Hunan Foreign Economic Relations and Trade College

I have signed up with a university finally. This is a tale about how little Chinese value people value time, commitments and how little they know about their professional skills.
My new liaison is called Amy. She is about 25 year. She does speak English but never understands it. She's got no damn idea about maintaining a folder that should contain the documents required to get an expert certificate and renew a residence permit. She;s been at this job for two year. I am sure that she'd got no training before starting her job.She askedme for my passport, previous EC and health book which I provided. I was asked to wait for her the next day at my uni gate to go for my physical. I waited for her 24 min and she did not show up. Finally I called her and she said she was coming. She arrived 40 minutes late with a lame excuse that was irrelevant. Well, she had no clue where the place was to have my physical done. I called one of my American friend's wife who is a Chinese. That lady gave Amy directions how to get there. It took one hour for her after having the direction to reach there. She continuously kept saying that she knew the place. It was only " saving face' effort wasted my time and frustrated me. She did not guide me which rooms to go for various tests and I just used my instincts and got told by other people what the next step was. She informed me that  Michael, another foreigner, had done it by himself and the uni had paid for the expenses later. On the way back, she asked me to take a cab back home and give her the taxi receipt later to get the money from the finance office. I got dropped midway.

Here's a list of documents required to process EC and Visa;
1- Passport.
2-Previous Expert Certificate.
3-Resume( Chinese and English versions)
4-A copy of Degree.
5-Old Contract signed with the previous employer.
6-6 photograph( white background, passport size)
7-Health check certificate.
8-A temporary Residence paper. The uni's are supposed to inform the police if a foreigner travels outside China( Departure and arrival dates).This information is fed into the computer and is checked when we apply for a new visa.It's a pink, small piece of paper.
9-Two application forms, signed and stamped by the previous employer for getting EC.
10-A release letter or recommendation letter.

This may change from place to place but Hunan PSB requires above mentioned documents.

Back to the story again.
So, this lady called me the next day asking me to email her my " Self Introduction" which we call resume or C.V in proper English. She had sent me the form to be filled and stamped by the previous employer in order to get EC and new visa.I did that the next morning. I waited for her again at my gate and again as per habit she arrived 23 min late with casual " sorry" thing. I really wanted to smack her but this can't help this retard.

Later I contact my British friend Terry and asked him about the documents required for all that process. He provided me with a list. I told Amy about all what she had to do and how to arrange things. " Oh, I know....Oh, I know" was her reply. " You know my ass"( I said in my heart). She was expected to come to me at 8 P.M which she did not and she did not pick my phone calls. I had my gf call the vise president and explain the situation. Late night I received her mesages saying she was sorry and she had forgotten her phone at home and gone to a party. She had not mentioned about our 8 o clock appointment at all. I am fuming!

So this lady 

I apologize for some typing mistakes in the post above . It happened only because I was upset. Hope you guys think big!

A seminal story of the way things are at an awful lot of Chinese schools. Nicely done, and don't sweat the typos.

THIS  time.

This area's for reviews of specific schools, though. Can you give the name? If not I'll move 'er over...

And, oh...the homeys value THEIR time and commitments made TO them.
YOUR time, and commitments THEY make, are considerably further down the list.

It's called Hunan Foreign Economic Relations and Trade College.

And, oh...the homeys value THEIR time and commitments made TO them.
YOUR time, and commitments THEY make, are considerably further down the list.

Do we think any different when we ask them to help us? 

We do think differently when we consider the fact that it is what they are hired to do. FAO = Foreign Affairs Officer. Job description is to look after us and assist us with our daily living and working in their country. So when it is someones actual job to look after us, we should be able to expect a certain amount of assistance and the giving up of their QQ time to do what is required of them.

I never really worked with an FAO... I always had just a regular teacher assist me. But even then once you make a commitment, you have to follow it. Especially with such matters as visa process. Riz, if your management is interested in hiring you they should take more serious whom they assign to be your FAO.

We do think differently when we consider the fact that it is what they are hired to do. FAO = Foreign Affairs Officer. Job description is to look after us and assist us with our daily living and working in their country. So when it is someones actual job to look after us, we should be able to expect a certain amount of assistance and the giving up of their QQ time to do what is required of them.

True - doing a job effectively is important.

I was really replying to RD's comment, rather than this specific event. Sorry.

Quote from: Raoul Duke on July 21, 2008, 07:15:06 AM

And, oh...the homeys value THEIR time and commitments made TO them.
YOUR time, and commitments THEY make, are considerably further down the list.

Do we think any different when we ask them to help us? 

