civilization.
as day goes by, im growing more and more amused. what a image the bule had imposed on us asian. as the residue of colonisation, we grow up looking up to the west, admiring the west, and feeling bad about what we have at the east.
today is my 11th day at birmingham.
my current conclusion is, the subconscious cultural statement above cant be any further from the truth.
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have i mentioned that Birmingham is the second largest city at UK?
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today Hui Shien, Tiffany and i went to the city centre to open bank account at Llyods bank. there was only 2 ladies at the reception which also handles the bank opening account. the one that handled us was a senior between the two, and she was extremely multi tasking, being able to following with the both right and left side juniors of hers.
first of all, i realized that she was heaving a rather heavy accent, so when she talks with me she kinda repeating her words, but i take no offence, since i know she was totally busy with such a looooooonggggg queue and looks like she keep sayin 'i will do that' - 'ok, i will handle that' to her junior -and a trainee (who kept telling ppl 'please bear with me')
Universe, thank you that i wasn't handled by the junior. the pretty lady has a stern face (suppose if you work in that environment with people keep flowing in and asking lots of things) but she was rather rude to the customer by the way she calls them 'excuse me, come over here' with her hand moving in a rather not polite way and in a bossy tone.
phew.
the lady didn't work in a very fast way. i stand for 20mins plus. and it was basic -classic account. and this new term started, im sure there's LOTS of new comers came to open this account.
phew.
and then she asked me to go downstairs to cash in the cash i carry. so again there's a long queue (.....) and then it was my turn.
the guy at the counter looks cute and really young.
so i passed to him my folded money. a stack of 50 notes, and 20 notes which i separate every 5 pieces, (so 4 pcs and 1 pcs folded)
the guy took it half heartedly, and try to straighten the 50 notes, then look at a stack of 20 and told me rather in a -sorry-looking-face-
'please dont fold the notes next time'
and looking so troubled to count the money. he kept slipping and count the stack wrongly, and painstakingly called for his colleague to come to rescue. the lady took a part of my money and walk here and there counting it. not to mention looking distastefully at me.
i really really really cant understand where do they put their money counting machine?????????
is this young guy totally newbie???????????????never count so many cash ar????
does english people really dont carry cash around????????????
i had been to china hk malaysia singapore and indonesia, there's nowhere weird or uncalled for folding your notes into two and separating the every 5 pcs of 20. (im watching TVB now and i saw they too fold their notes that way! tsk!)
tsk! bule bego bule bego. blon lagi kerjanya leleeeeettt abes!
phew, and he finished counting it and the amount match. then he look at me and ask, 'anything else i can do for you?'
WHERE THE HELL IS MY RECEIPT?!
*retarded*seriously*
'can i have my receipt please?'
'oh, ya sure, let me just, put away this money' then he slowly open his drawer and put away my cash.
and to my utter surprise, he take out a piece of paper, wrote down my account number and wrote the amount i bank in, and put down a stamp on it.
EVEN MY TINY LITTLE HOMETOWN PETROL STATION GIVES OUT ELECTRONIC PRINTED OUT RECEIPT OKAY?!
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and the debit cashcard (aka. atm) will only be out after 7 working days, and i have to come and collect it at the branch. i seriously miss the time at singapore, both DBS and UOB gave me my card immediately. on the spot. and opening bank account was served like a royalty. with small discussion table and comfy chair to sit. and nothing more than 20mins all done up and properly explained about the account.
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and it is great that i came with another 2 friends. tiffany told me the 1st thing she did was checking her name. because to westerner who is unfamiliar to chinese name they always made mistake.
wah. they really spell my name wrongly.
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luckily we had not leave the bank! thanks tiff!
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when she apologize, i say, it's okay, then she showed me on her screen it had changed properly, and i say 'otherwise i would be in trouble when my parents bank in the money' then she said, 'no, it wont affect'. how could it not? dont you need account name too beside the account number?
tsk-!
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if you asked me, what i had learned so far from this land, i would say i learned to appreciate more of my identity as an asian =)
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but universe had arranged my day. apparently during the 2 hours we stuck at the bank, it rained. and now that we out, it had stopped and the black clouds slowly fading away! afterwards we went to wet market and i bought eggs fruits and vegie. then we visited the chinese supermarket and bought soy sauce and oyster sauce.
the afternoon was a super blue sky with pretty clouds. extremely beautiful scenery, to pair with serene looking trees.
thank you universe for taking good care of me. i feel loved.
