Eyes Wide Open

If I weren’t studying Chinese, I would never have come to China. Period. I’ve never loved traveling as much as some of my peers do. Perhaps my easy-going nature has allowed me to feel content in a predictable and familiar environment. But I can’t imagine not having studied in China for a semester. In just 118 days, not even a third of a year, I have learned so much, about Chinese culture, business, language, and myself.

I’d like to say that living in China has completely changed my life, that I had life-changing moments of self-discovery, that I’m a whole new man. But I can’t and I won’t. In many ways, I’m the same person who arrived in Shanghai four months ago. There are definitely a few indicators of my time spent here in China: stronger Mandarin skills, tendency to choose tea over coffee, greater liking for Asian haircuts, much-improved wardrobe largely owing to my beloved fabric market, etc.  However, when I look past what the eye can see, I realize I can find something more meaningful.

           

All my life, I’ve been stuck in an America-centric perspective. After living out of the country for a semester, there’s no way I can continue to think of the world in such a narrow-minded way. I care more about what’s happening around the world because I’ve lived on the opposite side of it. I want to know what China is up to and what policies they’re implementing because I feel invested in their future and have opinions on what direction the country should go in.

           

 In digging deep, I realize that gaining a greater understanding of China has led me to a greater appreciation of my own country, the United States. The American system isn’t perfect, but I am very grateful for the many comforts and liberties that our Chinese counterparts do not enjoy. China has a very long way to go if it wants to be a creditable first-world country. Their income disparity is disgustingly large, government corruption is widespread, policy-makers focus on short-term goals like raising GDP at the expense of long term problems like environmental damage, intellectual property rights are scarcely protected, the education system overemphasizes rote memorization and test taking and underemphasizes critical thinking and individual thought, the list goes on.                                              

 At the same time, I truly believe that communism is the best system of government for China right now. And in that regard, I’ve come a long way. American education has taught us, in layman’s terms, democracy good, communism bad, but no other system of government could have pushed China through such rapid economic change. You simply can’t bring an agrarian nation through the Industrial Revolution if you have to constantly battle with political disputes and partisan disagreement.

       

 I love the USA. Being away from my homeland has made me realize all the strong American values that I have. I feel proud and fortunate to be born in the greatest country in the world. It’s not just our toasted everything bagels with lox and cream cheese, nor our freedom of speech, nor the waiters who actually want to know how your meal is. It’s the common sense of pride in being American, in knowing what our great nation has done and is capable of doing and all the rights that it protects and guarantees its citizens. In a land of 1.3 billion people with a government that is largely out for its own best interest, the Chinese people don’t enjoy this same sense of nationalistic pride.

         

As happy as I am to be home, I will miss certain aspects of living in China. My new friends, my roommate, my teachers, speaking Mandarin with locals, street food, bargaining, nightlife, traveling. I’ll miss hardly having to spend any money to live like a rock star, being able to talk about people in English right in front of them, and being stared at because I look different. And I’m going to miss that feeling I got every once in a while where I just stop and say to myself ‘Oh my god, I’m in China’.

           

I don’t know what my future looks like, but China may very well be a part of it. I’m scared to commit myself to doing business in China, yet I am enthralled by its endless opportunities and its imminent rise to the world’s number one economic power. For now, I’ll just keep at it with the Mandarin and let life take me where it wants to take me.

           

Living in China wasn’t easy and definitely took a good getting used to. Even in Shanghai, an international city, I really did feel very far from my comfort zone. At times I missed home, I missed school, I missed my friends, but, in the end, my experience was nothing less than incredible. I accomplished so much in a mere four months. I really feel that I didn’t take my time in China for granted. I knew it would go by fast, and I often felt the urge to learn something new every day, or go somewhere different. It was an exhausting semester. Like any semester of college, I often felt stressed, and I didn’t sleep nearly enough. But that’s life. And it's always better to keep your eyes wide open.

Thank you to my friends for making it the incredible semester that it was.
And thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Michael

Pre-Departure: My Metropolitan Diary

“We should open up a nice little internet café next to here. We could provide computers, printers, and delicious refreshments, and help people complete their visa forms. Do you know how much money we’d make?”

These were the words I uttered to my mom as we stood outside the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in New York City after my visa application forms weren’t approved on the first try.

I was taken aback a little by what I saw as the unwelcoming aura of the Chinese Consulate. What I had soon learned was that successfully obtaining a visa was like a puzzle, or perhaps more like a sick joke. It seemed they could pick out any minute detail on your visa application and decide that it wasn’t correct, leaving you with no choice but to go away and correct it and then return and wait on yet another long queue.

When I first approached the building I found a staid looking security guard who asked to see my passport and forms. His bold, brown eyes gazed over my paperwork as his lips twisted into a grimace. “You’re supposed to write N/A where you left blanks. But go on, give it a shot.” 

Inside the building, I quickly discovered that everyone was having problems. “This is my second try,” said one young man. “This is my third,” said a blond haired lady. “This is my second day here!” exclaimed another man.