Yeah, actually, I think in general most of us do. But this is not the topic at hand.

G'Day!
I moved into an apartment given to me by my New Uni yesterday but I could not sleep there. My girlfriend, a Japanese friend( My ex- colleague) and myself sat on the same removal mini truck that transferred my luggage. I was welcomed by my liaison( Amy) who was getting into her car for the lunch break.She had another girl with her( A student) who had taken us to our new apartment. I was told that I would be living on 3rd floor but that girl took us to 5th floor. Opening the entrance door what we witnessed  was a complete 'Haunted House'. About 2cm of thick layer of dirt, broken ancient furniture also covered in dust, no TV, dvd player, aircon, drinking water , no nothing.My girlfriend and the other friend got really really pissed off but I remained calm because I am a member of Raoul Saloon and I have read such tales of pain and agony.

We went down to the FAO lady called lady and portrayed the picture of a house where a ' foreign expert was supposed to live for one year at least. We prepared a list of the items that were needed by a normal human being to live in a place a house and gave it to her. She arranged 6 people clean and wash the floors and take away every old piece of furniture. She promised to have everything fixed in few days.

I was taken to the police too to the nearest police station in order to inform them about my present dwelling. Two uniformed lady cops took my short interview. I put it here verbatim for your amusement.

Q; Your passport says your are Muslim. Do you practise Islam?
A; The last time I had prayed was probably 20 year ago. I don't do it any longer.
Q; What do you eat? ( I thought I was an animal just discovered in Amazon forest)
A; I consume everything that a normal human being does in normal , everyday life conditions.( We dont eat fish eyes and dogs in our country and it's normal for most of the countries in the world)
Q: Do you teach part-time?
A; Never! ( offcourse I lied).
Cop A; You are not allowed to teach out of your contract because it is illegal.

Having finished this ritual, I was taken back to my ultra comfortable apartment where people were still trying to make it presentable. I packed my important stuff in a small bag. A few pairs of shorts, T shirts, MP3, and toiletries and came to my American buddy Sam. I was also asked by my liason to live in the apartment since it's olympic time and the police can check if a foreign lives at the place where he's been allowed to live? This retard does not understand that the house is not at all worth living as yet. Lights, faucets, curtains, it needs everything you name. I refused and told her to tell the cops the truth for my not living in that apartment, in case they bother to check.

She's gonna put my residence permit thing into the process in a day or two as she is a severe case of alzheimer's disease.I have noticed that on many occasions and Once I had notified that to her as well but she did not get what i had said.

More to come soon!

I moved into an apartment given to me by my New Uni yesterday but I could not sleep there.......I was told that I would be living on 3rd floor but that girl took us to 5th floor. Opening the entrance door what we witnessed  was a complete 'Haunted House'. About 2cm of thick layer of dirt, broken ancient furniture also covered in dust, no TV, dvd player, aircon, drinking water , no nothing.......We went down to the FAO lady.....She promised to have everything fixed in few days.

 I was also asked by my liason to live in the apartment since it's olympic time...I refused...she is a severe case of alzheimer's disease.

It's called Hunan Foreign Economic Relations and Trade College.

Sounds like your FAO hasn't gotten the "Foreign Relations" part at all.  Unless she's under the impression that Foreign = Stupid.   I hope you took pictures.  And make sure to take pictures when everything is "ready", so that when it's time to leave she can't claim "damages" against you for anything....

That's a great idea! I will take pictures when i start living there. I received a phone call from her boss called Mrs Li or Lee saying she was getting everything fixed and making it worth living. She will call me when it's okay to move in.

Yo Riz,

She will respond more to losing face than anything you say.
Most likely your losing patience will be entertaining for this type of person.
I would ask politely of any and all her peers or superiors if they have someone
that is qualified to do her job instead because she is an amateur.

This will hopefully give you more 'power'. As it is now, you have no power
and you are being treated as such. These are the rules of the Chinese game.

If you are expecting Western standards of reliability and integrity on the job,
living in China will be a constant disappointment.

Try to get in the habit of letting go of anything you expect and 'resetting' then
ask a veteran like the ones on this board how to play the game. Because that's all it is.

All the best! (I'm hoping this is not considered off-topic)

I received a phone call from her boss called Mrs Li or Lee saying she was getting everything fixed and making it worth living. She will call me when it's okay to move in.

Yo Riz,
She will respond more to losing face than anything you say.

Since Mrs Li/Lee contacted you directly, make sure to telephone her directly to say "Thank You" as soon as you are moved in.  And then follow up with a brief, heartfelt letter of gratitude for her timely intervention. 

Manners DO matter, you know.