Sudden weather change

After a few days of extremely hot weather, blue, cloudless sky and temperature well over 30 degrees, yesterday during the afternoon the weather changed. Some time between 2pm and 5pm (hours I spend in windowless cleanroom) the sky got completely cloudy. A little of wind refreshed the air, but I would have not expected the breeze to be able to assemble so many clouds in the sky.

The weather is still warm today (well above 20 degrees I’d say) but the clouds give a completely different feeling about what to expect!!

Also the air is much fresher, probably it had rained a little during the night: not bad since this year I fear a bit more the summer, since apparently the electricity bill is completely on my shoulders (last year it was partly paid by the company). Let’s see how long I’ll survive without AC, given that every less ounce of sweat will be a few yuan more leaving my bank account..

FUNNY THING OF THE DAY - Now with the good season, in the lunch break, most of the people use some time for a nice walk outside, at least around the company compound, to enjoy some air. Define fresh the air is too much: the summer will come with the extreme temperatures, but it is not too bad to walk a little outside. It’s too funny thought that the girls do the walk, but mostly in the shadows!! Everybody knows that for Asian women the white skin color is a dream and a sign of beauty, therefore over here in summer there are more umbrellas than in winter, just to avoid to get tanned! Already now, the girls in the company go out for a walk but trying to stay all the time in covered areas!! Needless to say, I do my best to put some color in my milky white complexion..
UNRELATED COMMENT
After a few “happy days” of unreal stats, the number of visits to my blog has gone back to normality. Still happy to receive the clicks from my friends around the world: at least now I know the clicks are real.. but I certainly miss a bit the high stats!

Weekends, weekdays

Not so much difference, here in China, between weekends or weekdays. Life goes on in the same way for most of the people. The sun goes up at a certain time, the temperature stays high, then the sun goes down, and the temperature remains high. So the nature does not really care if it is Wednesday or Saturday. So, for most of Chinese companies saying you have to work on Saturday but you can take Monday free is quite normal (unless your project has close deadlines, and then you have to work every day anyway).

I had not realized before coming here how much weight we Western people give to weekends. If earlier it was because of religious reasons, actually nowadays the distinction between weekdays and weekends is more related to shopping habits.

In China, shops and shopping centers are open 7 days per week, usually from 9am to 10pm (some even later, as I experienced my first time in China, in Wenzhou!). Lots of English teacher I know work actually more on weekends and then they got some weekdays free. Restaurants and bars are always full of life, any day at almost any time. Some restaurants (I remember especially one in Beijing, I should go back!) are open 24 hours per day!!

But for my mind it is still weird thinking that now I am at work, and Monday is actually Sunday (not going to church anyway) and tomorrow, I’ll go shopping, so it is Saturday (Sunday the day after, yeah it works).. but I am pretty sure some of my colleagues will be at work, tomorrow and Monday/Sunday..

So, guys, enjoy your weekend, I’ll start tomorrow mine!

FUNNY THING OF THE DAY - Maybe, for this one, I should say funny thing of the season.. this summer season.. A very strange first Chinese summer! Right now it is raining as I hadn’t seen in ages! Flood kind of rain, suddenly appearing from heavy clouds that were apparently hiding somewhere in the sky! Because this morning it was not sunny, but it was not cloudy, just the common white out humid sky.. And the lightnings!!! Oh yeah, real storm, with thunders and lightning and all!

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Officially I have passed the period of 3 months in China.. Not knowing if I could survive in this new reality 3 days, I am quite happy I made it as far.. with all the communication problem I expected, and a few more I did not But I am ready to face the next months and see how far I can get without running away! (2 years contract, tomorrow going to buy a fridge..)

Strange taste in men!

After a bit more than 2 months in full immersion in Chinese life and environment, not anymore as a tourist, and after meeting a few Chinese girls, I have started thinking that many of them have really strange taste about men, especially foreign men!

I had already seen soon enough that many couples present a girl in the range of 7-9 (in a 10 max rank), while the male (Chinese) partner is in the range 4-6.. and that gave me hopes!!

Then, later on chatting with a few other girls, I have been surprised to know who they thought was hot, cool, interesting, almost-about-to-fall-in-love-for

I was never in the picture, of course.. I am still an observer.. or better, I was until Friday and an insanely strange train trip to Shanghai!! Something that never happens to me! No, do not expect to read about love story or closing the deal on the train.. that still does not happens to me!!

Anyway, I had just entered the railway station and I was tying my shoes on the automatic stairs, that a very cute and smiley girl in front of me says Hello and asks me where I am going. I tell her, and she tells me she is from Xiamen, 厦门, and going in some other place, leaving quite soon. Since I had much time for my train I followed her to hers, and I spent a good time chatting, exchanging numbers and QQ contacts. Also she maybe was going to come back to Hefei at some point. A really nice way to start the trip

After she left, I went to my area for the train to Shanghai. Strange thing there were 2 trains to there at 20 minutes difference. I set in the queue for my train (in the future, more details about Chinese train stations! Don’t be greedy!). After some time a girl with those gorgeous kind of Chinese long and thin legs came up waiting close to me. Our train was a little detailed, so she was a bit annoyed, and making some very funny and girly expressions, puffing animation style (very typical with Asian girl.. manga and anime teaching!). She was very cute. I just needed an excuse to start chatting, and the delay gave me one. So we talked a bit and she was.. from Xiamen as well!! I really have to go there!!! Time to take the train: I was in wagon 4 (standing place!!) and she was in wagon 14 (standing as well). Not wanting to push my luck too much, I just exchanged phone numbers, bid goodbyes and went for my wagon. Time 10 minutes there, she sends me an sms asking if maybe she can come to me, because too crowded where she is.. so we spend all the trip to Shanghai together sitting on the floor (very different train than my first one experienced here: no one spitting on the floors here! But I checked!). And we chat a lot. And (now it comes the kick.. about strange taste!) she told me she thought I was so cool (!!!) and she wanted to find an excuse to talk to me (!!!!!!!!).. These girls are crazy!!! And I love it!!!

