Yesterday I waited for almost an hour at the checkout line at Anthropologie. It was pure mayhem. Never before have I seen over a foot of clothes just piled on the floor and on tables, with aggressive petite women (and a few bewildered men) ducking into racks before me to ensure first right of refusal on the goods. It was a rare 50% off of all sale item event - bringing Anthro's prices on par with Gap. Totally understandable, for I too quickly became aggressive, and started fighting for the last non-size0 items.
This got me thinking, why this crazy madness before Christmas every year? I'm not bemoaning the loss of Christmas spirit for commercialism, blah blah blah. What I'm having a reaction to is the idea that one has to find the "perfect gift" for everyone on their list. The true act of generosity is giving someone what they need when they need it, not at pre-defined nation-wide dates that causes everyone to literally lose their heads. What ends up happening is what economists call "deadweight loss"-the pressure an panic of required gift giving ends up in unwanted gifts that cost a whole lot more than they're worth to the recipient.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/freakonomics-radio/freakonomics-avoiding-unwanted-gifts-and-deadweight-loss
While heavily frowned upon in the west, the Chinese tradition of giving little "red envelopes" of money is actually the most efficient way to give - the recipient can choose however they want to spend or keep the money that would give him or her the greatest pleasure. It's the drive behind the gift-cards, in theory similar to cash but on paper avoiding the perceived-gaucheness of actual cash. It's been so long since I've given / received a cash gift that I've forgotten that this actually works, and I was reprimanded recently by my mother when I gave baby clothes to a cousin about to have a baby. What they really need is not more cute clothes / toys, my mother said, but money for everything you can't think of as a childless woman. Putting my "OMG how vulgar is that" reflex in check, I saw the genius in it.
So instead of this pre Christmas madness shopping for crap that your loved ones don't need nor want and have to feign "oh I love it it's just what I need" when they open the packages, why not follow a different tradition? Just wrap up the red envelope with a little slip of fortune-cookie type of wisdom "one thyself knowest the best", or Isiah style "It's two tickets to that thing you love". Expect a little gasp, a giggle, and a real satisfaction.
Now I have to go wrap all the crap that I bought for my loved ones. Sigh.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
San Franciscan gal moves to Shanghai!
This has been on my bucket list for the last 10 years, and it's happening. In sharing my excitement, I thought it would be good to share some of the bowels of Chinese bureaucracy as well to help others who also have this plan.
Step #1: Get job in Shanghai. Check.
This took me over 6 months of active pursue to achieve. A few tips for the interested: Everyone seems to use Skype in Shanghai, so set up your account asap; best time to get a job there is right after Chinese New Year (late Jan to early Feb depending on the year) - that's when the Chinese workers get their bonuses and they tend to jump ship after that, opening up valuable positions; in the end it may well take an in-person interview to seal the deal, so look for a cheap flight and go out there.
Step #2: Get Work Visa. Check
The instructions on the Chinese Consulate's website made no sense, luckily the manager at my employer knew what was needed. The titles of the documents they sent over actually did not match the ones listed on the website, but nevertheless it worked! My documents were titled "Alien Employment License" and "Invitation Letter of Duly Authorized Unit".
The Chinese Consulate's site is here: http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/eng/qianzhen/t751633.htm The work visa is called a Z visa, cost is $140, you can download the forms on the website - you need to fill out both A form and B form (supplementary). Processing time is 4 business days.
Step #3: Book flight. Check.
This was the easy part. The one-way flight was far cheaper to book from United States than from China, so I just used Expedia.
Step #4: Move my personal belongings - In Progress.
Well this part has turned out to be very challenging. First of all who do you call for a San Francisco to Shanghai move? Nobody seems to have an answer. I tried Yelp, but they had mostly local movers. Google search? Makes me nervous to entrust my cherished shoe collection to some unknown entity. Recommendations from my employer? Turns out most of the expats moved from London or Singapore - the movers they used wouldn't even give me a quote. After much trial and tribulations, two reliable companies - Allied and Crown, turned out to be good options. For the interested party, the good movers will come by and do an in-home survey - this helps them give you an accurate estimate (you forget how much crap you have stuffed in all the corners of your apartment), AND (this is important) it means that they have a local staff who can help you if you run into any problems. Allied and Crown's estimates ended up within $100 of each other - pretty amazing if I may say so.
