Feliz Navidad, Merry Xmas and Happy 2008!

Going up again

I havent been writing lately since I have been a bit down and working and out all day long.
I have been looking for a job here since I arrived or we can say before, because I was sending CV's and all before landing hehe.

Well, at least 20 interviews, 50 cv and more than a dozen of exams sessions and Im still waiting for one good job offer.

Unfortunately Mexico is not open to anything that is related to China, people often asked me before leaving and now too, why did you go? why there? Why so far?.

Why dont they ask why not?What can we learn from china, what can we teach them, how can we good partners and make good business? They have lots to improve and we can lead them the way and we have things to be corrected too.

If people could only see further than their noses... Mexico will be better and compete and win and...

I would have a job by now! hehe.

Looking for a job (the whole adventure!!!!)

The situation in Mexico is more interesting and complicated than I thought!

Just arriving I had already sent about 15 CV and registered in the most famous job seeking websites, well my dears... The search has been not easy at all!

In the first week I only got one phone call and later turned out to be a sales job, where they offer a short training-evaluation and then, they give you a database so you can look for your clients by yourself! And the clients should be more than 30,000 dlls each at minimum! And you sign every responsability paper, no welfare...

Sorry! was i complaining for the chinese situation just a couple of days ago? I cant believe this and of course the salaries are quite low, these days!

You may think I'm complaining because of my problem only... No, no! Indeed, I had learnt a lot from this chance. Before I used to change from one job to another, maybe later I could be lucky and find a great job or something, but I have to say that at least, now I have a parttime job that allows me to practice my Chinese language and also I'm enjoying it a lot! I have a family that even when my dad and I are just so so, well I'm staying with them and feeling their support.
And a wonderful partner who always understands me and I have his comfort, love and everything I could ever need...

Why should I cry?

Well, my fight for the rights, not only mine, but I think this situation is not ok, and let´s talk later about the long journeys, where they are offering me midday, that literally is from 8 to 8pm (and this is just normal time!!!)...

How can a Mexican normal person survive from a mean pay and having wife, children and not a house??? With the same salary or worse than a Chinese but prices higher than sometimes even US or closer?

Ufff! Don't ask me....

This is not acceptable!!!!!!

What is your situation? Pls expose it =)

An actuary in China, one year abroad... Spanish version

I promise I will translate it soon!!! =)

Desde agosto de 2006 hasta hace 2 semanas, me embarqué en una experiencia única: Viajé a China para mejorar mi nivel de mandarín y conocer la situación de este país que está tan en boga y también que está impactando el mundo en diferentes formas y obvio a nuestro México también.
Durante este año trabajé como maestra de inglés y negocios a nivel vocacional. De este modo solventaba mis gastos y además disfrutaba de todos los periodos vacacionales. Estuve en la ciudad de Nantong, a 4 hrs de Shanghai, muchos fines de semana pude viajar a dicha ciudad, inclusive celebrando el año nuevo 2007 ahí.
Este centro financiero y bursátil en desarrollo, muestra una cara moderna y renovada de China, el vivir en una ciudad de mediano tamaño y poder visitar otras ciudades tanto de China continental como alrededores, tales como: Beijing (alistándose para los Olímpicos y donde estuve un mes estudiando Mandarín en Beihang University), Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yanji, Changchun, Zhuhai, entre otras... me permitió tener una visión general de dicho país.
Comprender las cosas buenas y las malas de su modelo social y económico y aprender algunas lecciones que posiblemente sirvan para México.
A los actuarios muchas veces se nos dice que no sabemos más que números pero esta vez, así como logré analizar muchas cosas minuciosamente, también logró involucrarme con esta cultura, esta comida, estas ideologías y al final, estas personas tan interesantes y entrañables.

First impressions of the once old (now new) land.

I arrived after so many troubles and delays...

I'm here...

These are some shots of the things I have seen...

The Subway (Metro)... The University (UNAM)... Chilli sauces! hehe...

Have I been too long in China???

