Eric's Beijing Diary

Christmas in China is hard to beat. And I'm not just saying that because of the eggnog at Lush. Don't drink too much of it, but boy, is that stuff good!

Actually, I should probably rephrase my original statement. If you're a Christian, Christmas in China is hard to beat. Those for whom Christmas is merely a time of tradition and gift giving may not see China in as positive a light. Christmas shopping is a bit of a pain in China. For one thing, you can't buy Christmas wrap in the stores. Gift giving is not a tradition in China, so there just isn't a market for it, I guess. They do have wrapping stations where you can pay them to wrap it for you, but it is considered a luxury for rich people, and they charge accordingly. It's kinda funny if you go to one of those gift exchange parties, because everyone can see everyone else's presents. But for me, Christmas is not about giving presents. I do think a little of it is nice. But in America, it's just gotten to be too much. Good for business, maybe, but the excessiveness of it seems to detract from the real meaning of Christmas.

Went to the Christmas service at Haidian Church last night. The crowd was incredible. I thought it would be better than last year because of the new church building, but there seem to be lots more people. The interest in Chrismas is really growing in this country. There are three servces on Christmas Eve--one at 6pm, one at 8pm, and one at 10pm. We got there late because the traffic was so bad that the bus couldn't move, so we got off and walked. Pretty obvious we weren't going to get in, so we went to the large cafeteria in the basement of the Disanji building and had a Pepsi. The place closed at 9, but we kept sitting there and talking until they finally threw us out at 9:45. I was curious how things were going at the Church, so I walked across the parking lot. People were moving in for the last service, so we got right in line. Believe it or not we were almost to the front of the line when the police officer standing on the steps with his megaphone annnounced that there were no more seats for the final service, so everyone should just go home. People started to leave, but I told Shannon to stay put. As people left, we moved closer to the front until we were right by the steps. A lady from the church saw me standing there and came out to get me. I feel a little bad for her, because she got more than she bargained for. I brought Shannon, Nancy, and a colleague from work in with me, plus the guy from Africa. There wasn't really room for us, but we were shown to a few seats in the waiting area on the side of the stage. We basically got a side view of the program, but it was nice to be in side with all the lights and pretty music. Made me wonder about all the people who gave up and went home. Some of them had been standing for a long, long time hoping to get a place. But there was no room for them. Long, long ago, at a different time in a different place, a peasant village carpenter and his pregnant wife stood in one line after another waiting to get in. The beautifiul, rustic nativity scene that is so much a part of Christmas, is a result of the rejection that forced this man to deliver his baby in a barn.

Finally got my laptop back this morning. Funny how two or three days so quickly becomes two weeks. I have no idea why replacing a little connector requires switching out the whole mother board. I guess it's really a good thing it was still under warrentee. I tried to be patient, since the whole thing is my fault--I tripped on the cord. Actually, I could have let it go, I guess, because everything worked except for the headphones. But without the headphones, I cannot watch the news or listen to the radio at the the coffee bars. They all have free high speed Internet access, now, and the Internet is my main source of news and information outside of CCTV 9 and China Daily.

Had breakfast with my homeless friend this morning. He told me that he can get some kind of signed statement from his embassy, then pay the fine and fly to Singapore. He told me he has a friend there who can help him find a job. The problem, of course, is that this all costs money. This is the problem with folks like this who come to China. They are completely unprepared. They have no job. They are just hoping that something will magically materialize and they will be able to change their visa. Then they run out of time, and they become fugitives from justice.

Another problem is that right now Nigerians have a bad reputation in China. There is a lot of crime, particularly Internet crime, but other kinds also. So when a person from Nigeria begins to tell his story, he is naturally greeted with a good measure of skepticism. Actually, I have known Nigerians who have come to China and done quite well. But they don't just show up. They come to China, learn Chinese, go to school to get some sort of degree in a demand field, and then get very good jobs with international companies. So there is no inherent discrimination against Nigerians. But a Nigerian who is basically a drifter without legal authorization to be in the country, is likely to be regarded as criminal, or at least suspect, even if such is not the case.

