Little Children

I attended a closing ceremony of a private "school" run by a good friend this morning. It's not an official school since my friend runs it quite differently from the public schools. It was a very special event, with the children singing praise songs and reciting Psalms (in both Chinese and English) as a way of showing what they've learned during this past semester.

The headmaster - my friend - did a PowerPoint presentation on school's teaching and children's growth. The teaching is centered on one verse, Luke 2:52, thus the education focuses on 4 areas:

• ...grew in wisdom... (learning various subjects)
  
• ...and stature... (physical education, including healthy habits)
  
• ...in favor with G... (spiritual growth)
  
• ...and men. (social skills and team work)
  

Among these, the 3rd area is the most emphasized. The grading was also unique. Instead of giving just a score (like based on a test), the students' attitudes were figured in. Thus, if the attitude had a grade of A, B, or C, and the score was 1, 2, or 3, then the final grade would be A1, B1, C2, etc., with more emphasis on the attitude.

I was invited to give a brief talk to the children as an encouragement. I quoted Matthew 19:14, where JC said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." I often wondered what kind of little children JC was pointing at when He spoke so, and now, this morning, I had a better idea.

Evaluation and Reflection

Although it's not time yet for performance review for the engineers,  but since it's almost at the end of a software release, I decided to do an evaluation for the team members. There have been good things and bad things for this release, and the biggest complaints are 1) the whole team feels tired; 2) some members are not exactly team players, causing others to put in more effort.

Based on team leaders' comments and my own observations, I began to grade each and every engineer. (This will not go into their performance review, which will happen in a few months, but this will help them and myself to focus on areas to improve.) The more I graded them - some didn't receive high marks - the more I realized one thing: Some of the weaknesses the team members displayed were results of weaknesses coming from the top. I, as the project manager, was in fact partially responsible for some of the bad performances.

I don't mean to be hard on myself (I gave myself a  B minus :-), but that realization was very humbling. I thought that I had become a fairly decent project manager, but now I saw that I still had much to learn.

Actually I will not continue to be the PM when the new release starts. I couldn't be happier about the next PM though, who happens to be a very good friend of mine in the company. I will miss the team. When I took over a year ago, the team had about 15 people; now it's about 35. I care for their personal growth more than the "success" of the project; that sometimes caused conflicts with the upper management. Over time, however, my approach became more and more appreciated.

But I have my limits. Perhaps this indeed is a good time to move on - and let those who can do a better job to take over.

Beggars

The other night I was on my way home from a friend's place. Two people approached me as I was walking. A middle-aged woman and a young fellow, appearing to be mother and son. They looked quite decent with clean clothes. They didn't ask for money but asked if I could just buy them some food. I complied and bought them each a bowl of rice noodles (RMB 5 per). I even sat down and chatted with them a little bit.

They told me that they were from Nanjing, which surprised me. "You don't sound like from Nanjing at all - I am from Nanjing," I said to them. They insisted that they were from Nanjing, while I was sure that they were not based on their accent. (BTW, many beggars came from Anhui province, which was not far from Nanjing.) I didn't push further, and left them the remaining changes in my pocket - and walked away.

A minute later, the boy caught up with me, asking me to help them more. He said that they would catch a train back to Nanjing the next day, but if I would be so kind, could I pay for a room for them near the train station for the night. The train station was very far from where I lived, so this was as good as asking for money. I didn't have more changes (although I did have a few hundred-yuan bills with me, but I wouldn't go that far), and I told him that I couldn't help any further. He followed me and was very persistent. I stopped and looked right into his eyes, "I cannot help you," I said very coldly. He didn't follow me again.

A few minutes later, as I was very close to my place, two young women approached me and right away they said, "We are not asking you for money, but could you just buy us some food?" I almost laughed and explained to them that I had just helped someone like them and I ran out of changes. They asked me to describe whom I just helped. I thought, why would you want to know that? Competitors? People in the same "network"? I was very firm that I couldn't help them. One of the girls finally pointed at a book that I was carrying, "Could you give us a book to read?" "I bought the book because I liked it! I am not going to give you that!" I walked away rather mad.

The night was cold, and that did make me feel for them. But then, they dressed warmer than I did that evening.

Singapore

So I am back from Singapore - my first trip this year through air. It was very good. (Well, even making the trip was to be thankful for.) Weather was "perfect." Yes, a little bit on the warm side, but much easier to go through than the uneven temperatures in the southern China these days. In fact, while I had no problem with the cold weather in Beijing a week ago, I promptly caught a cold in Guangzhou, where it was supposed to be warmer.

I accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish in Singapore - and more. Here is my "secret" for enjoying short trips like this: "Everything that I wanted to accomplish" was in fact a very short list, namely a gathering with a group of volunteers to discuss this year's summer program in the NW. Everything else would be a bonus!