You know you’ve been in China too long if…

1. Before asking someone’s age, you ask what animal they are.
2. You start picking at other people’s dinner plates before they even offer you a taste.
3. You eat family style at any and all restaurants, Chinese or not.
4. You would rather wait on the street for an extra ten minutes for a small cab, than pay the extra for a big cab.
5. You don’t have to speak to taxi drivers. Every cab in town has taken you home at least once, so they all know where you live.
6. It seems entirely sensible to take a cab across town for 12 yuan in each direction to buy something that costs 4 yuan, and they sell right outside your house anyway.
7. You have absolutely no sense of traffic rules.
8. You invite friends over for dinner, and serve thousand year old eggs as an appetiser.
9. You buy a round trip air ticket in China.
10. You no longer need tissues to blow your nose.
11. You start calling other foreigners Lao Wai.
12. You think singing Karaoke on Friday nights is fun.
13. Other foreigners seem foreign to you.
14. You consider McDonalds a treat.
15. You ask how much people are making and expect people to answer.
16. You talk louder than is necessary.
17. You are the last of your first group of friends still in China.
18. You prefer using chopsticks.
19. Chinese fashion starts looking hip.
20. You no longer notice the hooting on the streets.
21. You start cutting off large vehicles on your bicycle.
22. Your body no longer needs dairy products.
23. You think Yangshou is a nice place for a holiday.
24. The last time you visited your mother, you gave her your business card
25. You start to enjoy the taste of bai jiu.
26. You go back home for a short visit, get in a car and start giving the driver directions in Chinese.
27. You have to pause and translate your phone number into English before telling it to someone.
28. Your idea of a larger home is an extra 10 square meters.
29. You get used to having a before dinner, during dinner, and after dinner cigarette.
30. You think no car is complete without a tissue box on the rear shelf and a feather duster in the trunk.
31. You go to the local shop in pyjamas.
32. You wouldn’t think of buying any appliance that doesn’t come in lime green.
33. You wonder why none of your friends back home have VCD players
34. You see some real cleavage and think WOW!
35. You ask fellow foreigners the all-important question “How long have you been here?” in order to be able to properly categorize them.
36. You speak putonghua better than the locals.
37. You buy the local newspaper because you forget that you can’t read Chinese.
38. When looking out the window, you think “Wow, so many trees!” instead of “Wow, so much concrete!”
39. You seriously contemplate putting bathroom tiles on the outside of your house back home.
40. You can swear in 3 different dialects.
41. Pollution, what pollution?
42. You think squat toilets are more sensible
43. You notice you’ve forgotten how to tie shoelaces.
44. You start wearing long thermal underwear on October 1st no matter what the temperature is.
45. You stop wearing long thermal underwear on May 1st no matter what the temperature is.
46. You phone an English-speaking laowai friend and somehow can’t bring yourself to get to the point for the first 3 minutes of the conversation.
47. You stop enjoying telling newcomers to China ‘all about China’.
48. You think “English literature major” is a polite way to say peanut brained bimbo.
49. You are not surprised to wake up in the morning and find that the woman who stayed over last night has completely cleaned your apartment, even though you’ll probably never ever meet her again.
50. You develop a liking for corn flavoured ice cream.
51. You think the best part of TV are the commercials.
52. When you think it’s alright to stick your head into a stranger’s apartment to see if anybody’s home.
53. You think that you can impress foreigners by drinking Budweiser.
54. You have run out of snappy comebacks to compliments about your chopstick skills.
55. You think “white pills, blue pills, and pink powder” is an adequate answer to the question “What are you giving me, doctor?”.
56. Someone doesn’t stare at you and you wonder why.
57. 70 degrees F. feels cold.
58. You see three people on a motorcycle and figure there’s room for two more.
59. “Squid” sounds better than “steak”.
60. There are more things strapped to your cycle than you ever put in a car.
61. Looking at a dog makes you hungry.
62. Firecrackers don’t wake you up.
63. Your family stops asking when you’ll be coming back.
64. You don’t mind when your date picks his/her nose in public.
65. You wear out your vehicle’s horn before its brakes.
66. Smoking is one of the dinner courses.
67. You (male) wear white socks with your business suits.
68. You (female) wear socks over your pantyhose in summer.
