Things that happened yesterday:
Went to Liu's office at around 10:00 am to register for courses, but he told me it was almost lunch time and that I should come back closer to 2:00pm. Since my appointment with the sequin-bikini people was at 6:00pm, I figured I'd have plenty of time for the registration before heading over to BLCU.
And? HOLY JESUS.
Firstly, Liu had me wait in line for nearly 3.5 hours to get an ABC bank card (Agricultural Bank of China, which is one of the big ones here). This is so I'll have somewhere for my monthly food stipend of 1,400 yuan to be deposited.
Secondly, Mandarin classes will begin fairly soon - next week, hopefully? - Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am - 12:00 pm. This upcoming Monday (my birthday!), I'll take a Chinese language placement exam to determine whether I should be in Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. Kind of wanted to screech out "BEGINNER, NO NEED FOR A TEST", but that might have been just a tad bit rude.
Liu finally got me to sign some things, and then said I needed to get a new medical examination, which caused my head to simultaneously explode and implode.
You know how we thought the medical examination form was a little bit... lacking, in terms of clarity/depth? Well, there was a reason for that! Apparently it's specifically intended for Chinese hospitals, and I must get a complete head-to-toe check up (including chest x-rays and a heart rate chart) before enrolling in CUGB. Wonderful!
Mr. Liu seemed very ambiguous about the time frame in which I need to obtain said examination, but mentioned that a dude from Togo named Sevle (who speaks English and French, in addition to Chinese) would be headed over Tuesday morning, so I should travel with him. The hospital I'd be going to is international, and would "only be open from 8:30 in the morning until 11:00, but we should get there early, because there's probably going to be a line."
Cool. Epic. Whatevs. If the university's going to pay for it, no need to complain. Texted Sevle, was told to "meet at 7h00 in front of Liu's office building". Was assured that this guy knew where we'd be going and what we'd be doing by Liu, so no need to write any other information down.
Showed up this morning. Two guys - one Chinese, one REALLY tall African dude - neither of them named Sevle, but identified as his "brothers", in the Muslim sense. Neither had any clue where the hospital was or what it was called. The Chinese guy (Lin) could speak English... sort of... and the guy from Togo couldn't, so I never got a chance to catch his name. Flagged down a taxi, gave him the address I'd copied from Mr. Liu. Cabbie didn't know where the hospital was. Called Mr. Liu. Was told to take the #438 bus. Bus ticket taker dude said that there was no stop by the name we gave him.
Long story short? Ended up lost in Beijing for two hours this morning with two guys, sent by Sevle, who was sent by Mr. Liu, to help me find a hospital because he assumed I was too inept to look it up on Google Maps and find/copy down directions for myself. As soon as I obtained access to a computer when we returned, I was able to find the Hanzi for the address myself and directions via public transportation. Will go there tomorrow morning (with my book) to wait in line, probably around 6:00am to escape morning rush hour.
Miscommunication sucks.
WHAT WE'VE LEARNED TODAY: I work best alone, I hate groups, and I prefer not to talk to people unless we're going to have an intelligent discussion about something interesting. I'd prefer reading (or doing other solitary pursuits) while waiting, rather than talking; speaking of which, God, waiting's awful.
... And, uh. If I talk to you, on a regular basis, you're part of a select few. There aren't many people I talk to over an extended period of time. Jeremy can attest to this.
Gah! Time to start prepping for the WinAvi interview this afternoon.
Love,
Pajj
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