Busy recent few days

Hey people. it's been a while since I have made any proper updates, and now that I am in Hong Kong (which I show as Macau, because Hong Kong is not in the list of countries that can be selected...) I think it's time for a proper report. Now this will be a long report, so I've split it into several sections. The first sections still take place in Xiamen, before I ended my internship report.

Buying Bus Tickets

So when my internship was ending, I decided that I wanted to leave the mainland asap. I mean, I liked Xiamen and everything, but I kinda missed the western world. I decided to go back to Hong Kong, because I haven't seriously explored it yet, and it was very western. Even though I'd still be technically -in- China, Hong Kong is almost in all respects a different country.

Now, how could I get to HK from Xiamen? My first hunch was to fly. Flying to HK was pretty expensive (80 euro for a 1 way ticket). But thankfully, there is Shenzhen. Shenzhen is the City on the mainland side of the mainland-HK border. Flying there would be about 40 euro, half the price, because Xiamen-Shenzhen is domestic and Xiamen-Hong Kong is international.

But can the price go even lower? Yes, if you take a bus. I actually wanted to take a bus, because it's more adventurous. So I needed to buy bus tickets. I found a place that sold bus tickets, with some discount. But my chinese isn't good enought for that. So a while ago I went there with 2 Chinese friend. I decided to go for a sleeper bus (20 euro), that would go all the way to Luohu (the border).

End Of Check-IT

And last Thursday was my final day of work. It was a chaotic day; I had to finish my internship report, and i had a package of goods to be shipped to my parents. The post office; great memories... I went there with the package. I had to fill out a form... Now, thankfully there was someone working there who could speak some english. And one of the things I had to fill out was what to do if something was undeliverable. I said: 'mark as abandoned'. He, however, recommended to send it back to my original address. Okay, re-fill the entire form. Then I discovered there were 7 carbon copies, and I didn't press the pen hard down....

Refilled a new form, pressing the pen so hard my hand hurt. Gotta love the Chinese way. Anyway, then I paid and everything was done. O wait, they later apparently gave me the wrong receipt. So I went back to get the right one, but forgot to take mine along. Another 10 minutes of Hand-Hurting followed. But I must say, all the workers, including the officials were extremely friendly. In fact, they gave me a red back with 'Happy New Year' on it, to place my drinks and CD's in (they're not allowed to be sent by mail... Chinese rules).

Yeah, I guess that's how the Chinese are. At least to foreigners. They have extremely strict rules and big bureauracy. But they are not arrogant, they help you with a smile, and genuinely are interested and keen on assisting as much as possible. Which is a big plus for China!

Sleeper Bus To Shenzhen

So the sleeper bus. Best way to travel around China IMO now :P

I was picked up by a minivan at Xiamen Railway Station and me and some other Chinese were taken to a small waiting room, somewhere randomly in Xiamen, where we had to wait for the bus to arrive. I had to wait for 2 hours.... But then the bus arrived! I boarded and I found out what sleeping was like: the bed was just long enough for me to sleep (not stretch), and wide enough to lay. Thankfully I wasn't too fat or I wouldn't have fit! Though I did have to be creative with putting my bag somewhere in the bed along with me. But it fit ^_^ And I must say, it was quite comfortable. I slept a few hours even!

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Okay, I might post a more proper version of the things I did later. Basically, I went today on a passport-filling trip: I went to Macau, Zhuhai, back to Macau and then back to HK. But I saw some cool things (and I gambled 50 HK Dollars away on the roulette table at the venetian :P) But all that possibly later!

day trip out

We had a trip today. I forgot, as usual, my camera though...

We went to Zhangzhou, first to see a natural park formed by a former volcano. Sadly very little lava and ash visible, and a not great lunch. But it was a beautiful place nevertheless.

And we went to the Zhangzhou campus of Xiamen University. It was also nice. Yes, I guess a day of not going to work is nice :)

yab

Yes, another blog.

I think I'll start with talking about a recurring dream that I have. Now, I am a vivid dreamer; I can't remember dreams, but I do know that when I'm in a dream, my entire reality becomes the dream; I can have a lifetime of memories in the dream, and I cannot tell what is real or fake. Yes, I live in a temporary alternative reality and I am not aware of the 'real' world. Bear that in mind. What am I dreaming of? I'm dreaming of this scene: I'm at Prometheus or Catena, having a fun night with friends, talking and well, as the dutch call it, 'borreling'. {A borrel, for all the non-Dutchies, is a social gathering of people together, and the idea is to just, well, chat.Usually with some drinks involved, but the purpose is not to get drunk but more to chat.} Afterwards, I am at my parents' place, playing with my dog Echo. I have the feeling that I am at home, at my place (and I have no realization of China). And then I fall asleep at my bed at my parents' place, for it is weekend.

At that moment, my alarm clock wakes me up, and as I open my eyes, and I see my Xiamen appartment, and hear my Chinese army song telling me to wake up(yes, it came with my phone), I realize how far away I am for the truth that I just left.

Heh, perhaps I am more homesick than I thought I was going to be? Or I guess I really miss my dog.... (sorry parents, but I miss you less because of the phone calls ^^; I have zero interaction with Echo, so if you read, please don't get this wrong) Well, it's not that I don't have good moments in China; I certainly do. Like going out with 1 good friend this weekend in Zhangzhou; real fun.