The Foreign Office put on a nice Christmas dinner for us again this year. They always do a nice job of it. One of the Japanese teachers came up to me and patted my stomach, "Oki desu ne?" That's what I like. Brutal honesty. This time of the year, it's hard not to have that problem. The food keeps coming and it is all good. And this after a big lunch at noon today put on by the Software College.

Melissa is on a tour through the northern part of China with her college choir. This morning I took the subway to Fuchengmen, then took a cab over to the Forbidden City. When I said goodbye to Melissa three years ago at the Greyhound bus station in Roseburg, I could not have imagined that the next time I saw her, I would be standing outside the north gate of the Forbidden City, waiting for her to come out of the Ming Dynasty palace. Life has it's twists and turns.

This evening I went to the China Academy of Fine Arts for a concert by her choir. Melissa has always been a good singer, so I was not surprised that she did well. But I was impressed with how her voice shows the effect of long-term, disciplined training. When she was young, the thing that impressed me most about Melissa was her ear. You know how it is with kids--sometimes they are not to sure where they belong on the scale. But Melissa always had a razor sharp pitch. She consistently hit the notes dead on. There is a big difference, though, between a kid with a strong voice and an ear for music, and a young lady whose voice has been refined through extensive, rigorous training. Trust me folks, this kid is going places.

This morning I took my homeless friend to a small international church that has a number of members from Africa. I wanted to know if they could give me some idea what the best approach would be for someone who has overstayed his visa. I don't have any experience with this kind of thing, so I wasn't sure how to advise him. What I got from the folks there was that there is a fine of 500 RMB per day for visa overstay. But it maxes out at 5000 RMB. I guess what typically happens is that they will incarcerate someone who has overstayed for about a month, and then buy this person a ticket back to his or her home country. The way to get around that is to pay the fine, then show them a ticket out of China. Usually, they will let you go.

Figure this one out. I took my laptop to HP for warranty work. What happened is that I tripped on the headphone cord, which pulled it out of my computer, but at a sharp angle that broke the connector. When I brought my machine in yesterday, they took my serial number, told me my computer was still under warranty, and that they had to have the little piece that had broken off. I told them I didn't think I could find it. They said if I couldn't, it would take more than a month to fix my laptop, and that it would not be covered by the warranty. I was dumbfounded....just doesn't make sense. Why do they need a part they are going to have to throw away anyway? But I went home and looked until I found it. I brought my laptop back today with the little tiny piece. They put it in a plastic back and told me to come back for my laptop in two or three days. For the life of me, I can't figure out how why that little broken piece of plastic made so much difference.

Met a homeless guy from Africa today. Actually, he had come to my house last Sunday with someone else. He told me at that time that he was from Canada, but I was skeptical, because his speech was not Canadian. Yesterday he called and wanted to see me. Turns out he is from Nigeria, and came to China to look for work. I have seen this before (see 21 March 2004). When I first came to China, there was a guy from Nigeria who was hanging around the international church, begging foreigners for money to help him buy a black market visa. Nigeria has very high unemployment, although it has dropped quite a bit since that time (Early 2004). Lots of Africans come to China for opportunity, but the ones who actually find it are those who come here to study, and begin by developing very good Mandarin proficiency.

The guy I met today does not speak any Mandarin. He has a college degree, but does not have any specialized skills. He came here on a tourist visa which has since expired. That's not a good idea. You need a visa to get into China, but you also need a visa to get out. Your visa has to be current before you will be allowed exit.

China has a reputation these days. Everybody seems to think that China is overflowing with jobs. True, the economy here is growing, and economic growth does produce jobs. But it is really not a good idea to just show up. China is a controlled society. It is quite a bit different from the US in that respect. For single people with a definite reason for being here, that is a non issue. If you are a student and you have a student visa, or if you are employed and you have a work visa, then you will have complete freedom of movement (except for Tibet), and pretty much your choice of a place to live. But if you just show up, things can be pretty rough.