69. People who knew you when you first arrived don’t recognize you.
70. You speak Chinese to your foreign friends.
71. You buy a top-of-the-line karaoke machine.
72. None of your shoes have laces.
73. Chinese stop you on the street to ask for directions.
74. You leave the plastic on all new purchases.
75. Forks feel funny.
76. The shortest distance between two points involves going through an alley.
77. People who haven’t seen you for months don’t ask where you’ve been.
78. Chinese remakes of Western songs sound better than the originals.
79. The only foreigners who have been here longer than you are buried here.
80. You find yourself saying, “Oh geez, not ANOTHER Year of the Rat!”
81. You get homesick for Chinese food when away from China.
82. It becomes a tradition that at least part of Christmas dinner is stir-fried.
83. Other foreigners give you a funny look when you tell them how long you’ve been here.
84. The Statute of Limitations has expired and you still don’t go home.
85. You realize that smiling and nodding is Chinese body language for, “Go away & leave me alone.”
86. Metal scaffolding at construction sites seems much more dangerous than bamboo scaffolding.
87. The Lunar Calendar ALWAYS takes precedence.
88. Pizza just doesn’t taste right unless there’s corn on it.
89. It’s been at least 18 months since you used the word “tacky” to describe anything.
90. Summers are too short; winters too long.
91. 250cc is a REALLY BIG motorcycle. (You think moving from a 125cc to a 150cc makes you more macho.)
92. All the top-level government officials you befriended for guanxi purposes when you first arrived are retired and living in your country.
93. Eating at ‘Western’ restaurants, you wait until after dessert to drink your soup.
94. Your thumbnail is 2 inches long.
95. After being in an accident, you tell the ambulance driver which hospital to take you to.
96. None of CNN’s “China Experts” have been here as long as you.
97. You salt your fruit.
98. That unopened bottle of XO has aged longer on your living room shelf than it ever did in France.
99. Your company offers you a job in your native land, and includes regular “Home Leave” to China as an incentive.
100. Household furnishings are arranged for optimal feng-shui.
101. You can make elevators go faster by boarding first and taking over the controls.
102. You stop calling the Guinness Book of Records people each time you kill a cockroach.
103. You think of ‘salad’ as diced apples in mayonnaise
104. You don’t recognise a bowl of chicken soup unless there’s feet and a head in it.
105. Your favourite pizza toppings are corn and shrimp.
106. You don’t bother to take the sticker off the lenses of your fake Ray-Bans.
107. In the summer, you roll the legs of your pants up to your knees whenever you sit down.
108. (men) And you roll your shirt up to your nipples.
109. You only wear a suit when you dig ditches or do home repairs.
110. You have a purse and you are male.
111. You walk backwards in the park listening to a transistor radio.
112. You smoke in crowded elevators.
113. You like the smell of the bus.
114. You go to the hospital at the first signs of a cold.
115. You don’t notice your gastrointestinal problems anymore.
116. You draw characters on your hand to make yourself understood.
117. Your handshake is weakening by the day.
118. You would never think of entering your house without first removing your shoes.
119. You can’t put a proper sentence together in your native language.
120. You aren’t aware that one is supposed to pay for software.
121. Drilling on the walls in the wee small hours in the morning is considered acceptable behaviour.
122. You get offended when people admire your chopsticks skills.
123. You compiled a 3-page list of weird English first names that Chinese people of your acquaintance have chosen for themselves.
124. Your collection of business cards has outgrown your flat.
125. You know that leather shoes can grow leaves during the wet season.
126. You use the word “Ayyiieeaaahh” every few sentences to convey surprise, pleasure, pain or anger.
127. You speak enough Chinese to make your colleagues laugh their heads off (attempts with anyone else still only draw blank stares).
128. You and a friend get on a bus, sit at opposite ends of the bus, and continue your conversation by yelling from one end to the other.
129. You get on a bus alone and pretend to have a friend at the other end of the bus!
130. You always get a seat on a bus.
131. You cannot say a number without making the appropriate hand sign.
132. You cannot say “Call me.” without making a pretend phone with your fingers and sticking to your ear.
133. You eat at exactly the same time every day, whether you are hungry or not. Then eat again later when you ARE hungry.
134. You think a pedestrian crossing over the street is ‘beautiful’.
135. You start making lists like this.

