It’s one of those “China sucks” days. To wit:
- They’ve been fucking with Google for the past week. This means that Gmail randomly goes down while I’m checking or writing e-mails, in the middle of uploading attachments or saving drafts. It also means that Google Maps stalls when I try to search for a specific address. GRRRRRRR. I need to find supermarkets near me!
- I have to report my extra earnings to the taxation bureau. And pay extra taxes. This is the equivalent of owing money to the IRS. Except with much messier (i.e., lack of) documentation. I was informed by my company’s finance office that I had additional income last year outside of what I was paid by my company. How did they know? They were alerted to some difference between what they reported and what the government reported of my earnings, which are attached to my passport number. Lesson learned: Do not have any freelance editing work payment associated with your passport number or else the government will know. I vaguely remember giving that out to someone for something, but I don’t remember what or when :(
- It’s really cold again for some reason (well, probably because it’s still mid-March in Beijing). It was so warm just yesterday (dress and flip-flops!), and has been for the past week at least. Now it’s just cold and grey :(