Now that I've scheduled the move I'm wondering when my stuff will arrive. This is actually quite complicated. The moving company has to get an export license and an import license to get your things out of San Francisco and into your apartment in Shanghai. Unfortunately, the import license cannot be obtained until you have a Resident Permit, which cannot be obtained until after you arrive in Shanghai. If your good arrive at the Shanghai port without an import license, it cannot be allowed onto land and will need to be stored at the docks, at the cost of $200 per day! So the safe bet is to wait until I get my resident permit and have the import license ready before starting the shipment. This means that I probably won't get my things for almost 2 months after they are packed up.
This majorly blows as it will mean that I have to live out of my suitcase for 2 months, and I haven't even gotten through the packet of info explaining the import taxes.
Step #5: Find apartment, do immense IKEA trip (there are apparently 2 in Shanghai, hallelujah), set up home, wash off smelly living-out-of-suitcase odors, show up at work a new woman and dazzle colleagues, and figure out taxes. (Come to think of it, the taxes may be steps 6-10.)
Wish me luck! Any advice / help is appreciated.
Step #1: Get job in Shanghai. Check.
This took me over 6 months of active pursue to achieve. A few tips for the interested: Everyone seems to use Skype in Shanghai, so set up your account asap; best time to get a job there is right after Chinese New Year (late Jan to early Feb depending on the year) - that's when the Chinese workers get their bonuses and they tend to jump ship after that, opening up valuable positions; in the end it may well take an in-person interview to seal the deal, so look for a cheap flight and go out there.
Step #2: Get Work Visa. Check
The instructions on the Chinese Consulate's website made no sense, luckily the manager at my employer knew what was needed. The titles of the documents they sent over actually did not match the ones listed on the website, but nevertheless it worked! My documents were titled "Alien Employment License" and "Invitation Letter of Duly Authorized Unit".
The Chinese Consulate's site is here: http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/eng/qianzhen/t751633.htm The work visa is called a Z visa, cost is $140, you can download the forms on the website - you need to fill out both A form and B form (supplementary). Processing time is 4 business days.
Step #3: Book flight. Check.
This was the easy part. The one-way flight was far cheaper to book from United States than from China, so I just used Expedia.
Step #4: Move my personal belongings - In Progress.
Well this part has turned out to be very challenging. First of all who do you call for a San Francisco to Shanghai move? Nobody seems to have an answer. I tried Yelp, but they had mostly local movers. Google search? Makes me nervous to entrust my cherished shoe collection to some unknown entity. Recommendations from my employer? Turns out most of the expats moved from London or Singapore - the movers they used wouldn't even give me a quote. After much trial and tribulations, two reliable companies - Allied and Crown, turned out to be good options. For the interested party, the good movers will come by and do an in-home survey - this helps them give you an accurate estimate (you forget how much crap you have stuffed in all the corners of your apartment), AND (this is important) it means that they have a local staff who can help you if you run into any problems. Allied and Crown's estimates ended up within $100 of each other - pretty amazing if I may say so.
Now that I've scheduled the move I'm wondering when my stuff will arrive. This is actually quite complicated. The moving company has to get an export license and an import license to get your things out of San Francisco and into your apartment in Shanghai. Unfortunately, the import license cannot be obtained until you have a Resident Permit, which cannot be obtained until after you arrive in Shanghai. If your good arrive at the Shanghai port without an import license, it cannot be allowed onto land and will need to be stored at the docks, at the cost of $200 per day! So the safe bet is to wait until I get my resident permit and have the import license ready before starting the shipment. This means that I probably won't get my things for almost 2 months after they are packed up.
This majorly blows as it will mean that I have to live out of my suitcase for 2 months, and I haven't even gotten through the packet of info explaining the import taxes.
Step #5: Find apartment, do immense IKEA trip (there are apparently 2 in Shanghai, hallelujah), set up home, wash off smelly living-out-of-suitcase odors, show up at work a new woman and dazzle colleagues, and figure out taxes. (Come to think of it, the taxes may be steps 6-10.)
Wish me luck! Any advice / help is appreciated.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)