Mutianyu Great Wall (my 2nd time in the GW)

Hey...

This weekend I went to the Great wall for the second time in my lifetime!!!

The first time was 3 years ago with my University to Badaling ( i think the typical place hehe).

Now, this school organized the trip so I went with the korean classmates and my spanish chinese friends too hehe.

The journey to arrive to the spot took as usual 1 hr plus some traffic from Beijing city itself. There are very good highways so it's easy to drive to any of the turistic places in the conurbated, rural areas around Beijing city.

We arrived and the sun was not so hard, but there was a lot of humidity in the air, I guess around 80% easily!

Fangfang and I started buying and negotiating prices with the many shops in the main street leading to the entrance. We bought some Tshirts for around 17 yuan each! (this is a bit over 2 usd!). Then we rejoined the group who had already splitted.

Some took the walking side and some decided to go by cable car, this has an extra cost of 35 yuan (one way) or 50 (two way) and you save the effort of walking 1 km uphill.

I decided not climbing was not Great wall and walked hehe. Most of the way up is stairs, stairs hehe.. so by the half I was all damped in my own sweat haha.. but not so uncomfortable. Just drinking some water hehe, so by the returning time I had none left hehe.

Once up, the view was beautiful.... I liked this place, less people and more conservated sites, this one has some cannons and other fortress that I haven't seen before. The ticket is a miniCD too so when I came home I could see some bird-eye's views of the place and surroundings... So nice!

When I was going back I felt quite happy, and of course was much easier hehe.. my legs were starting to shake but I managed well hehe descending...

In the way down, I heard some people screaming! I got closer to the place of origin and... it was a slide!!! Look at the pic.. you can get down like taht.. sniff was too late to know it...

Maybe next time... =(

Take a look in my pics hehe... More you can find in flickr again hehe.

By the way if you have any suggestions of a better place to upload my pics pls speak up!!! =)

XOX

Magamonse

Freedom in China?

NOTE!
I tried to publish this post in Beijing and was impossible! I do it now... More than a week later!
===================================================
Some people ask me what about China? What problems have I found? What good things?

Many good things about the economy happen here.. you can see the development and the people spending everywhere. it has became the typical weekend hobby! "what do we do? Let's go shopping" it's the answer....

I know every country has its own problems and I know yes, the Chinese are developing real fast! You can see in front of you as the prices rise bit by bit and how the yuan is being pushed by the Economy to stop the same and start appreciating vs the USD, what means that the Chinese economy is strong but also that the exports could increase their price and then everything could desaccelerate or... collapse!!!

You can see the buildings, high, touching the skies, like the dreams of the people who are building them, living in them, planning them. Some of them are rapidly used and inhabited, but others stay empty for very long time...

Many things go right but some others don't, specially about freedom...

I would say that 2 freedoms in special are the more difficult around here.

1. Freedom of Movement and Association.
2. Freedom of Speech.

Yes you can buy whatever you want, but you cannot travel abroad without having the authorization of your superiors and their explicit recommendation, neither the money to pay for all the medical examinations, passport, visas and... other govnt requirements depending on the country.

You can fly or take trains, buses all over the country but don't think of staying for too long, if you don't own a Hukou (document, ID who establishes the most relevant data such as: birth place, graduation date, university, profession, children - if any-, spouse - if any-...) that is located in the same area, you won't have access to the basic services of health, education and many torubles about getting a job...

As you can see, even when the hukou has started to be less important nowadays, there are still a lot of problems for the migrant workers... who really suffer if not penalties for not having the hukou, some discrimination and less pay and things like that...

And if you want to know about the freedom of speech, just think of even a foreigner, who tried to post this blog to talk a little bit and cannot do it, because all my pc was closed, not once, but twice, when i tried to publish this entry!!!

But well, some other countries have some other problems, sometimes no freedom nor development... uff! Difficult to conclude....

Love,
Magamon...

PD if you want to hear more from a chinese shanghai resident himself! in English... click!:

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20070729_strengthen_the_control_of_speech.htm?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

Beijing Opera & Lama temple...

Hey...

How are you.. hehe?

Well, today I went to the Lama temple and the beijing opera.

I remembered so many things about 3 years ago!!! wow.. hehe

This time I didn't fall asleep in the opera hehe. I enjoyed it all and I was able to understand some parts!!! hahaha I feel happy about it hehe.

Nevertheless after seen it on TV so many times, I have to admit that I'm a bit used to it hehe. At least we didn't pay the whole ticket and everything went fine.. =)

There were many acrobatics in the show, I don't recall have seen so many action in the ones I watched previously, It could be because they were different operas or maybe because they want this one to be more atractive for foreigners hehe.. The place was packed with us hehe not locals at all haha.

By midday, me and company!!! haha Fangfang and my roomie, Giselle went to Gonghegong, lama temple... It is quite big! It used to be a palace but changed later to the tibetan lama culture place in Beijing.

There are many signs all in different languages: Manchurian, Tibetan, Han and...

They gave us discount!! haha good, student card 50% =)

And the entrance ticket is a nice souvenir, a small VCD that you can play in your computer, with awesome images for 4.5 minutes hehe and the monks from the temple saying something sorry I didnt understand this.. haha It was in Tibetan!!!

