cultural differences? yes, no, i dunno

I had my ass slapped by an old Uyghur woman on the bus today. I just boarded the number 101 bus to go down 'south' and have a go at fixing my violin at one of the random music shops. No sooner had i boarded the bus and paid my one kwai fee, i felt someone slap my behind. I turned around rather quickly and found this tiny old wrinkly woman in a beautiful yellow headscarf pointing at the little metal box thingamajig near the window, right behind the driver's seat. This was her way of saying i should sit down there. She probably thought carrying the violin was too heavy for me or something. A nice gesture but it definitely took me by surprise.

The first music shop i tried, i was greeted by some very friendly staff who told me they couldn't fix the crack in my violin, but they lead me to another person who knew how. Imagine that! They were honest and upfront about not knowing how to do it, i was so so so happily shocked!

You don't get much of that here due to the loss of 'face'. Instead, most people would make up some lame excuse like they didn't have the tools right then, or that due to Number X regulation from some not-to-be-seen document, they are not allowed to repair violins on Thursdays. I'm not even kidding. Anyway, the man who is glueing the crack together has a little workshop in a flat tucked away in a corner on the second floor among a bunch of apartment buildings, but where the natural sunlight beams into the room, illuminating all his scattered tools and materials. There were, i swear, at least a couple dozen of saxaphones, guitars, accordians, violins, keyboards, etc. It was a mess, but in a sort of orderly fashion. Anyways, i'll see if the glue was a success tomorrow. It takes about 24 hours to dry, keeping my fingers crossed....

We are encountering some hiccups with the Women's Centre project up in Yili this week. Things are getting ironed out and at the end of the day, we (the project managers, Cath and Merhaba and myself) are more determined to make it happen, to ensure that the women who will benefit from this endeavor will see some sort of result. Don't really want to elaborate now on the situation, however it is a what we call, a 'work in progress'. Ah, but what isn't in life huh?

Yesterday I had to go and exchange the air filters that we purchased a few weeks ago. Ok, let me back up.

We have this air purification machine that filters the bad particles in the air. The filter inside gets filthy black in a few months' use. I went to the store that is literally downstairs from us at home to order two new filters. I brought the manual with me so i could get the same model. They had to order it and it took quite a while. When it finally came, the woman from the store rang me up like every couple of hours to tell me to come over and pick them up. My family was here at the time and i was running around with them, the last thing i had time for was these air filters. By the time my family left and i went to pick them up, the woman told me that she had to ship them back because i was "too late". "WHAT? But i need them!" "Yes, and i called you but you never came so i had to send them back." "Well, can we have them sent back here?" "Uh...(sigh), ok. But when i call you, you must come IMMEDIATELY." "Ok ok," (thinking in my head "what kind of customer service is this?". So they arrived on a Friday morning, the call came on my mobile and i was down there in a jiffy. Great, no problems, I paid for the air filters, and went on my merry way.

Only after the Taklamakan Rally did i try to install the new filters, and lo and behold, they were just a snug too big for the actual casing. Ahhhhhh... i was thinking, "Chinese made filters, i should've known! Ok, i should have checked immediately to see if i was sold the right model. I should have tried to install them the minute i got home. I should have, I should have ... " But when i buy something and tell them which model i require, i expect that i'll be sold that particular model. Not just in China, but anywhere in the world. Not in this case. So back down i go, bringing the new air filters and my actual air purification machine just to prove to them that it didn't fit properly. I was loaded up with boxes and i was determined to get the proper filter this time.

** You may think i'm making a big deal here, but some things that should be relatively easy and hassle-free in life are just time-consuming and frustrating to the max.

Ok, so to give a bit of Chinese-culture background in department stores: Everytime you enter and exit the store, there is a man who stands at attention who will welcome you when you arrive (or tell you thank you for coming and to come back soon upon leaving). At first it is a bit shocking as they literally yell this, the first few times this happened i was taken by surprise and jumped a bit. They don't even look at you, they just yell in your ear as you walk by. A bit strange, but you get used to it.

ANYWAY, when you leave, you must ALWAYS show your receipt to this man standing at the door. He will barely look at it, but then with his ball point pen and with a flair of authority, he will draw a line down the receipt to indicate that it has been checked by him, and then he hands the receipt back to you, and off you go, free to walk out the door with your newly purchased items.

Back to my air filter story. So i had brought back all the new air filters i had bought (but were the wrong size) and the actual machine into the store. After the mess was sorted out (i found out today i will get the right size model, i just have to wait now), i was told i wouldn't be able to leave the store because i didn't have the receipt for my air filter machine. "But this is MY MACHINE, I've had it for months!" "I know, xiao jie, but you don't have the receipt for it so you cannot leave the store." "But why would i carry the receipt of something i bought a long time ago? Anyways, can't you just tell the guy at the door my situation?" "No no no, you cannot leave the store. It is not possible. You don't have the receipt." What was going on? I was being held captive in the department store because of some silly regulation that didn't even apply to me? By this time, there were about 20 sales people surrounding me and my air filter. Everyone knew my situation but everyone agreed that i would not be able to leave unless i had a receipt. One even told me to call 'my husband' to search for it back home and bring it to the store so i could leave. Just the blatant ridiculousness of the whole thing was too much. They obviously knew i hadn't stolen the machine, why on earth would i do that anyway, it's such a big and clumsy thing to hide down my pants. They were just following orders and regulations. This was the classic textbook definition of Chinese salespeople acting as robots, machines themselves, only able to utter and regurgitate what they were told to do. Finally after numerous phone calls to different people in several departments, the floor manager came out, a short stalky woman who walked in a fury. She started barking orders at people and told this one salesguy to accompany me outside and explain to 'the man at the door' my unusual and most unique predicament. He flatout refused, probably not wanting to risk losing 'face' with 'the man at the door'. So this poor young saleslady was summoned instead and off we went to face this feared 'man at the door'. It took a bit of explaining, but eventually i was allowed out of the store. Ah, the freedom.

I'm going to cherish those air filters when they arrive. As long as they're the right ones.