The DMZ, DPRK side

There are few things terribly wrong with this article (if I should even call it that):

First, he has the worst three-picture slide show ever, which fails not only to depict the stark differences between China/the outside world and DPRK, but fails to actually show anything (photos include a train departure schedule, a foggy photo of irrelevant geography across the Yalu River, and a Chinese Tesco supermarket). And he had three days to come up with those photos?

Second, he fears oversleeping on the train and waking up in Pyongyang, the epicenter of “world’s most brutal regime—and with no former U.S. president to come rescue me.” Perhaps brutal for native citizens, but would the government even dare to pull a hair off your head without incredible international repercussions?

Third, he talks about how local Korean food isn’t as tasty as Korean food in Seoul or Los Angeles. Granted it even was an “authentic” North Korean restaurant perhaps their tastes have been altered by the inherent lack of efficient and sustainable agricultural practices over the last few decades. It could also be attributed to, like he mentions himself repeatedly in the post, Chinese people. They could have run the restaurants he dined at (hence: different tastes). Or it is also just as likely he just went to the wrong restaurant.

Fourth, he noticed a dearth of Koreans and Hangul/Chosongul being spoken around him. I don’t need to spell this one out but it’s not someone’s instinct to speak to someone in Korean when you’re white in an East Asian country.

Ultimately, I may be biased since I’ve both gone to Dandong, done the whole marvel-at-the-darkness-across-the-border-at-night thing, and gone to North Korea. While I do commend him for writing his experiences and sharing them with the wider community, he should have done a little more research if he wanted to publish on something other than his personal blog. I have learned not to extrapolate my personal experiences with the country and apply them to how North Koreans perceive themselves or perceive others. There is still much to learn.

A schoolboy at the Pyongyang Children’s Palace

My last day in China, Saturday, September 4, was fraught with goodbyes-that-aren’t-really-goodbyes (we all hate finality), frustrations and sadness. In the morning, my friends came over and cleared out my electronics, blankets, sheets, cookware, silverware, dishes, spices, bicycles—anything that wasn’t going in my suitcase. In the afternoon, I cleaned out my Chinese bank account, exchanged everything to USD, and closed the account. Then came the challenges.

Challenge #1: Getting my rent deposit back from the landlady

Ah, the landlady, someone who is defined by her difficulty to understand and communicate with her tenants. Originally I was going to get my deposit back on Friday, but then she took it back. “What if I give you the money back, and by the time you leave Sunday, the apartment will be broken in half?” I reassured her that if I had lived in the apartment for 9 months without burning the place down, she could trust that I wouldn’t do it in the next 48 hours. Despite my efforts, she refused, citing that upon returning the deposit, I must return the keys and find somewhere else to live until I fly out. “This is how it is done in China. This is how it is always done in China.” I told her I could gladly wait until Sunday if she would like to come over to the apartment at 4am in the morning. We finally agreed on Saturday.

Despite promising to return my deposit around 3pm on Saturday, she procrastinated until 5:30pm, when she finally went to the bank to withdraw my cash. I told her that I needed to go to the bank to exchange the money into USD, and now it would be too late (banks close at 6:00pm). I asked her to do it for me: 1500 in RMB, 2880 in USD. She retorted, “What is this 2880? Why this number? You can’t make things difficult for me! I’m just going to exchange 2500RMB, if you have a problem with it, deal with it.” I told her 2500 is fine.

Five minutes later, she called, asking, “Do you have any more RMB? The bank just gave me 2500 in USD instead of changing 2500RMB into USD.” She refused to exchange it back into RMB because of the unfavorable exchange rate. I replied, “I’m sorry, I have no RMB. I already exchanged everything into USD.”

Karma?

Challenge #2: Getting the deposit back on my water tank (for the water cooler)

I called the water company at 3:00pm asking to come over and return the deposit on my water tank. He said to call at 6:00pm, when they’d be less busy. So I called then, and the employee there refused to come over to return the deposit, saying, “The boss isn’t here, I have no money. We can come on Monday.” I told him: a) I leave the country tomorrow so there are no other opportunities to come and b) it’s impossible for a business that works with cash transactions to not have money, and c) to scrounge up 50RMB for reimbursement when the boss returns. After 10 minutes of bickering on the phone he hesitantly agreed to return my money between 6:30 and 8:00pm. I told him that I do not have time to sit around and wait, and he basically told me to suck it up.