I enjoyed the place again.. Specially the 18 meters tall Buddha, made of a single piece of sandalwood!!! It's fabulous!!! Colosal!!! hehe.. and there are 8 more meters down to make it stable... I wonder when and how they made the buildinghehehe.. maybe they had to make the building afterwards but... wasn't it a palace before??? strange hehe.

If you want to see more pics, please visit my flickr hehe..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9714930@N08

Kisses... to all! hehe.

PS. Please leave your message that you have been here, c'mon hehe. I'd love to read from you =)

3 years later...

Just 3 years before.. I was so different...

We can say many things remain the same, but some others!!! wow.. hehe..

what do you say? what do you think at comparing these?

I was today in Tiantan (the temple of Heaven). I took a remembrance picture...

And so many memories came to mind...

It's amazing to see how the time goes... Where would I be in 3 years from now?

Last days..

Hey!

Sorry for haven't even dropped some lines these last 3 days!

I was a bit busy, you can check the new pics of these days hehe!
I met my good friend Anna!!! and i went out with almost all of my korean classmates hehe! We skated and then ate Mexican food!
Yes I went again to the Fogoncito haha.. And good news there were some leftovers so I keep eating them hahaha... Yummy! Please go the place is great...

www.fogoncito.com.cn the place is in Wanda Guangchang (Plaza mall), close to Guomao.

My pics site in Flickr (yes, since yahoo photos just expired, sniff!!!) :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9714930@N08/

If you learn Chinese....

Hey....

Me again! hehe.

I decided to tell you about the kind of problems (and of course, the advantages -remember to face both sides of the mirror hehe-) you may face when you are learning Chinese (this is specially true if your native language uses the "normal" alphabet system).

First of all, the Chinese language is based on precedent drawings, inspired at the nature itself or representations of this. Many (mainly the most basic and common meaning ones) are just like "pictures" of the object they are mentioning.

This system most of the time (75% or more) DOESN'T relate with the sound! Maybe some people will start saying ufff such a nightmare! But, being honest one of the most studied and popular languages in the world nowadays has this same condition and I'm using it right now!

People who speak languages like the Latin ones (I don't know if others, but you can tell me if you are familiar with those) may feel terrible about this, since Spanish for example, the way you write is the way you read and viceversa, that really makes things easier, even when we conjugate verbs and have female and male terminations, I know!!!! hehe. And not forget to mention the tones... depending of which one you use, out of 4, the words change dramatically in meaning. Just for example if you pronounce ma like asking it's a horse, but if you say it like chanting melodiously an keeping a high tone is mother. And angry, quickly is a bad word!

Passing these points I would say some of the good things about learning Chinese, it really opens you a world of new possibilites, like a new way of ordering the semantics in your head, usually you would put all the birds together, or all the I don't know colours, things to do, hobbies, etc in groups, but in chinese the radicals, (part of the "picture", character naming one meaning by itself but put together in the whole set) can give you another grouping way. This reorganizes your mind, helping you to avoid becoming stagnant and old in your mind ways hehe.

Another thing is this one... I love it!!!

When you are a child, what can you remember first? One picture of the sun that like a circle with rays or like a typical moon? Or can you read the word "sun, sol, soleil..." properly?

Well, I think with Chinese even a 1 year old baby could start reading very soon! Because it's very accesible. You look at the picture and you can figure it out (not always but maaany times!) the meaning is representing! Or how the combination of two or more in a new character makes another new meaning...

Now, this days, what problems I'm facing? The usual ones of any other learner hehe, plus the fact that I'm learning sometimes translations to English or to Spanish and that makes a whole mixture inside my brain hehehe.. Funny one indeed, hehe! Sometimes it helps me to speak different languages in advance, even French because there are similarities... yes!

Well, sometimes I can recognize the pronounciation but I can remember the writing or viceversa hehe! The worst haha it's when i can see it, i know the meaning but I can't say it or rewrite it by myself, without looking. This problem, dear learners don't you worry, many times, even the Chinese people face it hehe... So it's ok! Just part of the fun hehe.

Wish me luck, I have dictation and I feeling my head bit crazy since today I achieved the #200 character in my list haha..

If you want more information about this, I think there are several sites in the internet... Here, one... http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20070624_chinese_characters.htm

(A blog that by the way had inspired me, helped me and I strongly recommend hehe! Specially talking about Shanghai and surrounding areas).

Mexican Food：Fogoncito en Beijing 福客多 (And Peking man)

Hey, again!