Beijing is concerned about the impression foreigners in other countries have of Chinese people. There is a general understanding in China that tourists from China have earned a negative reputation for themselves because of habits such as spitting and cutting in line. So the idea is to increase education in these areas. Interesting idea, but, although I am an educator by profession, I do not believe that education is the cure for all behavioral ills. Let me try to give an illustration from the animal kingdom:

When I was in college, we had a small farm on the north side of town. We had a horse, a Welsh pony, a couple of calves, some sheep, ducks and chickens, and a cat and dog. The first one that comes to mind is the horse. Her name was Ginger. As a horse, Ginger wasn't too bad, I guess, but she had an obstinate personality. I know where she got it, too, because the Appaloosa stud she came from was as ornery as the day is long. He is the only horse I ever knew who always entered the barn butt-end first, ready to kick anyone who tried to stop him. Ginger definitely took after her dad. She wasn't anything like her mother. Queen was a retired barrel racer with an excellent disposition. So Ginger had a high standard to live up to, and she didn't come close. It wasn't all bad, because she actually turned out to be a pretty good brood mare. Her colts had personalities more akin to their grandma than to their grandpa. Funny how that kind of thing skips a generation.

Ginger created a problem, because she chased the calves mercilessly. This made me angry, so I locked her in the barn. In the evening, I would let her out to graze and put the calves in the barn. Now in human terms, I would tend to view her behavior as obnoxious, mean spirited, and evil. But animals are not moral beings. They are not guided by conscience or moral reason. They are driven by instinct. Dogs have proven that animals are capable of sensing when they have done something their master doesn't approve of. When we describe a dog's countenance during these times, we use words like "guilty." But dogs don't feel guilt. They don't lie awake at night fretting over their sins. Their "guilt" is merely a clever understanding that their is an undesirable consequence for what they have done. This is because dogs are very social animals, and they care deeply about their relationship with the person they have identified as their master.

I won't say much about the ducks, because they spent most of the time swimming around and looking pretty. Nothing wrong with that, and their natural beauty might be considered a sort of virtue. Still, I am reminded of Tolstoy's words: "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." I have to agree. But even though the ducks didn't contribute much, because we didn't eat duck eggs, and we didn't eat ducks, there was a run-off stream going through the property, so keeping them was very cheap. They basically took care of themselves. The chickens I would tend to place on a higher moral plane, because they contributed something every day. Well, except for the turken. He was a gift from Joe across the street. A turken is a cross between a turkey and a chicken. He didn't contribute anything, but we let him live--I guess because he was such a supreme example of pure, innocent ugliness.

I don't even want to talk about the sheep. The were so stupid, I couldn't stand to look at them. Being a Bible reader, I always felt a little guilty for hating sheep, but I did. When I tried to herd them into the barn, they would sense very quickly where I wanted them to go and run in every other direction but that one. Sheep are really impossible to herd. Sheep have to be led, and they have to be led by someone they know really well. You can more or less herd cows even if they don't know you very well. But you can't do that with sheep. You can chase sheep, of course, but you can't really herd them. You have to lead them. And they won't follow you unless they are very sure you are not going to hurt them. So what can we say about attitudes like fear and trust? Sheep manifest both vividly, yet sheep are not moral beings.

Welsh ponies are supposed to be stubborn, and I guess maybe we would have noticed that trait in Bolger, except for the fact that he was so easy-going compared to Ginger that he didn't seem to be that bad. Bolger wasn't actually born in Wales, but he was in the womb when his mother boarded the ship to go to America. Bolger had one main problem. He was extremely susceptible to foundering. Foundering is a situation where the hoof becomes inflamed, making it hard for a horse to walk. Although foundering looks like a foot disease, it is actually a gastro-intestinal problem affecting the feet, that comes from eating too much rich grass. To prevent foundering, Welsh ponies have to be kept off rich grass, which is very hard to do in Oregon in the winter, when the grass is very green. We could never quite get it right, and Bolger eventually died. Simply put, we were not competent to be raising purebreds. I always felt bad about Bolger.

