Little things can be big things here...like computers; everything is in Chinese. I have to go by instinct (where was Format Columns on the English version of WORD, for example?) And who would ever have thought there would be no such thing as ALIGN TEXT LEFT in China? Hey, it looks pretty funny aligned right. The best alternative is justified, like newspaper text...spread evenly across the line so left and right borders are even. Then there's the big surprise when everything you have just typed turns mysteriously into Chinese characters. It took me a few days to solve that one. There is a little CH in the task bar at the bottom of the screen; click it and change it to EN. These might not seem like a big deal, but when it takes 3 days to figure out how to type a short note, and then multiply that by dozens of similar challenges, you can imagine that even the most patient person could start to have a meltdown.
Yesterday I was chatting with Dave on Messenger when I suddenly couldn't type any more. I mean, I could type, but all that showed up were a few Chinese characters; then everything froze. I had to call him and tell him that I hadn't just left him in mid-sentence. It was wierd and we both started to wonder if the censors had spotted us. Just then, Jane came over, and she knew the keyboard command to force the computer to go back to English. How fortunate.
Ever try to login to a website in Chinese? Which one of those little pictures says LOGIN? Or English, for that matter? That's a picture I need to memorize if I ever learn it. The database we use is all in Chinese too, of course. I've memorized check-in and check-out. The other day I learned the message for This book is already checked out. Most of the time though I don't need to read Chinese to use the circulation database. Since no further information was entered when the books were barcoded, there is no further information to access. Actually, ISBN numbers are there, but cannot be searched.
TV too, is all in Chinese, and radio programs. The one English language TV station offers very little and rebroadcasts the same program day after day. It could really do us a service by spending 15 minutes a half dozens or so times a day giving the weather report. There can't be anything politically offensive about that. You can get satellite TV that brings in a few more stations, like CNN from London, HBO, Discovery and National Geographic. Some people point their satellite toward the Phillipines and get a lot more. There is one bilingual radio station that I can now listen to since I got a used stereo radio, DC/tape player. I connected that to the internet that I just got...so now I listen to MPR. Just like at home! It's all I need. Although sometimes I listen to P4.no from Oslo or Radio France from Paris. C'est la vie!
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The little things of being in another country are what shock all recent immigrants. When I first visited Japan, I was shocked that I had to squat to take a dump in a modern, domestic bathroom. The whole concept of sliding doors rather than hinged doors blew my mind. And the first few trips to the store to get some food are trips beyond belief. Sounds like you're having and adventure.
Eric Cavitt
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