SinoPenn

Alan Kulwicki family donates $1.9M to UNC-Charlotte

The last two weekends saw my wife & I and a couple other friends of the family out test driving different cars. We all have our Drivers license, them and me a Chinese one, and me also my Pennsylvania license (hence sinoPENN, yep. Now you know). Here’s what we found out.

Note: This is according to the dealerships we went to. Maybe not all, but most that we went to.

One: Chinese people, even with a drivers license, are not allowed to test-drive cars unless they’ve had their license for over two years.
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After all that I had to put up with getting it, I finally walked out of Building 8 in Xinzhuang with Drivers Licence in hand!

I went back last Friday for the final time, to take my test. I looked into the office and did NOT see the “Copy!” girl in sight! Yes! I won’t go to jail for manslaughter today! After waiting there for about a half an hour, talking to a Belgian guy who apparently doesn’t HAVE to take the test, I took mine, scoring 93 out of 100, and…

She walked in. Damnit!

I waited an additional 10 minutes in line, praying I wouldn’t end up in her line.  It didn’t work.  It was my turn, and she was free.

I gave her my paperwork, she looked at it, looked at me… and smiled!  I’m thinking, what the hell?  I hate you! Don’t you hate me too?

Of course not.  She doesn’t read my blog.

She stamped away, gave me my papers, sent me downstairs to pay another 55 RMB, and wait for the card’s lamination.

While waiting for my licence, I began thinking… Was I too harsh on her?  Did I perhaps get a little carried away last two times I met her?  Perhaps she truly IS a decent person and I’m simply overreacting.  I could’ve had a “This is China” day.

Then I realized something.  NO ONE ASKED ME FOR MY PASSPORT A SINGLE TIME!

I’m almost done with the drivers license process, only having to take the test next Friday.  Though it’s becoming more and more aggrivating every time I have to deal with them.

Last week:
Went to the DMV over in Xinzhuang.  It’s my first time there, as I did the initial paperwork at a different office.  I had everything ready.  Passport, certificates, drivers license and copies of everything.  I went to the table and greeted the officer. Barely giving me a notice, she took my documents and went through them.  She wrote a few things down, handed me my passport and said, “Copy.”  She needs a copy.  Great.

“Copy.” she says again.

“Where?”

She points behind her, and says, “Copy.”

I looked behind her.  I see no copy machine.  She continues to write. “Where do I get a copy made?”

She now points to the left.  “Copy.”

I look to the left.  No copy machine there either. “Where?” I ask again.

“Copy.” She now points to the left and behind.

Must be behind the bar-looking thing.  I got up and started to walk behind the police desks, to the surprise of a couple of other officers there, and see nothing behind the bar other than stacks of boxed-up paper and an empty bottle of green tea.  I’m getting angry at this point.  I sat back down, copy-less, and she continues to write stuff down on some papers.  “I can’t find the copy machine.”  She looks up, rather annoyed at me now.

“Copy.” She says again.  Fucking hell! She’s now pointing out the door, to the left and back.

I got up again, went out the office door, back to where people usually sit and wait, looked around and still found no copy machine.  Now I’m rightly pissed off.  What the hell is this woman on about?  Is she absolutely stupid? I walked back to her again, passport in hand, and said, “I REALLY Don’t know where you’re trying to direct me to to get this copy.  Where do I have to go?”, trying my best not to yell.

“Copy.”  FUCK!  “Building 12.”  For fuck’s sake, could she NOT say Building 12 in the first place?

I went out, found building 12, got my copy made.  I returned and gave her the copies.  “Here you go,” I say calmly, thinking, please don’t say “Copy.” Please don’t say “Copy.”.

She didn’t say “Copy.”  She handed me a piece of paper with my test day on it.

FUCK!  This isn’t good.  Next week.  Now I have to talk to her further.

“I’m getting my visa renewed, so the PSB Visa office will have my passport next week.” I tell her in my best broken Chinese.  She looked up, grabbed her calendar and pointed to the test date.  “No passport okay?”

“Okay.”

Jump ahead a week.

I arrive for my test about 10 minutes early.  I saw her again, writing away, non-smiling, looking all… official, I guess.  I show her the paper with the date on it, and handed her a slip I got from the visa office that says the passport is in the visa office.  “No passport okay?”

“Not okay.”  FUCKING HELL!  YOU IDIOT! I thought.

“Fine.  Schedule me for next week.”

“Okay.”

I hate you.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

The Shanghai Auto Show was a week ago sunday, and Grace & I had to go check it out. Quite on par with any other car show, the cars weren’t the only things to look at.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

Grace was interested in this one, but This is simply not going to happen.

The place was absolutely packed by the afternoon.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

More girls cars.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

Never saw these two at the dealerships.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

My wife took this one. Honestly! Not just car “Girls” anymore.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

Someone doesn’t get to sit in the back with the mini-bar.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

Aston Martin. No need for girls to push these products.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

This one seems less like a truck & more like a toy.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

Harley Davidson!

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

The winner! We’re probably going with the Ford at the end of the year.

From Shanghai Auto Show ‘09

Don’t know who these two idiots are, but they’re blocking my shot.

One of the nastier places to try to drive (and walk for that matter) in a civilized matter right now is Jianhe Road & Yan’an South Road during rush hour.  Construction currently going on on the road has somehow released a strange chemical in the air making drivers here act in a much more irratic manner than normal.  Case number one:

Corner of Jianhe Lu & Yan’an Xi Lu. From Shanghai, China- Miscellaneous Pics

From Shanghai, China- Miscellaneous Pics

Note the drivers going straight on Jianhe Road (going right in the first photo,  the black car & the back of a gray van).  The light is green, and as at least some pe0ple know in China, green means go.  The problem with this is that where the gray van is heading, this is where the construction begins, and there’s only one lane. When that light turns red, the large blue truck in the back will sit comfortably in the way of the traffic that would’ve been able to go when their light turned green.  Why is that?  Simply put, no common sense and all personal gratification.  He or she MUST go because he or she CAN go, paying no heed to the fact that he or she WILL end up blocking traffic.

Cars going up the wrong way on a temporarily one way street. From Shanghai, China- Miscellaneous Pics

Cars going up the wrong way on a temporarily one way street. From Shanghai, China- Miscellaneous Pics

Case number two: Due to the traffic only being one lane in the construction area, the congestion is NOT just because of Dysfunction Junction. It’s also due partly to morons like the above who decide, rather than go around, they want to pry their way up the wrong way, slowing down or even stopping those going the right direction.  At the end of this part of the lane is indeed a sign and sometimes a traffic cop sitting on a lawn chair suggesting people simply turn left instead of going straight.  Unfortunately, some people just can’t read.

So there we have it.  On one hand, due to the traffic, everyone needs to jump into the one-way lane and even if the light is red, the common mentality is, “well, the guy ahead of me is going, I’ll go too.  Even if I’m stuck in the middle of the road blocking traffic, or even if it’s going up the wrong way.”

Happy Everyday!