Only in China...

A few days ago, I ignored the advice that my physician, my dad and my common sense told me and I got myself some wheels. I went to one of the bike shops in Gongyi, checked out their stock and decided to get a brand new scooter to get me around. Even if you don't consider the buy-back guarantee that came with it, the price was very good, thanks to Arissa, my Chinese colleague who negotiated for me. Here it is: Nah, just kidding... This one:

Just before filling the paperwork and making it official, I learned that my International driver licence is not valid in China. The Popular Republic of China is not part of all the list of 170 countries that signed the agreement, therefore I pretty much did that for nothing. And now, since the bike I wanna get is more than 50 cc, I need a licence to drive it and also to pay for the immatriculation. I was about to give up the idea, until the intrinsic fucked-up nature of this country struck me in the face... again.

The salesman just "modified" my bike so it can be less than 50 cc. If you look close enough, you clearly see that they've just put a sticker over the actual model number.

If you look at my buddy Shawn's bike (Scooty Puff Junior), you can also see that sort of thing. Even the Honda sticker is added on.

Only in China...

Only in China also that you can go to the gas station, fill up a beer bottle with gas and then go back to put it in your bike:

So yeah, I have a motorbike now, which means I gotta be very careful. Those Chinese drivers are ruthless and the pedestrians are even more unpredictable, most of them just crossing the street without even thinking about looking. I wonder how there are still thousands of millions in this country, I mean most of them should be dead three or four times by now. But fortunately, I have my good old Western automobile driving habits and I drive very defensively. I hope it's enough...

But having a bike means more than getting my life esperance reduced drastically, it also means I can get around. Gongyi is pretty flat overall, but just out of town there are some crazy valleys and mountains where Shawn and I went for a ride this afternoon:

Besides, what happened in the last few days? I had to go to Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province, to get my physical exam I need to go through in order to obtain my residency permit. It was nothing but hours of waiting, sitting around, bureaucracy and a battery of medical tests that I had already done before coming. But also, this day trip to Zhengzhou allowed us to go shopping for things impossible or difficult to find in smaller Gongyi! We went to Dennis, a Western style supermarket. It looks exactly like the average Canadian Loblaws or Provigo, except that everybody is Chinese. Well, if we forget these two white dudes going crazy in front of the beer display! They had Leffe (22 yuan a bottle, ouch, but I'll be damned if I stick to chinese beer during a full year) and various other good brands at expensive prices. I also purchased a massive amount of steak, and back on campus we had a barbecue on the roof. It was pretty damn cool.

I've also started my Chinese lessons!!! It is one on one, as the school provides me a tutor. Her name is 李宣 and she is an English major student, therefore she seems delighted at the idea of meeting me thrice a week since she also gets to practice her oral English (and hang out with a handsome laowai). So far I know how to count up to ten, which also means I can count up to infinite. Chinese numbers are very simple, and so is the grammar (from what I saw so far) but the pronunciation and especially the tones are a real challenge. Nevertheless, I am motivated and I have a very good tutor. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

I have a few more things to talk about, but it's gonna wait as I need some rest now! Babye!