Thumbelina was a lady of extraordinary nobility and bearing. If I had to rate the animals on character, I think she would get the trophy. Mind you, this is coming from someone who never really cared for cats. I have always felt that cats were pretty stuck-up compared to dogs. But again, I am applying moral descriptions to amoral behavior. Animals are not moral. If Thumbelina were human, I don't think she would be viewed highly, because she had lots of kittens lots of times, and judging by the looks of them, she was none too particular. I guess the reason I rate her so highly, is because she was such an excellent mouser. And she was a barn cat, not a house cat. She didn't just sit around and get fat. She was a worker. And when she didn't have mice to chase, she would practice. I would see her working out in the barn as if she had a mouse in her paws. She was very good. Because of her, we never had a problem with mice. We did have opossums, though, and they were bigger than Thumbelina. I couldn't expect her to take care of them. But I had a way of dealing with them. I used to sleep on the hide-a-bed by the patio window in the family room. In the middle of the night I would hear the cat food dish rattling. I would turn on the porch light and see a big, fat opossum eating the cat food. The opossum didn't seem to mind at all when I turned on the light, but when I ever so carefully slid the patio door open so that I could shoot it with John's .22, the opossum would amble off under the bush that adjoined the patio. This aggravated me to no end, but try as I would, I could never manage to open the patio door without alerting the opossum. I finally thought of a way to deal with the problem. I went to the bathroom on the end of the house, and opened the small bathroom window. The opossum didn't notice this, and kept on eating. This gave me time to draw a bead on him, and the opossum was history.

Shep was a German Shepherd, but a very unusual one. Shep was epileptic. Sudden loud noises, or trauma would cause her to have seizures. Because of this, she wasn't much of a dog fighter, and she was a very fearful animal as a pup. When she saw a stranger, she would put her tail between her legs and back up. It was embarrassing. But Shep had a mild, pleasant personality. Her closest friend on the farm was Thumbelina. I remember when Thumbelina brought her kittens up from the barn for the first time. We knew she had had kittens, of course, but we had no idea where she had put them. But one day, she came walking up toward the house, with her kittens following close behind. Shep saw them and became very excited and started wagging her tail. Thumbelina immediately arched her back to let Shep know that she should keep her distance. Shep backed off right away. It was a little tense, but they got acquainted pretty quickly. Shep was always kind to Thumbelina's kittens. Watching her play with them was interesting. She could have swallowed them with one bite, but she never hurt them. When she was laying in the sun on the back porch, the kittens used to climb up and sleep in the fur of her neck. I have often wondered how things might have been different if we had not allowed the guy at the kennel in Minnesota to pawn off a defective pup on us. We would have had a more normal dog, to be sure. But perhaps it would not have been a richer experience. Because of her disability, Shep had a depth of character not seen in more "normal" dogs. But do animals have character? Character is a moral quality, and animals are not moral beings. Yet they behave in ways that we often describe in moral terms. Because of this, they can teach us a lot about what constitutes moral understanding and conduct. Animals remind us that behaviors that may look moral, can actually have very different causes.

Foreigners (like me) are prone to attribute such problems as corruption or rude behavior in China to the fact that a whole nation of people has been told from their earliest days that there is no God. If people are told that there is no Almighty to whom they are ultimately accountable, are we not encouraging them to think they can do whatever they please as long as they don't get caught? What else will restrain them if they do not believe in an all powerful God to whom they must someday answer?

But are the neat orderly lines one is more likely to see in Japan an indication that the Japanese people have a more highly developed moral conscience? Try to tell someone in China that Japanese people live on a higher moral plane because they don't cut in line. My point is that there are other factors beside moral conscience that influence people to act in certain ways. China is an extraordinarily diverse culture. There are many different kinds of people in this country from a wide variety of backgrounds. A survey by China Daily shows quite clearly that most people in China do not believe that cutting in line is appropriate. Interesting to note that the percentage of people who think it is not appropriate is significantly larger than the percentage of people who actually refrain from doing it. My point is that the social acceptability of a given behaviour often has more impact on whether or not people engage in it than beliefs about the "rightness" or "wrongness" of that behaviour. This is perhaps because most people are more concerned about what their peers think than about what God thinks. Japan, being a very homogeneous culture, tends to develop social norms that are quite strict, and complied with by the average member of society for reasons more to do with peer pressure than conscience. China, being an extraordinarily diverse culture, both in terms of the kinds of people in society, and levels of socioeconomic status, tends to be less uniform. I don't want to take that point too far. China is a culture, after all, not just a bunch of people in the same place. There certainly are cultural norms in this country. But they tend not to follow quite the same level of uniformity that you would see in Japan or even in America.