2013 of words

Never too late for some wrap ups, and after using a lot Amazon China I then moved back to Europe and enjoyed Utrecht library (given the super expensive membership fee of 50 €/year I have to read a lot!!):

• Stephen King – The Dark Tower, Book6: The Song of Susannah
• Stephen King – The Dark Tower, Book7: The Dark Tower
• Frank Schätzing – The Swarm (2nd time, the 1st was in 2007, bought at Værnes, Trondheim Airport, on the way back to Oslo after some Aikido seminar up there.. home.. ah, good memories!)
• Stephen King – Salem’s Lot (2nd time, 1st time in English!)
• Dan Brown – Deception Point
• Stephen King – The Stand (2nd time, 1st time in English as well!)
• Bernard Minier – Il Demone Bianco (Glace) – during my about 2 months in Italy

..and then I moved to the Nethrlands and enrolled in Utrecht library (since 11/2013):

• Michael Crichton – Timeline
• Patrick Seth – Reviver
• Ray Hammond – Extinction
• Jeffery Deaver – The Burning Wire
• Warren Fahy – Fragment
• John Wyndham – The Chrysalids

The things I regret the most

Subtitle: In other words, what I will do during my next trips..

Around 5 pm of Friday 2nd April 2010, Beijing time, I arrived at Hefei and (funny, the dates in my life seem to repeat at fixed intervals.. very engineering) Monday 2nd September 2013 I was back in Italy: after 1249 days or exactly 3 years and 5 months (107.913.600 seconds or 1.798.560 minutes or 29.976 hours) my first experience about living in Asia has ended.

The reasons that brought me to this decision have been a good mix between professional and personal ones: the last job in the south (Longgang district of Shenzhen, a village of typical Chinese mass production factories) had only the effect to make me realize that I want ot work more in modern electronics companies in testing, development, hands-on roles. Not a managerial position in a factory that needed more qualified and expert people than me in order to improve their production system. Unfortunately I took a challenge hoping in a better guidance that I did get at the end, in an environment that was just a Chinese factory ran in Chinese way, maybe the only way to survive in Guangdong!

Goodbye China

A little more than three years ago an equally early morning I left Stavanger.

Now again, much earlier than expected, I’m on the road again on the way to Europe, with too many kgs of luggage, more years of age, more doubts and unknowns about my future, some regrets about what I leave here…

Let’s see where this new step will take me…

The last Chinese supper

Instead of going out to some local restaurant serving yummy street food, I decided for something else:

No kidding!!

I ate a noodle box, normal super cheap student meal, but still so much better than any box you find in Europe.

I treated myself well on the beer side drinking a beer meant for a special occasion (I think I got it ages ago from a Norwegian Aikido friend, Kamilla):

And for fruit I got two that are still difficult to find in Europe. I had pomelo, 柚子 yòuzi (the yellow one on the top side) and mangosteen, 山竹 shānzhú (the two smaller ones at the bottom):

Mini hot pot

Among the food I will miss thee is the properly done hot pot with nice soup and right sauces, but already a nightmare to order with my lousy Chinese skills..

A good alternative is the mini one, called 麻辣烫, quite typical street food variation, my dinner last night;

…and a couple if Taingtao beers because it was quite spicy!! 😉

Blackout

Days of super rain the last couple and as a main result the factory and dorms remained in the dark. No power since Sunday early afternoon and today after checking the main transformer connecting the factory to the main grid line the technician disconnected it completely!!

The thing is that even a not trained eye as me at a first look can see that there is no isolation oil in the glass container on the side of the coils!!

But actually the one outside the factory is in the same condition: if our transformer failed for bad maintenance, what about the communal one?

FUNNY THING OF THE DAY: when you stay more than 24 hours completely out of electricity you realize how strongly you depend on that. Apart from the good candles and lamp at home,for a few things you really need a working electrical plug, so you use the excuse to go to Starbucks and ask for a multiple plug extension to recharge two tablets and two phones and watch some movies and check emails in the meanwhile 😉

Back to China

After almost 2 weeks in Japan, and more exactly 3 weeks away from Longgang, I am back in the South of China.. already for a couple of weeks now! I know, I have been a lazy blogger lately.. hope to imporve again once back in Europe!

Again it has been an Aikido driven trip, that had started in Shanghai for 3 nice sessions with Irie sensei, start of the hombu dojo annual event in China (Shanghai/Beijing.. indeed a tiny part of China). Then, instead of following sensei to Beijing has done earlier, I said bye bye to both China and sensei and I flew to Japan, Kyoto at first, where I joined the Aikido Kyoto 10th Anniversary International Seminar with Yasuno sensei as top instructor.

A fantastic weekend seminar: nowadays a few instructors show such a passion, energy and are equally captivating as Yasuno sensei. Unfortunately sensei talked much during the seminar, and it was all in Japanese and not translated. But a good friend and close student of sensei translated for me some points that were emphasized during practice. This is indeed an extra motivation in order to improve my Japanese.. even if Yasuno sensei talks so fast that it was a challenge for a few foreigners even with good Japanese skills!

After Kyoto I visited Nara and thanks to Tominaga sensei, teacher of the local club (with several dojos between Nara and Osaka) I had a wonderful time both on the mats and off. Sensei took me around Nara and also a little in Osaka and I meet a few of the locals officials and the three UNESCO protected sites in Nara.

Back in Tokyo I had only one chance to practice with Endo sensei in hombu dojo and then one visit to Funabashi dojo, where the main teachers are also Endo sensei close students. At Funabashi dojo I had a great practice followed by a great dinner! Really nice people that I hope to meet again soon.

In Tokyo, as said, I had the chance again to practice several times with Irie sensei, both at hombu dojo and Shinagawa dojo. The more I can practice with sensei, the more I want to practice with him.. and I know already his only visit to Europe for next year.. I must take contact soon with the organizers!

With these 2 trips close to each other I clearly took my decision to stop being a hombu dojo Aikido tourist trying to practice 5 sessions per day (ok, I could never really do that!) with all instructors. I have taken a direction and I know I will struggle to keep contact with the teachers I really like now. Especially after I will go back to Europe, since Irie sensei and Yasuno sensei do not travel that much. A good thing is that in Italy there will be soon more activity related to Yasuno sensei because of one of his close students leaving Japan after several years. His new project together with the already existing and very active Aikido Club Bolzano will introduce more of Yasuno sensei Aikido vision.

I don’t need to add that if I will ever be again in a position able to invite some teachers to my dojo, Irie sensei is top of the list: my new dream is having him in Norway, just because I know Norwegian Aikido environment and people very closely and I am sure they would all love sensei from the first minute.. as I did!!