Nah, I think I am slowly starting to find more and more about myself. I can't change what's happened. But I wonder if it really was a good move for me to go abroad as a young child. I kinda got disconnected from reality and how things are. And I think I will blame my parents for not letting me do a teamsport or something where you don't work on your own. I mean; sure I might not be the best teamplayer. But if that's the reason to let me do individual sports and activities, then how on earth could you expect me to ever become one?! In Judo, I had great fun on the mat and the half hour before the match, chatting with the others who went. But that's no teamplaying. ~_~ But I guess that's one thing that can't be fixed anymore really. So if anyone reads this and is getting children: let them do a teamsport! I mean, as Randy Pausch put it, you don't put your children on football to make them pros. You put them on football to learn about what a team is like and what it's like in a group.

But okay, as I am going maybe too far into the dark so: on a brighter note, I shall move end of the month to an appartment in the building with the other dutch students. That should hopefully make my last month nicer. AND it seems that when this year ends, so does my internship. What's the first thing I wanna do? Well, there are some places in China I wanna see. But maybe I'll just go to Hong Kong, to kinda escape the mainland for a while. And get a new Chinese visa? Hmm, maybe. I guess it sounds kinda lame, and maybe not very efficient, but my business is over then. Perhaps being in a more english environment would warm my spirits up a bit.

Heh, an english evnironment that would warm my spirits up. That's what I need. And even though the temperature in Xiamen during the day is still above 20 degrees in NOVEMBER, I notice the cooling down. December will probably be very cold.... 10 degrees during the day... eek. As I am heading to Japan in January, there I will possibly be snow. And then it's back to NL. Thankfully, I have time in January. And as it turns out, I was able to book a return ticket from Macau to Singapore, for less than 100 euros with BAGGAGE :D. So.... an english environment that will warm my spirits up. And as Singapore is on the Equator, I can expect nice and warm tropical temperatures. High humidity... 30 degrees. Ah :D I'm looking forward already ^_^. 52 days to freedom. I am really counting down now... hehe

perhaps a restart

Okay, perhaps I shall restart this blog. Well, as I was notified before, I had the tendency of getting emotional on some moments, and it was only after some messages from some people that I decided to just remove the frustrations from the blog.

But perhaps frustrations should not be denied as much. I mean, I won't discuss them elaborately now, as in what ticks me off, and what is causing me problems, and all the things I miss. Nah. No need to do that. I think it's much better to discuss how to deal with frustrations. Perhaps being abroad is a way that you truly learn more about the world. Of course, I learn some computer things. And of course I am improving my Chinese (shame on most of my Chinese colleagues for only speaking in English!).

But perhaps I am building personality. Perhaps, you know, I learn the value of attitute now. The value of taking action if something is displeasing me. The value of not being scared to work (believe me, that's something I experience. And I am not the only one, although people would rather call it lazyness to hide their fears), but taking action. You see, I have made a planning of things I can do until the end of December. That's my plan, and hopefully the next resident teacher shall agree with it. I have a feeling somewhere that most of the work I could complete in 1 week. But it takes just guts to just start typing and see how far I can get.

Being abroad is more a struggle with your attitute. There are 4 phases of adapting to a new culture: phase 1: OMG ITS ALL NEW AWESOME!!!! and phase 2: OMG I MISS THIS AND I HATE EVERYTHING. Phase 3: Hmm, I guess I should do it like this. And finally phase 4: 'Heh, it's funny to see how they do it all that way'. And perhaps phase 5. Perfect integration.

Not that I even am in phase 5 in holland :P But, it's a struggle. Sometimes it feels like I'm in heaven, that I'm free, that I'm in asia, in a dreamland, in a place with lots of opportunities. And there are times when I feel imprisoned: away from my dutch friends, family, and cannot go there. And I just have to accept it all; it's part of the being abroad experience. It's part of getting just out of your comfort zone. I mean, I'm not saying the Comfort Zone is a bad thing, but it's bad to stay there all the time. I (and I think I am not the only one) am just too much in it. Yea, even in Egypt I was mainly in my comfort zone. I am not scared to try to eat something new. It's part of me. Seeing new things, walking around, wandering around. But to me ittakes guts just to go to a person I don't know or hardly know and even just say 'hi'.

But when you leave everything you have behind, the consequences of not doing things, well... they are harsh. Especially since you are for a limited amount of time abroad, because you don't have much time. You have to seize the day. And now that I think longer about it , I guess living abroad means living a life within a life, I guess. For when I quit with Check-IT, I guess it's kinda like dying. You leave the place where you belonged for a while. Sure you can keep some contacts. But it won't ever be the same.

So I (and you) should seize the day more. It takes energy. But once you're dead, once you're gone. The things you had to do, the things you wanted to do, well... tough luck. Maybe you'll get a second chance later. But as the future is equally uncertain as your experience after death, you shouldn't count on it.

Oh, and it's less than 100 days till I'm back on dutch soil. What will you do?

End of blog

There are reasons why I am ending this blog. I have deleted all previous posts, and I will not add any more. The reason? I had to vent out some frustrations and apparently people don't want to read it. The irony is of course that those were the posts with the most comments.

But nevertheless it's over. Talk to me if you want to know more about what happens here :)