I have already received a pair of comments, I will try to follow them, please don't hesitate to write me directly or leave a comment here hehe.

I really appreciate it!

Well, I was in Beijing in my first whole weekend! I had many ideas... I had already been in the typical places so I tried to go to a new one hehe.

I decided to visit the Peking Man site (promulgated a protected spot not long ago for the UNESCO) very early in Saturday morning. For those interested in antropology or history this site was very important because found another of our ancestors and with this discovered another prehominid different to the Java Man or the Typical Homo erectus and Homo habilis found in other locations.

Bad news, most of the exhibition pieces were casts, because the original ones were sent to USA during the WWII and nobody knows their destination! Nevertheless, I was in the caves and I enjoyed the casts hehe.

After that, we (my two half Chinese/half Spanish classmates and neighbours and their Chinese friend) decided to look for something to eat. I had already searched for "El fogoncito".

I was a bit afraid to ask them to go, since just last Thursday some of my classmates and my Chinese teacher had gone to another supposedly Mexican food place and it was not anymore selling Mexican food (if you read my thursday blog you know this already hehe).

But... I really wanted to have some Mexican food, so I spoke up!

They agreed but we weren't finding the right bus and all, we ended up taking a cab, who fortunately wasn't so rude (maybe because the Chinese girl managed him well hehe). So we arrived to the place and after asking one more time, because it's not so visible: BINGO!!!

El Fogoncito at sight! We entered, not many people. A table with 4 guys, spanish/mexican looking (the mexicans these days are in many colours, but the ones who are coming from mostly spanish - or french, etc- blood they tend to be like me, white skin and the facial features are not so sharp I think). Another table with two chinese girls.

They gave us the menu and it was in English/ Chinese / Mexican (not only spanish but mexican because the names were of food and using typical names we give to the food hehe).

My friends were surprised for the variety of dishes, so they just trusted in me and I ordered:

For starters...

• 1 order of "Tacos al pastor" (BBQ Style sliced Pork meat in soft corn tortillas) 3pcs /15 Y
  
• 1 order of "Gringas" (The same pork meat with cheese, pineapple and in this time in a Soft wheat flour tortilla) 1 pc / 18 yuan.
• 1 order of "Chicharron de queso" (melted cheese until its almost burnt and it curls itself (see the picture for more reference hehe!) 28 yuan

Seeing that this was not enough and we were needing more food.... I continue ordering... And this time, the Chinese girl contributed asking me if I the fajitas were good.

• A Mexican (indeed more of a Texmex) Classic: Beef fajitas (a quite decent portion of sliced beef, green peppers and onions, all friend and served in an Iron Hot plate) with tortillas to make more tacos. 58 yuan.


• "Enfrijoladas", these were not like Mexican do. Were more like quesadillas with frijoles. Two soft wheat flour tortillas with cheese and refried beans inside. 18 yuan.
• Another order of "tacos al pastor".
• Another order of "gringa"
• One "Cazuelita de queso fundido" (melted cheese in a clay pot) with enough soft wheat flour Tortillas. The big winner of the afternoon . Everyone loved it!!! 25 yuan.
• And the last dish... One frijoles with totopos order (Refried beans plate with deep-fried triangles of corn tortillas).

Everything tasted like typically tastes in Mexico, besides the service was good, you can see the attached pictures with the chinese guys doing the pastor and waitressing hehe.

The dishes were accompanied for three different kinds of spicy sauces: red chilli, green chilli and Guacamole (made with avocado).

I recommend this place, the only bad thing they played Luis Miguel (who is not even mexican, even when he sings many "mariachi" songs for the entire time we were at the place. I complained a bit pulling the manager legs hehe, who turned out to be one of the guys in the next table hehe.

Let's see what new adventures come up with this new 2nd week as a student in Beijing hehe.

Now I have to go, around 150 chinese characters are waiting for me before going to bed hehe.

From both sides of the mirror...

If you ask me about the lessons I have learnt in my year abroad, living and working and studying in China...

I have to be honest, most of them are not only about Chinese culture, places or language, not even people itself, but about relationships, about life and about myself.

One of the best lessons I will always have in my heart is this one: Remember to see always from both sides of the mirror...

Many times we say something, we have an idea, an opinion, very good one, we have thought it thru, it comes after some meditation or discussion... but! Have we really tried to see things from both sides of the mirror?