I ended up meeting a few other very good friends, including a soon-to-be-married couple. The Sunday morning service that I attended just before my return flight was superb. Every meal was delicious. I also got to spend time with a pastor from South Africa, staying at his place both nights since he had an extra room. (I asked friends to book a room at Raffles. They thought that I was joking and didn't do it.)

The pastor shared with me this funny story: Cape Town, where he used to live, was very windy at times. One time he was walking in a particular area famous for wind, and a lady suddenly grabbed him for support. Before he could react, another lady grabbed him from the other side, also in fear of being blown away. The three of them were captured by a reporter's camera, and they were on the local newspaper the next day!

Going to a place far away to hear a story from even farther way. That's traveling.

How to Travel Overseas In Less Than 2 Weeks After Losing Passport

Here is an update on my passport: The old was never found, and the new is already at hand. In summary, I am making all the trips that I planned to make this month.

• Day -13, Sunday, 12/14/08. Returned to Shenzhen on a flight, meaning I still had the (old) passport then.
• Day Y, the day that the passport was lost. I don't know exactly when and where. I chose letter Y because that's the question one would ask, "Why, why, why?"
• Day 0, Saturday, 12/27/08. Discovered that my passport had been lost.
• Day 1, Sunday, 12/28/08. Shared the news with local friends and started searching. Asked everyone to pray.
• Day 2, Monday, 12/29/08. Reported to local police (paichusuo, 派出所) about the loss. Local police issued a notice, which was needed for the next step.
• Day 3, Tuesday, 12/30/08. Submitted local police's notice to city PSB (市公安局). A Statement of Loss of Passport would be issued the next day. Took passport photo in a local shop.
• Day 4, Wednesday, 12/31/08. Returned to city PSB and obtained the Statement of Loss of Passport, which would be needed for applying for a new passport. Picked up passport photo just before the shop closed.
• Day 5, Thursday, 1/1/09. New Year's Day. On a train to Beijing. Strictly speaking, a soft sleeper seat, which I had, would also require a passport, but the checking was lax.
• Day 8, Sunday, 1/4/09. On a train back from Beijing to Guangzhou. Stayed in relative's place overnight.
• Day 9, Monday, 1/5/09. 9:00 AM, entered the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou with the necessary documents, including the Statement of Loss of Passport. 11:15 AM, obtained an emergency passport (good for 1 year). The full-validity passport (good for 10 years) would be ready in 2 weeks at no extra cost. 12:00 noon, on a train back to Shenzhen. 2:00 PM, entered the city PSB with the necessary documents to re-apply for my work visa. 3:00 PM, all documents were reviewed, but the officer could only approve to issue the visa a week later on 1/12. But I planned to travel on 1/9, so I talked to a supervisor at the PSB. 3:30 PM, went into an Internet cafe to gather data. 4:00 PM, went back to the PSB and convinced the supervisor to expedite the process. I could pick up the visa on 1/8 instead!
• Day 12, Thursday, 1/8/09. Picked up the replacement work visa at the city PSB. I now could travel overseas!
• Day 13, Friday, 1/9/09 (that will be tomorrow). Fly to Singapore.

Of course, I still don't have a full-validity passport yet, but for all practical purposes, I am set. The whole process went pretty smoothly, and it took less than two weeks. Excluding the weekends and holiday (New Year's Day), it took 8 working days, while in reality it took 4 working days to get it settled (when the PSB supervisor agreed to expedite the visa process). It helped when my residence (Shenzhen) was close to the U.S. Consulate location (Guangzhou).

Now I want to share one more detail: Perhaps you are curious how I convinced the PSB supervisor to expedite the visa process. In normal circumstances, such request would not be granted unless it was an emergency situation, such as medical conditions or relatives passing away. (And, of course, don't ever imagine that you could talk a Chinese officer into changing his mind.) There was another situation where it could be considered - if you had purchased airplane tickets that did not allow change of date.

Honestly I don't think this rule makes sense. I went on a trip because of an event, not because I just wanted to get on an airplane. Say, in this case, the event was to be held on 1/10, and I bought airplane tickets accordingly. Even if I could change flights, the event would not change, right?

But anyway, I couldn't argue with the officer, and as it so happened, the airplane tickets that I purchased (before I lost or realized that I lost my passport) indeed prohibited date change, since it was a "super deal" promoted by Singapore Airlines. I went to an Internet cafe near the PSB and pulled up SA's website, printed out the price rules, and went back to the PSB to show the officer my "proof."

A couple of tips on talking to a Chinese officer (or government staff) in such a situation. 1) Show that you really want it. Be firm. 2) On the other hand, don't press them. Almost *nothing* in China is absolutely inflexible, but you need to be patient. If he asks you to produce something, try your best to do it - and show your effort. No matter how tedious it is, don't get mad or complain. I mentioned that you couldn't talk them into changing their mind, but your cooperative attitude could influence them to act in your favor, while they didn't appear to have changed their mind at all. :-)