Ok. Now that I've been home in Newfoundland for a few weeks, I'm kinda reminded of why I left in the first place. It seems as if the practice of Chinese "guanxi" is not only limited to China.

Note: Guanxi is a Chinese word that generally means using relationships to get ahead. It's not what you know, it's who you know.

Here's an example of two people who must have used a significant portion of guanxi to obtain employment, cause god knows they have no big pile of employment skills:

This morning I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles so that I could renew my drivers licence. After an agonizingly long wait, my number was finally flashed on the big screen and I made my way up to the counter. When I got there I saw why it was taking so long. She was using two fingers to type in all my information! How does a person like this get a job like that?

Guanxi. That's how.

Another example: When I went to Air Canada to ask some questions about whether or not there's a bereavement discount on my plane ticket (as I had come home due to a death in the family) my return flight to China. The lady (hereafter referred to as "Air Canada Wench") tells me:

"I don't know if there's a bereavement fare or not. Please wait while I check."

Me: "I'm in a bit of a hurry. Can you leave a message at my home number when you find out?"

Air Canada wench: "Sorry, we don't have so much downtime around here, so I'm afraid I can't do that."
(She says this to me as three or four other tellers are sitting idly in their chairs, staring out into the parking lot).

After about 30 minutes of fiddling with her computer, she says
"Sorry, I'm not really sure about this. You'll have to ask Air Canada in Beijing."

"Is it not the same company?" I ask.

"Yes, but I wouldn't know how to reach them, and there would probably be a language barrier anyway," she replies.

At that point I just gave up, and asked for the phone number of some higher-ups who should be in the know. The best she could do was give me the fax number for their Winnepeg headquarters who are supposedly in change of this kind of process.

How does a lady wench like this keep a job, if she's not familiar with Air Canada's processes and procedures?

Must be guanxi, I suppose.

Now, of course, these two shitty cases represent the shitty end of the guanxi stick. But we can't forget the other non-shitty end of the stick. For example, while I am home, I need to stock up on contact lenses. Anyway, a certain person I know is gonna get me a few free sets of lenses. That's pretty cool, wha? Good service, due to good guanxi.

So I guess it does work both ways. In China, I found myself getting pissed off a lot with poor service. But I guess I need to remember that lousy service is not just a Chinese thing. Maybe it's just a China and Newfoundland thing... Wonder how it is in Japan or Korea?