UNRELATED COMMENT - Balance of (Chinese) life. After a great weekend, evening and night spent at home, trying to find a way to follow Italy opening match at the world cup on my little eee pc. My plan was going out, but a heavy and stressing day at work blew my mind. Also the usual communication problem, this time at the tiny restaurant where I eat often contribute to make me very nervous: I went there trying to ask for take away (打包, dǎ bāo) but they did not understand at all and then, with other people there they start laughing.. I got so pissed.. and left. At home, given that last Thursday I had to re do a factory setting (again F9) reformatting of the pc (and all the weekend I was in Shanghai), I managed to install Firefox 3, flash 10 and find some streaming page for football. The combination of a speed connection slower than stammering Danish, the limitation of this shitty Xandros pc and my mood already on the verge of going ballistic toward anything not screwed to walls or floors was an extremely dangerous risk for my health. I survived.. the pc more or less.. I don’t think I broke anything valuable, but I hope the walls were thick enough to stop most of the multi linguistic swearing (Italian, English, Norwegian and some really bad Chinese words). I can finally admit that this pc is the worst expense I had so far in my life, even including all the money thrown away for unfaithful girlfriends or paper cloth for home loneliness self pleasure.. especially when I have to put all my faith on this pc to keep my mental equilibrium.. As a second pc it is probably worth as used condoms or “our president” (Italian) promises..

Berlin, Berlin, I’m coming!!!

One week from today I’ll be in Taiwan, or, time wise, flying there… but few hours from now I will boarding a flight to Berlin, one of the most beautiful European capitals, for Aikido seminar with Christian Tissier, 7.dan Aikikai !!!

I am not in top condition, a little injure from last weekend seminar in Oslo is maybe a bit more severe than expected, but they made painkillers for this.. kill the pain when you must do something else..

I hope I will manage to practice properly both days and Sunday just relax the arm.. relax for holidays! At least for being able to carry stuff to and back from my trip, Taiwan+Shanghai!!!

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I spent almost all yesterday evening looking for this damn book, my first Chinese grammatical reference book.. Got crazy! I do not like losing stuff, especially books.. Finally this morning I found it.. where I thought it was, just at the very bottom at the backpack where it had been since last Sunday!!! Very bottom! Cool.. I thought it was a sign when I lost it.. let’s be positive (difficult for me): it is maybe a sign as well finding it!

Marlene Kuntz

I have to post this video too, so much related to yesterday videos.. a different version of “Nuotando nell’aria” by Marlene Kuntz, with an amazing female singer, Cristina Donà:

But they had other occasions to share the stage with amazing female singers

..and a wonderful tribute:

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Aikido weekend in Oslo, at Aikikan dojo, for a seminar with one of my favorite instructors, Philippe Orban, 6.dan from Leipzig! Too long since last time: the perfect choice for these last few months before my graduation exam.

Vienna: 27 degrees!!!

Yo people!!!

Greetings from Vienna! At 23 o’clock there are 27 degrees.. cool!!

Tomorrow morning Aikido and Iaido practice with Margit and tomorrow evening a local festivity in the 1000 inhabitants village where she lives! Perfect way to start an exciting holiday of friends, practice and.. friends!!

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Talking about friends, special friends, after many years I found on facebook the girl of this picture.. Out of curiosity about her life, but not only, I asked her to be contact. Given that my close past sucks and my present is quite cloudy and foggy, I want to see what happens now of something related to my far past. But I do not want to take this past into my present! My present and future has other directions.. east.. yeah!!
19-July-2009: 2 days passed since she accepted my contact, I left a short message and a link to this picture, but got no answer and I had time to think. I sort of contacted her hoping that a long almost forgotten past could help me to forget a close painful past. Wrong! And I realized I do not really care about her anymore. So I closed the link today. Better for sure!

14 hours!

That was my working day today!!

I’m dirty (most of the day was in the workshop, no desk engineer work!!), smelly, tired, greasy..

It reminds me the days and nights at Ullrigg in Ocotber 2007 for the prototype qualification, a very intensive week ended with a special first  date with a person that has been special (in good and bad) until the end of 2008..

Not sure I want the same end for this period! But I already know I will have a new experience ready waiting for me not much after the date of this coming test..

Now, at least for some relaxing thoughts, I have imported some of good Shanghai feelings at home:

Thanks girl!

UNRELATED COMMENT
Referred to my friend comment on yesterday post, I use the oven in “warmer” seasons as liquor shelf.. Do not worry, Svein, I am not starting the fire before moving all the bottles.. and with your help the dear friend single malt whiskey will finish soon!!