Perdu en Chine

It's a bit hard for me now to write something in my blog. For several reasons.

First, because i am much more busier that before, which is a good news. Secondly, because i don't know what to talk about, no special mood to write something. And also because a tragical thing happened recently.

I won't give too much details, but it's just to say that my gf's mother passed away recently, and tragically. For people who never lost a very close person, they can't really understand. But i wish, none of my friends can understand. It's too hard to live, we can't imagine how hard is it, until it happens to us.

I lost my father few years ago, tragically, too, and to see that it is happening again, but to my gf, is a very hard feeling. It was the last thing i wanted it happen to her, or anyone of you. Many things will change now, it will be a kind of new life for her, as it was a kind of new life for me when i lost my father.

Just one last thing, never forget to say how much you love your parents, your relative, your friends, because it costs nothing to say it, but when one of them disappears, you always regret that you didn't say enough how much you loved this person when he or she was here.

Great food delivery service, in Guangzhou :

http://www.foodbycall.com

I was waiting for this kind of service for a long time. I know they have similar services in Shanghai, but it's the first time i see that in Guangzhou.

It's not a restaurant, they just deliver food, from 14 different restaurants (chinese, italian, turkish, japanese restaurants...). We can simply order by phone, by their website or even by MSN. In chinese or in english. They just charge 8yuan for the delivery.

A really good service that i recommand ;)

