China Is the Homeland of Bureaucracy

Nothing much has changed here, except that school is gearing up and will start next week. This week has been consumed by adhering to the various ridiculous rules of the Chinese bureaucracy. Among other things, I must get a health check to ensure I am not a public health hazard even though I've been here since Oct. and presumably have had time to infect thousands of people. China has been run by professional bureaucrats for the last 2000 years, so they have had plenty of time to perfect the art. I though that the DMV was bad, but actually Chinese bureaucrats have developed their surly adherence to incomprehensible and useless yet apparently essential rules to a far greater extent. The strangest thing about it is that the rules are not at all evenly applied. In fact, they will frequently make a snap decision to ignore all procedure: for example, when I applied for my visa last time, the official in charge apparently whimsically decided that none of my painstakingly gathered documents (endorsed by the city, the state and the national government at a cost of approx. $40) were necessary to see and issued me one without even looking at them. I am not sure if there is a greater logic behind this or simply the bureaucrats gleefully exercising their power in ways depending on their mood and digestion (I suspect it's the latter).

B has been collecting enormous piles of paper and books containing incredibly detailed information about the production of various goods (cigarettes, coal, steel, paper, etc.) throughout China. He hopes to collect more and hire Chinese students to enter the data for him into Excel spreadsheets, at which point he could just hang out while occasionally supervising them (I doubt this would actually be the case, as B loves doing his research too much).

The weather has improved here dramatically, even miraculously, and I no longer need heat in the house or a coat on the street whatsoever. Instead, it is sunny and temperate (the weather today reminded me of LA). I am very happy about this, as weather cold enough to hurt your skin whenever you ventured outside is not my cup of tea.