By around 8:00pm, I had already left the apartment and gave the water bottle and deposit receipt to the front desk. I then called the water company, who did not pick up (must be caller ID). I proceeded to call the water delivery man, who was saddened by my departure and was there within 10 minutes to return my deposit to the front desk. He called again, asking if we would ever see each other again, and wished me endless success and happiness in life. After this exchange went on indefinitely, mission: accomplished.

Challenge #3: Proving “Customer is the emperor”

For dinner, a friend and I went to a restaurant for a free meal due to points on a benefits card. Since we had just had a free meal last week with the same set menu, we asked the waiter if we could choose other things on the regular menu, such as sandwiches or salads or other entrées. He said yes, and I chose sea bass and a chocolate dessert (instead of red snapper and carrot cake).

By the end of the meal, he came over and brought over a check for 128.00RMB. He came over and explained, “You had only asked if you could exchange for a sandwich or salad, not another entrée. So this is why I am charging you.”
We asked, “Why didn’t you tell us you would charge us when we ordered the dish?”
“I am sorry about that. If it would be any better, you can pay for half of the price and I will use money out of my own pocket to pay for the other half.”
“Please bring the manager over.”
“Please, let us handle this between us. You can pay half and I will pay the other half, is that okay?” (Does this ever happen in the U.S.?)
“No, please bring the manager over.”
After, again, much bickering, the manager came, apologized for the mistake, and excused us from paying.

I am lucky that in the end everything worked out, but I wonder if it was worth the price of wasting so much time dealing with it. There is no doubt in my mind that I needed a break from living in China, but there is also no doubt that living there has taught me so much.

Two days ago I bought my one-way return flight back to China. In the past week or so, I got offered a job that promises professional development and is challenging. So I accepted. Looks like I’m in for another year.

While I am ready and excited to start the next chapter of my life, a part of me is sad to leave China. Luckily, once I get home I’ll have more time for myself (and graduate school applications!!), for photography, for fast and uncensored internet, for all the other things I enjoy in life.

One thing I’ll miss about China: women in pajamas and hair curlers on a
public street playing with dogs (and naturally with 10+ people
crowded around taking pictures and gossiping)

Cabbie: How old are you?
Me: 23.
Cabbie: And you’re not married yet?
Me: I don’t even have a boyfriend.
Cabbie: You don’t even have a boyfriend?!? I think it’s time you put less focus on your work life and focus on finding a husband and settling down. You should let the man take care of everything, then you can stay home and relax. How great would that be?
Me: Actually….
Cabbie: [continues to ramble on about men being breadwinners, women being homemakers]

Cabbie: You know why women would be bad doctors? Because they’re too emotional. Let me give you an example. A woman has breast cancer, goes into a woman doctor. This woman doctor may think to herself, “I want to let this woman keep as much of her womanly features as she can, because I know it is important to her identity as a woman. Thus, I’ll try to remove as little breast tissue as I can.” Men? They’re pragmatic. They think, “Cancer is bad, I will remove any remnant of cancer, regardless of what it takes.” Then just slice off everything. See? Then you never know, cancer may just come right back if a women operated.

Actually, I should have titled it “Being Lectured by a Misogynist Nanjing Cabbie,” because I didn’t really converse with him. It was more him talking at me than with me.

Below is a photo of central Beijing. My commute is the blue line, and Julia is the green line. We met up at a point on third ring road and continued together (purple) all the way home. I believe the total distance I biked was around 22 km (13 miles).

Although biking many miles in one day after an extended period of inactivity may not be the smartest thing to do, our bike adventure was worth it. I have to say, biking in Beijing is so different from the subway or taxi. In the subway, I see nothing but the faces of the commuters around me and hear nothing but the bilingual droning of the subway voices announcing which stop we are approaching, and how we should prepare to get off.

On a bike, I feel closer to the things I pass. I see the expressions on people’s faces as they cross the street, wait for the bus, or walk with their children. I see the tall buildings that did not exist a few years ago, and I see even more buildings on their way to join the others. It’s a good way to see the city, and I should get out on my bike more often before the heat [be]comes [unbearable].

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