Nowhere Man
March 9, 2009
When I was back in the States last month, my mom asked me if I could download the Beatles’ “Good Day Sunshine” as her ringtone on her new mobile phone, but Verizon’s controlling tendencies make it impossible to customize your phone without going through one of their overpriced music services. However, I decided to add to my Beatles collection and downloaded “Nowhere Man,” which has made its way into my iPod rotation.
This past week in China, I’ve felt something like Nowhere Man. Between being either ignored because people assume I cannot express myself at all in Chinese or being stared at because I am the fascinating foreigner, I tend to feel like the observer or the observed. In either role, I feel remarkably outside of what is going on around me. Even when I am in front of the class, I am acting for my students and mainly there for them to make their own observations of the American teaching method.
Last week, I also had 3000 RMB (approximately US$400) stolen from my Bank of China bank account. In China the machine holds your card until after you take your money and then push a button to get your card back. These ATM machines differ from the ones in the States where you either swipe your card at the beginning of the transaction and then put it back in your wallet or you get your card back before you get your money. So I received my money and mentally thought I was done with the transaction, so left without taking my card. An hour later I realized my card was still in the machine, but I thought the machine would just swallow the card and I could return to the bank the next day to reclaim my lost card. I arrive at the branch and they inform me that my card was not found. So I proceed to close my account, open a new one, and transfer all of my money into the new account. As the woman is processing my request, she shows me my passbook and my balance is far lower than I last remembered. At this point, the wheels in my head are spinning and it hits me that someone positioned themselves at the machine after me and withdrew 3000 RMB from my account. At a loss as to how to express myself in Chinese, I ask if anyone speaks English. I am then directed to the Private Wealth area of the bank to meet with a woman, whom I ask whether the video cameras positioned all over the bank could help catch the culprit. She tells me that the cameras produce poor quality images and that it may be “impossible” to get my money back, but I could call the police and they can look at the videos. Why they place these cameras all over the bank if they’re virtually useless is beyond me. Another difference between Chinese and American ATM machines is that in the States you need to re-enter your PIN to do another transaction, but in China one can do multiple transactions with just entering the PIN once.
I had called my roommate and she rushed to meet me at the bank because her Chinese is far superior to mine. We proceed to call the police and before we know it, they have arrived and are whisking us away in a van to the police station to file a report. I was really glad to have her there with me. The cops were nice and did not seem like what you imagined Chinese police to be like, except for the riot gear they had in the trunk of the van.
We spend the next two hours in the police station providing the story to the helpful cops. Actually, I was telling my roommate what happened in English and she was translating for the cops to record in the report, while she would then proceed to translate their questions to me. While the cops were really nice and seemed helpful, they too informed us that the videos are of such poor quality that there would be no way to tell who took the money unless they proceeded to use their ATM card right after stealing the money from my account. One can only hope that they were that stupid. After recording my statement, the cops drove us back to campus and said they would call if they were able to get the money back.
I felt incredibly stupid and angry at the same time that someone would do something like that, but I guess crime exists in all societies. Yet, through the whole experience I felt lost because I could barely express myself when I was filled with all of these emotions and thoughts. On the bright side, I hope I made some family very happy with that windfall. Last Friday evening, I had a real sense of what Nowhere Man may have felt like because for a few hours, China became my own Nowhere Land. I feel this way every so often here because I am way outside my comfort zone. However, it’s a good thing every now and then to venture outside all that is comfortable to us because it reminds us how lucky we are that we get to enjoy long periods of relative comfort. As corny as it sounds, sometimes I have to be Nowhere Man in order to really appreciate when I get to be Somewhere Man.