For example, living in China, as in many other cultures in Asia, is quite different from living in "the West", where we have to accept that the living standards have really became "standardized" hehe... We all can have the same things and we all share doing, having (almost, in general terms) the same activities, the same ways...

Sometimes, we may think: "this people... uff, why they don't know this? Why do they do like that?" We should be careful with such quick judgements... !!!!

Maybe we are right, but who told you that is really "good"??? Who determines what is "good" or not?

I think the society many times determines this and teaches us from very little to believe it, sometimes it could be truth and an advantage to follow such principles, but if they prevent you from being happy and limit your freedom, you better think twice...

Are they real good? Why do we do them? What happens if we don't? And if you find that you are not hurting anyone else and that will lead you to be a better person? Achieve greater things.. I feel you should go ahead...

If you are in the middle of a discussion, try to ask yourself... Why could he be keeping his point? how comes he or she is saying such a thing... ? May be this... Maybe.....

That doesn't mean that you change your ideas, but you will reinforce them and know why do you have them... Or if the doubt arises, maybe you have an opportunity to change your ways for some better ones...

Tough luck!

Hey!

Today is July 12th. I will remember this day I think..
So many things went wrong today... sniff! sniff!

By starters, even before waking up, before opening my eyes, I was moving in the bed ( I use to move a lot and sometimes yes, you won't know but also talk asleep hehe, lately even in English oops! haha) and...
I felt a terrible pain in my right leg, to be more specific in my calf. It was really a serious one, very sharp... I woke up in the moment almost in tears...
I changed the position and started to fade and I felt asleep again, but not very deeply this time... so bad..
When I listened to my alarm clock, about 1 hour and a bit more later, I woke up and the pain was less but still there... =( So bad! I tried to go to the bathroom but I have to jump on one foot! No way to even stand with both feet on the ground. Unbelievable!

I started massaging and slowly felt a bit better, prepared for my lesson but of course, I arrived late, no way to hurry up hehe. Today we had dictation （听写）, almost every single morning we are checking the new words ! About 20-30 a day, but those are only the one who we check in the book, besides I have many more I don't know and the book supposes I do or either the teachers or my classmates comment hehe.

Learning Chinese could have some difficulties but I think also could be very good and it's a new mind set, which allows you to understand a new way of thinking, a new perspective or amples the existing one.

Well, after my 4 period class I was able to move a little bit better I went to eat with my new friend from Spain, Fangfang and her younger sister. They are Huaqiao ( 华侨),Overseas Chinese, Spanish-born and Spanish speakers and all, but both their parents are Chinese who emigrated long time ago before they even existed hehe.
The lunch was ok but the food in the canteen was not so good, sometimes I don't know but even when the ingredients are fresh and the food is nice, the people just make it look bad by the way they present it. Like if you were in prision or something...
Stainless iron trays and green colour (well this is a bit happy hehe) plastic chopsticks. Also the way they serve could be like throwing not very gently... Well, China needs to take care of such little details, besides that the flavor was ok. Decent. The price cheap as usual, 4 yuan for a tray with rice and veggies and all, around 0.50 USD.

I rested and today we were going to go for Mexican food hehe, I found the place in the web and was not so far from here, like 5 stops by bus. Paying with my wonderful transports card is only 40 ctvs of yuan, (si mao / si jiao) Wow!!!

But my friends and our teacher joined so we went by taxi..
God save us! The man looked at the address and shouted at us a clear "bu renshi" (不认识, I don't know = I'm not familiar) But we pushed him, gave him some hints about the places nearby and finally he agreed to take us but not very nicely and all the time talking to himself in a rude tone. Really I don't recommend you to take taxis in Beijing. I have never done it before, but I knew about their bad reputation and today was just a confirmation of this!

Finally he left us close by saying he didn't know more and we were crazy to be able to find such a number in the street, blah blah! And God's sake we are talking about a big street, not a tiny little one, but whatever! We walked and found the place..

The name was changed! Some of the old labels and decoration mostly were there! But... Not anymore a Mexican restaurant. Now is not "niña" but a Spicy Hot pot!!! (辣火锅= La Huoguo) That's not what we were looking for..... Sniff sniff!!!

The other 4 also had their own problems with the driver but arrived drenched in sweat!
We decided we will get another kind of food, we went next door and one table was broken, the AC too and the weather was not cool. Beijing is hot in the summer!!!

