Apology

I've been working crazy hours trying to get my library in order. Clearly, I have very few books and am barely functional. Ordering more, however, is a maze of confusion that I'm not sure I will ever be able to navigate comfortably. What I do know, though, is that our primary book vendor is out of Shanghai. The process of finding books I want, sending off a list to him, getting a quote back, putting together a P.O. and then receiving the materials takes about three months. This is the cheap version, and is preferable. Ordering from Canada is slightly different. I, again, figure out what I want, put together a list with prices from Chapters and then fax it off to the Vancouver office where it will be purchased immediately. The rub, though, is that it will not be immediately sent over. Rather, it will be received and then brought over as school officials travel from Canada to China. This could be months...this could be October 12.

In fact, it is October 12. So, on top of still dealing with all of the technical issues (and, oh, there are so many...) in Chinese, trying to get furniture ordered, in Chinese, training my unwilling teacher volunteers to catalogue, staff meetings, classes coming in and out, and helping (babysitting) kids on computers, I've been madly trying to decide what I need, and what to order. Seriously - it takes more time than you would think. Increasing the problem is that while their are guides to help with collection development, the kids here are so far below the English level that they should be that most guides are useless. And really, not that it's an excuse, but I've been working here for less than a month now. It's a bit overwhelming.

You're thinking that there's still a little time to get the order in, though; no need to panic. Someone comes over on the 12th, but Chapters orders don't take too much time, I could probably push it another week. But, actually, there isn't. Tomorrow, I'm leaving for a week celebrating "National Week" in Beijing. A week long celebration to, uh, celebrate the creation of the People's Republic; the whole country shuts down and shows some civic pride, including Canadian librarians, or so it appears.

So, I got everything that I want sent off yesterday. If I've done a good job, I should be getting a collection which covers, barely, all the subjects and reference areas. I'm exhausted, I never want to look at Booklist or Chapters again (and I'm stunned that I'm even thinking it) and I promise that I will write more regularly upon my return. In fact, I've even got a few ideas. In a few weeks, if you don't know all, or more than you wanted to, about 'my first Chinese massage', 'my first Chinese tantrum', or my thoughts on television in China and in general...yell at me.