receipt could they not automatically fix the problem?  Why did Adam’s co-worker have to call and yell at someone in order for the service to be turned back on?

MEANWHILE, the cleaner was there trying to do her job, I told her using my acting skills not to bother with the living room since I was drying baby clothes on every piece of furniture and the internet guy was hanging out waiting for instructions.  Once the internet guy left I ran out for about 20 min. to go to the ATM and exchange the cards (they have a new security system).  The cards wouldn’t be ready until the next day which isn’t a problem for Adam and I because we are foreigners and they let us in anywhere no matter what.  When I came back to the apartment the cleaner was locked out on the balcony.  We realized the day we moved in when the movers were locked out there that there was no way to get back in if you accidently close the doors.  Why isn’t there some handle on the outside so you can get back in?  What is going to happen when I do a load of laundry and close the door to keep the heat/ac on and I lock myself outside with the baby inside?

LATER, we went to dinner and Starbucks with our friends only the Starbucks hadn’t actually opened yet.  We weren’t actually surprised, in fact I am still not quite confident it will ever open up even though the sign is up the cups are set up and the furniture is laid out.  Why is it that our Chinese friend who organized this gathering didn’t know that it hadn’t opened?  Why doesn’t anyone know when it will open (I heard 2 weeks or April)?  Why doesn’t anyone know why it isn’t open (I heard it was a licensing issue, or lack of approval from the fire department)?