Chinese affairs

In case you haven’t heard, China and Japan are currently having a pretty heated argument between themselves.  It’s about a couple of islands in the middle of the ocean.  A Japanese business man privately own them, but then he decided he didn’t want them anymore, so he sold them to China.  Japan decided that since a Japanese person owned them, they should technically belong to Japan.  China said “Um, no.”  ……….and the argument began.

I’ve said it before: China and Japan don’t exactly get along.  Japan hates China, and China hates Japan.  I’ve talked about the racism that EVEN my elementary kids have toward China.  (For example, today the lesson in sixth grade was about countries of the world.  We played a game in which kids had to “be” countries.  The kids who were assigned to be China IMMEDIATELY got laughed at….ie….”HA! HA! HA! You have to be China!  That really stinks!”)  There’s a pretty long history between the two countries with some deep seeded hated. 

So what’s on the islands?  It’s got to be valuable if these two powerhouses are fighting over them, right?  WRONG.  The islands are tiny little spits of land in the middle of the sea.  Nothing is there.  No one lives there.  There are no natural resources. It is simply something for these two countries to fight over……and fighting they are doing!  If you’ve seen anything online or on the news, then you know Japanese sentiment in China is at an all time low.  It’s horrible.  There are MASSIVE demonstrations in some of the larger cities.  Japanese owned businesses are having the windows knocked in or even worse damage.  People driving Japanese cars (Toyota or Honda) are finding their cars beaten, turned over, or burned simply for just driving a Japanese car.  Chinese shops are hanging signs that read “Dogs are welcomed but no Japanese.”  It’s bad.  It’s really bad!  I haven’t seen anything like that here, (other than the blatant racism that EVERYONE seems to have toward China) but I do live in the boonies.  I’m sure there’s not a lot of demonstrating in the Chinese boonies either!

Speaking of China, we fly through it both to and from Australia.  It wasn’t until AFTER we booked our tickets that we noticed that we have to change airports in Shanghai.  Since we have to do that, we have to obtain Chinese travel visas.    We’re going to be in China for less than twenty-four hours, but we have to have freaking visas simply for the fact that we’re changing airports.  If the Chinese visa was cheap and easy to obtain, (like our Australian visas) you probably wouldn’t hear me whine nearly as much.  The Chinese visa FOR EVERY OTHER NATIONALITY is $40.  HOWEVER, for Americans, it is $140!!       In order to get this visa, we have to physically go to the nearest Chinese embassy in Fukuoka.  The cost to get to Fukuoka with gas and tolls (not counting the actual visa) is easily $100.  We can only do that Monday-Friday…..therefore, we have to take time off from work.  It is $140 for the visa, and it takes four days to obtain.  You have to leave your passport in their office and pick it up four days later.  If you want to have the visa processed on the same day, you can, but that’s an extra $30.  Do you understand my frustration now!?!?    Ian did a little research and found out that he can take my passport and paperwork and hopefully take care of mine so that I won’t have to take off of work.  Melissa B. has Monday off of work, so they are going to Fukuoka together on Monday to try to tackle this beast. 

It is important to see the bright side of any situation.  For example, it doesn’t matter what type of visa you get.  It’s all $140.  If you get a year’s travel visa, it’s $140.  If you get a “transit” visa good for up to forty-eight hours in China, it’s the same price.  We said that if we’re going to pay that much money, we might as well get the year visa and go back some other time before the visa expires!  We also said that instead of spending the night in the Shanghai airport like originally planned, we’re going to hit up the city.  Even if we just go out for dinner, we’re going to enjoy China!  We paid for it, so might as well!    So…..not only are we going to Australia….we’re going to China over winter break.  Woo-hoo!

In other related random news, I took the train the other day from Yunomae to Nishiki and met Ian there after work.  While on the train, high schoolers always get on and off in Taragi and Asagiri.  Every time I ride the train to meet Ian, I get stares and giggles as if they’ve never seen a foreigner!  I know that they have to have an ALT at their schools….or at least in their towns.  So it seems like they shouldn’t have to stare…yet they do.  One kid was brazen enough to come up to me and said (in English) “Where are you from?”  I told him “I’m from America,” but I wish I would have told him that in Japanese.  It probably would have blown his mind!!   

Autumn has definitely arrived in Japan.  Ever since that last typhoon blew through, it’s been a lot cooler.  Ian and I have been closing the windows at night because it gets just a little too chilly for our tastes.  I’ve been hearing the it’s down to the mid-30s at home at night, and it’s not even close to being that cold here.  The lowest it has been is maybe 50 or 60.  In the morning the air is crisp, but then by afternoon it’s back to being hot.  It’s much better than the humidity of August and bone chilling wind of January, though!

That’s all for now, guys!  Thanks for reading and keeping up with our lives!