Finally we ended up eating pizza, at least that was good! hehe 98 kuai for three people package including:
+Any 12" pizza
+French fries
+Chicken wings
+Salad and
+3 bowls of corn cream soup

Yummy! hahaha... Well, happy ending hehe... Now time to go to bed hehe. Ciao!

See ya tom!

A student again...

These days I'm a student again.

I didn't realize how much have I been missing to do this until I started again... he he!

It's really a good time, no need to worry about money (at least not only hehe). Up until a couple of weeks, I was teaching English in the branch of Delter in Nantong, Jiangsu.

But now I'm in Beihang University! Studying chinese during the summer...

Right now, no need to worry about preparing classes for teaching my kids (which I miss a lot). Of course I enjoyed, don't get me wrong but we have to deal with the fact that sometimes your creativity is not at his best and you feel worried about how to make your class interesting and enjoyable, hehe.

I will say that I have some Chinese lessons during this past 10 months in China (time really flies... ufff!) but they were not really formal ones, more of the kind of "Intercultural exchange". My friends in Nantong, one from the school itself and one from Nantong University who I met online and then face to face, used to meet me once or twice a week. We talked about our life, our culture, way of thinking, etc. Sometimes we translated some sentences, but mostly we were talking English, since they were quite good and me.. well quite poor to follow a discussion topic haha...

The good news is that I practiced a lot in the streets too, people in the market, in the supermarket or the bus, will never know so much English like my friends (well, yes sometimes, but not usually hehe), so those were the real chances where I could speak. When my colleagues, like Kevin and Brian and I used to eat out, we went to a café (oh... Mao's café times.... nostalgia starting so soon....) or to the fruit shop and we have to figure out how to get food and with a lot of work sometimes also be able to get the food we were fancing hehe...

Well, on Monday I had my level test! And I'm so happy hehe, it turns out that all that effort paid hehe... Now, my pronounciation is less bad haha... I start to be more understandable and I got a place on the C group, that is like high intermediate yes!!! haha..

Today is Wednesday. My head is all crazy, talking Chinese (Mandarin) all day and also trying to talk some Korean given that most of my classmates (85%) are from this country! hehe..

Everyday I'm learning about 25-30 words, could seem so few but believe me when you have already some in your head sometimes you start confusing them, and also is not only a memory exercise but a speaking one and listening one, because we have dictation every day about the last lesson vocab hehe.

Chinese is great! I love to be able to talk it little by little... I was sooo looking forward to this.

And Beihang University is quite big and nice. I'll promise to send pictures in my next blog hehe.

Enough for now, have to go. I'll meet a friend to go to an acrobatics show =)

Bye for now!

PD Please don't hesitate to ask me question or suggest if you have any topic you would like me to post about...

My Rayuela...

Hey!

Undoubtedly many should ask why Rayuela and Why Maga but I guess some of you know might already know a bit of what I am talking about it here, that's good he he.

For those who don't have a clue. Please let me introduce you to this, my Rayuela, my world...

Rayuela is my favorite book written by Julio Cortázar, an Argentinean, born Belgian who living in Paris finished writing one of the masterpieces of Latin American literature: Rayuela.

Rayuela is a game I reckon everyone in the world have played at least once, different names maybe (avioncito, tejo, hopscotch, marelles, etc...) but the same thing. As Cortazar may say, all is the same, opposites reunite, there are no indeed, we are the same animal, just different cages.
Another question I guess... Why Rayuela? What is the reason I call my blog like this and Rayuela is the name of such a book?

Well, Rayuela is a game where you are trying to reach the "Heaven", the "end", the number 10, you have to make some tricks, pass some obstacles, maybe sometimes will be hard and you have to try again before being able to succeed to the next stage... All of that, and also the fact that is like a kids' game too serious but at the same time not to be taken so seriously, it's the answer.

Like he proposed in his book, we have to try with language to fight it, we have to try with society fight society, try to reinvent the world, why to attach ourselves to rules that they don't bring us any good really? Why to follow something we are not sure of...?
Of course, as long as you don't hurt anyone in the way... he he! Don't think of me as a total anarchist he he.

Last thing before closing the first entry!
Maga... she is one of the main roles in Rayuela. Paraphrasing him thru the eyes of Horacio Oliveira, her lover... "She used to swim in the rivers I was just able to start understanding, to start seeing, to realize there were there, she was like the seagull who doesn't know she is flying but flies and enjoy, like the fish who doesn't know it is swimming but dances in the water graceful and joyfully".

Do you like Rayuela? Hope you do...

and if you haven't heard before, Welcome....