My name is too long

Already in Germany, I had some problems with my official name. The Dutch system of having a "baptising" name, which is usually quite long, is now really causing some difficulties. The problem is that "Arnoldus Johannes Paulus Rancuret" just does not fit into the Chinese computer systems.

This week, I wanted to open a bank account at the Bank of China. On the application form I had to fill out my name. I already saw that it would be a problem, since the available space was far too small, even if I would be writing really really small. So, I wrote down my name in short form: "Arnoud Rancuret". After checking my passport, however, the bank employee did not settle for this small fraud attempt. She insisted that I would fill out my full name. I tried "But it will not fitt into your computer system", without success. So, I did what she had asked me, and was wondering how she would solve the problem that she was definitely going to face.

Well, on the picture of my account book you can see the result The limit was reached with "ArnoldusJohanne". The bank employee therefore filled out the rest "sPaulus" by hand, thereby omitting my family name altogether. It was only after pointing out to her that "Rancuret" was also really part of my name, that she wrote this last part out as well.

I should learn how to write my Chinese name quickly, before I run into serious problems :-)