Most of you are following my wife's blog, which gives a much more detailed (and frankly better) synopsis of our daily happenings than I can provide here. I'll give a quick update: After wading through the expansive bureaucracy here in Beijing (have you heard that China's bureaucracy is tough to get through?), registering with the police, applying for my residence permit, registering at the university, and finding an apartment, we are officially settling into a (semi) regular routine. Andrea's Chinese is improving daily, and I'm plunging into my research.
Allow me to throw out some random thoughts I've had over the past three weeks (bullet points engage!)
- The subway system. Where have you been all my life?!! I haven't spent any significant time in Beijing since 2007, when there was basically three subway lines. Now?? Five lines, plus an airport express and an Olympic village tram. Most probably can't appreciate this, but there's even a subway line that goes into the university district. What used to take about an hour to get from the universities to the center of town is now about 25 minutes. Nothing makes me happier than the picture below. It may be too late for me to take advantage of this on a regular basis, but for all future CIB students, this is a true blessing:
- Speaking of subways, two stories: First, I left my wife standing on a subway platform while the train pulled away (with me on it). I'll spare you the details, and just say that when I yell "run" it's not a joke. Second while on another trip on the subway I was peering at the subway map on the train when suddenly I feel a sharp whack on my arm. I look down and realize that an 80 year old man has just rapped me on the arm and directed me to take his seat. When I explain (in Chinese) that in fact the next stop is mine and I'm also exiting the train he doubled over in shock. White guy + some Chinese is a potent combination in this country. Also, personal space is cultural. Some countries have it; this country doesn't.
- Some fascinating propaganda around the city these days. More pictures will follow, but I'll make two observations. First, signs urging people to register with the police* are in both Chinese and English. I found this to be emblematic of Beijing's status as one of the truly global cities in the world. The large number of foreigners in this city has forced the city government to print signs in both Chinese and English. Second, if you want to understand what's going on in China today, there are few words more important than 文明 （wenming). It literally translates to "civilization", and there are signs everywhere- in both English and Chinese- promoting this concept. Right outside our apartment is a huge sign urging all to "create a more civilized Beijing." How may one do this? The suggestions range from being kind to women to not running people over with your car (and a whole lot in between). This word has also popped up in several conversations with local Beijingers- who usually say that Americans are so civilized and Chinese people aren't. Clearly these people have never seen what the NJ Turnpike looks like at 5:30 on a Friday. Still this word is a constant source of fascination. When so many people claim that their country is uncivilized it belies the idea that a nationalistic China is waiting in the wings to claim global hegemony (much more on this later, but I think the problem may be both in our perception of China, and in the futility of Western social science attempting to explain some aspects of Chinese society).
* All residents have to register with the police in China, no matter who you are or where you live. Registering gives you access to almost every public service in China, from education to (free) public health care. No registration, no services. This has created a massive problems in China in which immigrants from the countryside move to the cities without a job in hopes of striking it rich. Without an official job, however, you can't register with the police and are therefore shut out of these basic services. Literally millions of people are officially "invisible" to the state- unregistered and unaccounted for. It seems harsh, but I always wonder what's the alternative? Lift the registration system and then have millions more people flood into the cities? Obviously the best solution is to improve conditions in the countryside, but that is taking some time. Any solution to this problem has to figure out how to manage 1.3 billion people, most of whom want to strike it rich.
- Finally, happy Mid-Autumn Festival! My first big holiday in China. It was a beautiful day here and Andrea and I sat on a rooftop in Houhai, ate some good food, and looked at the moon (as proscribed by, well, someone).
So much more to say, do, and write about, including how Beijing has changed, our neighborhood, Sino-American relations, Sino-Japanese relations, and an attempted paean to Beijing, which I have once again realized is my absolute favorite city in the world (sorry B-town).
For now, I'll leave you with a picture of the new skill I learned. No big deal, just took a little practice. Andrea snapped this picture of me practicing:
