Work has been genuinely overwhelming lately, and I have not been back to the blog for quite a while. Somehow the year is almost over again. The annual targets still are not finished, and based on the KPI scoring for the year, my preliminary score would only be somewhere a little above 70. That puts my year-end performance review in a rather dangerous position.
It is already mid-December now, and from the current situation there is not much room left to maneuver. As people in Guizhou would say, “the radish is already looking like a side dish” — basically, there is nothing much to be done. I have just finished what was on hand, and there are no other meetings or tasks for the moment, so I came here to record a few recent things.
The intermediate economist exam is finally done
When I was working in Zunyi, every day felt like running from one task to the next. There was hardly any time left to prepare for exams. After moving to Guiyang, I still had to face the reality that I am not exactly the studying type. With poor preparation, I basically became one of those people who show up just to accompany others in the exam room.
This year, after putting in a serious amount of effort, and with one subject already passed last year, I finally completed the second subject as well. At first I thought I had probably just scraped past the passing line of 84. But when the results came out on December 2, I found out I had scored 98.
Strictly speaking, there is no practical difference between 84, 85, or 98 once you pass. But emotionally, it still feels different. At least it counts as a return for the effort I put in, and it is hard not to feel a bit relieved.
Next, I need to set a new goal for myself. For now, I am considering either the intermediate accounting exam or the A certificate for the legal qualification exam. Once I decide, I will start working in that direction.
A new kind of study trip from Guizhou TV
Guizhou TV has a program called Set Off Right Now. The crew often appears in busy public areas: usually a host, often a young woman, and a cameraman. They randomly interview children, then register the parents’ contact information afterward. The parents are told that after the production team reviews the child’s performance that day, they will be contacted if the child makes it through the first round.
The first time my son was interviewed was during the opening of Little Dolphin Plaza in Huaguoyuan. As I remember it, he probably did not pass the initial selection that time. More recently, around mid-November, the weather was nice on the weekend, so I took him to Karst Park to play. He was interviewed again. Unexpectedly, near the end of November, we received a notice saying he had passed the initial round and that we should take him to the program team’s office for an interview over the weekend.
I took him there on Sunday. The process was roughly this: self-introduction, talent performance, and an impromptu performance section. I honestly did not expect my son to do so well. During the self-introduction, he was confident and natural. There were five children in his group, and among them he was the most composed, with a surprisingly good stage presence.
For the talent section, he recited an English picture book, but he was not very familiar with it, so that part did not go very smoothly. Still, the production team felt his pronunciation was quite standard, and the nervousness became a relatively minor issue. The final impromptu performance was what really surprised me. The directors randomly brought out cartoon characters such as Briar from Boonie Bears, Donald Duck, Logger Vick, and Sun Wukong, then asked the children to imitate their expressions, movements, and spontaneous reactions. My son performed very well. In the end, the directors marked him as “passed.”
The most interesting part happened after that.
After the children passed, the staff separately took the parents and children into offices for a chat. The general idea was that the children would be taken to scenic spots around the province for study trips and program filming. It would be similar to the variety shows people often see, with unified clothing, suitcases, hotel arrangements, meals, and so on. The fee was 4,980 yuan per child.
My initial thought was to let him join. My son was also very excited and looked forward to taking part in the program. But his mother felt that the study trips organized by his after-school care class only cost a few hundred yuan, while this one did not seem cost-effective at all. So in the end, we did not sign up.
The staff member’s expression changed immediately — from warm and enthusiastic to visibly disappointed.
Seeing that reaction, I secretly felt relieved that I had not already agreed to participate. My wife’s decision was wise. I would not exactly call it a trick, but I suppose it does count as a new way for the TV station to generate revenue.
The floor heating is finally on
Guiyang has had a very warm winter this year. Back in November, there were one or two fairly cold days, and some colleagues could not stand it anymore and turned on their floor heating. I held out until early December before switching mine on.
Since the weather was not really that cold, I set the temperature to 17°C, which is completely enough at home. Even now, in December, many days are not cold at all. I suspect the heating will not really start to matter until January. Still, turning it on is better for the child. If he catches a cold, one casual trip to the hospital can easily cost several hundred yuan — enough to cover quite a bit of gas.
Speaking of that, the self-paid flu vaccine we got for the child earlier, the nasal spray version costing over 300 yuan, has been very useful. This time with influenza A, he only had a mild fever once. After taking fever medicine, he was completely fine.
The end of the year is here, and there are only about two months left before the Spring Festival. Everyone is trying every possible way to finish their annual tasks and fight for a better year-end review. I still hope this year’s final performance result can turn out all right.
The annual year-end summary season is coming again soon. I should also find some time to think ahead about what I gained this year, what I earned through effort, and what hardships came with it. If there is a chance, I will slowly write those things down later.