We now found ourselves on the sidewalk of 12^th Avenue because I hadn’t filled out a supplementary form of which I was completely unaware. In addition, under “Reason for Visit” I apparently should have checked ‘Business Trip” instead of “Study” because I will be in China for fewer than 180 days. You know, because that makes sense…

With our home far away on Long Island, we were left wondering how we could find a computer and a printer, and obtain this visa.

I suddenly thought of the Cornell Club. That’s probably not too far from here. I looked up their number and gave the place a call. I told the receptionist I was a student and wanted to use a computer for 15 minutes. “Sorry, members only”, she told me.

Hmm maybe we can find some hotel with a business center?

After walking a block or so, we located a cheap-looking hotel. We walked in, and I asked the front desk attendant if the hotel had a business center. “No”, she told me, “but there’s a copy center on 9^th.”

We walked another block to 9^th, but only saw a FedEx service center. We walked in. It was just a small store with one worker behind a desk. No computers available for use. 0 for 3.

We continued our walk, now heading toward 8^th. As we crossed the street, my mom asked a traffic cop if he knew of any business center in the area.

“Burger King”, he said as he pointed in the direction we were walking.

“Did he just say Burger King?” I asked my mom.

“I think so”, she replied with a slight chuckle.

In no more than a minute’s time, I saw the familiar blue, red and yellow logo of Burger King. Next to it, in big white letters read “Free Wi-Fi”.

Ok that’s a start. But they still need to have computers and a printer. And I really doubt they have a PDF reader. We walked in. Sure enough there was a row of four computers.

A smile ran to my face as the words of the security guard resounded in my head. Go on, give a shot.

I found a computer at the end of the row that appeared unoccupied. I took a seat in the chair. The computer wouldn’t turn on.

From my left, I heard a welcoming voice. “Here, you can use this one.”

I looked up. Leaning over a chair at the computer adjacent to me was a young black man clad in a print t-shirt and jeans.

“You’re not using it?” I asked.

“I work here”, he replied.

“Oh, I didn’t realize”, I said with a nervous laugh, “Thank you.”

Before I sat down, my mom jumped in.

“Can we ask you a few questions?” She was worried they didn’t have a printer and that we wouldn’t be able to access the Chinese visa documents.

“You can ask me anything,” the man said with an air of confidence. I think I saw him fold his arms over each other and lean back, wearing a mysterious smirk.

As I sat down and took a look at the screen, I had to open and close my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. In front of me was the Chinese Consulate visa form blank and ready to be filled out in a PDF reader program.

You’ve got to be frickin’ kidding me.

I began filling out the form, trying to be meticulous but still feeling slightly dazed as if I were in a dream. I made sure to put in my N/A’s and let the Consulate know that I was, in fact, on a business trip. In the meantime, my mom went to get two of Burger King’s finest iced coffees. Next to the computer, I noticed a machine slot to insert cash, but I couldn’t find any sort of timer to track how long I was using the computer. I don't care how much this is going to cost.

After 10 minutes, I was convinced that I had filled out the form as well as I could.

The Mystery Man came over to my station.

“Do you know the link for the supplementary form?” I asked him. Somehow I just knew the answer was going to be yes.

He clicked on a second tab on the screen that was already loaded. It contained the supplementary form for people applying for an F Visa. This guy knows his stuff.

“Thank you”, I said. My admiration was protruding out of my pores.

The second form was easy to fill out, and after not much time I gestured for the Mystery Man to return to my station. As he ambled toward me, I imagined a crown appear on the top of his head. This guy must be the burger king, I thought.

“You all set?” he asked. “Let me look it over for you.”

He checked over my work carefully and made a few corrections, adding “NYS” next to my license number and writing “Shanghai” as the province that I would be staying in. I had written N/A because Shanghai is just a city and has no province. I didn’t say anything though – Shanghai was now a province if the burger king said so.

As he printed the forms, my curiosity got the best of me. “So how do you know so much about Chinese visas?” I asked.

“Well a few weeks ago they changed the China visa forms, and I had about 120 people walk in here looking for a computer. I learned a lot about Chinese visas that day” he said with a smile. He added, “10 dollars will be the damage”.

My mom handed him a twenty.

Thanking him graciously, we left the fast-food joint. We walked the four blocks back to the Consulate and waited on a long line. After a half hour, it was my turn at the window. I handed the lady my forms, along with my passport and official university letters. After a minute, she still hadn’t lifted her pen to make any corrections to my forms.

“Ok”, she said.

“I’m all set?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes, it will be ready for pickup on Friday.”

I turned around and a huge sigh of relief came over my face. I noticed a woman in the line laugh. She knew where I was coming from.

We exited the Consulate building feeling elated and accomplished.

“I still can’t believe we found the expert of Chinese visas at a Burger King”, I said to my mom.

“Only in New York,” my mom added.

“But come on, he stole my idea!”