- you forget what clean air smells like.
- you barely flinch when you see a small child emptying his bowels in the street.
- you find yourself crying over a menu in a western restaurant because they serve potato salad.
- you haven't eaten anything baked in months.
- you eat every kind of meat off the bone, and spit the bones on the table.
- you can expertly maneuver your bike through any traffic situation.
- you know how to use a squatter.
- grown men and women often say hello to you, and when you reply they run away giggling.
- you can't decide if you love or hate the country you're living in.
- you see nothing wrong with standing on a white stripe in the middle of a highway while cars whiz past you at 90kph
- you don't blink an eye when a complete stranger wants to take a photo of you with his family
- you actually put some thought into which live snake you want cooked for your meal
- you eat soup with chopsticks
- you use Kleenex for table napkins
- you drink warm sodas and find them refreshing
- you are accustomed to seeing people's heads popping up and down in the VCD you are watching
- you no longer use articles when you speak
- you bargain with the grocer over the cost of a head of lettuce
- you no longer question why the expiration date on the milk you just bought is two months from now
- you buy a movie that hasn't been released theatrically yet at home...
- you complain about the price of chocolate bars...
- you comment the pollution "isn't really that bad..."
- when a trim at the barber invloves two washes, a scalp massage, a a neck and shoulder massage, and a crowd of onlookers
- When you go to a park and you can't walk on the grass
- Where the red stamp is all powerful
- you find yourself spitting in public places (i.e. the street, restaurant) and not thinking twice
- you take it in stride when you are offered beer/baijiu at lunch before going back to work
- you start wearing a face mask on windy days and wonder at the "silly foreigners" who don't do the same
- the smell of stinky dofu doesn't faze you anymore
- you complain about that price difference of DVDs/VCDs/CDs bought in the stores and on the streets
- you start to wonder if the chocolate ice cream you find in the store is even chocolate... sure it is brown, but it doesn't taste anything like the stuff back home!
- you can't find face lotion or cleanser that does not bleach your skin whiter....
- you shove the guy before you back to where he stood half a minute before in the queue, barking a loud "hou mian, hou mian, ni nongmin!"
- you have learned to enjoy being stared at
- you stare back especially at knockouts
- you can open and hull sunflower seeds with your tongue
- you give a beggar a handfull of fen and he gives them back
- long underwear is a wardrobe staple five months of the year
- you have trouble sleeping when you go home for a visit because it's just too darn quiet
- you can stop watching tv for 2 weeks and when you start watching again they're still showing reruns of the same show.
- you have ten different responses to the question, "Do you like China?"
- you're looking forward to blending in with the crowd.
- you know ten different ways to point out a foreigner in Chinese.
- you point out foreigners to your Chinese friends even though you're foreign yourself.
- you find yourself asking anyone and everyone if they can make the price cheaper.
- you know which chocolate is real and which chocolate is glorified butter.
- you know words in Chinese for which you don't know the translation in English.
- you answer 'China' when people ask where you're from
- you answer 'China' when people ask where you live
- having fingers poked into your ears when you're getting a shampoo no longer makes you wonder at the cleanliness of the 100 who came before you
- you pick your nose, burp, fart, and scratch so much even your Chinese friends get embarrassed
- you get a discount if you speak English, but you pay more for putonghua
- you start thinking that stupid questions are reasonable
- you call home and your family tell you to speak faster and stop correcting their grammar and pronunciation
- you think that having the runs for 2 weeks is normal
- you don't have any idea what something is, but you'll eat it anyway.
- if you just ate and liked it, you don't ask what it is.
- you completely ignore most people who say hello to you
- you have a conversation while sidestepping feces, vomit, and mysterious green puddles on the sidewalk without blinking.
- you eat cake with chopsticks
- you constantly wonder if everything has been boiled long enough.
- you answer 'So is mine.' when people say their English is so poor
- you answer 'Into what?' when people say China is developing
- you convince yourself that it doesn't matter how dirty the cooks' hands are, cooking will fix it
- you think squats are great because no one can poop on the seat
- you think Yang Rei (CCTV9 'Dialogue' program) is an unbiased reporter
- if there are only 4 screaming children running around the classroom, you consider it a good primary class.
- if there are only 4 students sleeping, you consider it a good middle school class.
- if there are only 4 dictionary obsessed nerds, you consider it a good language center class.
- you love tofu because there's nothing to spit out and it doesn't have any taste.
- you start saying 'play computer' 'I very like' and other assorted chinglish.
- you hold hands with others of the same sex and think nothing of it
- you avoid touching those of opposite sex like they have cooties.
- you whole-heartedly agree with things that you don't agree with.
- you've got a pre-paid ticket with a booked seat for a soft-seat train or plane, but you still run like mad to make sure you get a seat.
- you forget that vegetable soup is actually pesticide broth
- smoking does less harm to your lungs than breathing
- you call polluted water and preservatives wine
- you point over your back with your thumb when using the past tense.
- you think that America's '60 Minutes' program is 48 minutes of bull**** and 12 minutes of commercials, but you can't wait for China's '60 Minutes', which will either be 60 minutes of bull**** OR 60 minutes of commercials.
- 'investigative reporting' is either slagging off at America or toeing the Party line
- you're beginning to like fruit salad and mayonnaise
- you've stopped wondering why you only get bread if you order a chicken
- everyone wants to be your friend - all you have to do is teach them English for free
- everyone wants to teach you Chinese by speaking to you in English
- your Chinese lessons consist of 50 words your teacher wants to know the English meaning of
- you buy a new shirt and have to sew the buttons on
- when people ask if you speak English you answer (in English) 'No, I only speak French', and they believe you
- you tell people you don't understand, so they write it for you - in Chinese.
- your boss thinks you're a stupid foreigner if you let him cheat you, but thinks you're a bad foreigner if you don't
- your boss speaks really good English until you ask for more money
- you have accumulated hundreds of notes and addresses but you can't read any of them
- groups of people find it fascinating to watch you buy an orange at a fruit market. Commentary is provided in case some people don't know exactly what's going on.
- you think it's pleasurable to ride your bike down the road with 10 tonne monster trucks flying past you 2 feet away.
- you have no qualms that someone who thinks you're stupid and gullable has total control over your life.
- the ugliest western man always has a beautiful Chinese girlfriend.
- at the beach women wear bulky swimsuits from the 1950's while men wear speedos
- a hike up a mountain calls for a plastic grocery bag full of junk food.
- the locals blame every other country and race (The Thais, Hong Kongese, The Foreigners) for the SARS problem, except the one real source - China.
- the more you listen to the news, the more uninformed you are
- you start thinking instant coffee tastes pretty good.
- when the national news is on, your forty TV channels magically become the same channel.
- absolutely everything that can possibly be eaten is in some way good for your health.
- you walk past a river or lake that looks like something out of the Simpsons---radioactive sludge strewn with garbage---and there are people FISHING. Alternatively, you stop at the radioactive sluge and TAKE PICTURES.
- student assessment/placement at your school consists of evaluating the student's parents' guanxi rather than the student's level or ability
- only five minutes of prep time for a unannounced class no longer fazes you
- evaluating the contents of your shopping cart is the past-time of all the other shoppers in the store
- your housekeeper throws out the chicken breast you have marinating in garlic and olive oil but organizes your empty beer bottles and cans
- you leave your laundry hanging up for more than a day its dirtier than it was before you washed it
- you actually believe you're here to teach English
- at English Corner (aka English Speaker Cornered) a person asks you how to "improve my oral English" and when you tell them the only way is to continually practice they walk away dejected and sad
- you begin to question your own pronounciation
- dental procedures are a spectator sport (why else would the chair be in the storefront picture window)
- you no longer expect the truth
- you can use "face" as a weapon

(funny article we can find in many foreigner blogs or BBS in china)

When i write the article about rudness and politeness, i knew that some chinese will disagree. But i didn't know it will make them angry, and so narrow minded.

This is about my blog, my opinions, i can be wrong sometimes (yes i even can admit i can be wrong, which they NEVER admit), but it's still my blog and if i want to write about something i don't like, in china or wherever, it's my right.

I saw tons of blog of chinese talking about their trip to france or europe and telling lots of bad things too about others countries. So what ? We all have different feelings, opinions, i won't mind if you say bad things about french or whatever.

Some facts : (take it easy, it's also for fun)

- never say anything bad about china. You can't understand you are not chinese (who said we need to be chinese to understand something ?)

- Chinese think they are well-educated and all the bad chinese come from other provinces. If there is something wrong with a chinese, it's for sure, a non-shanghanese

- if you don't like something here, go back to your country. You must love everything in china to be able to stay here. We won't accept any critic, especially from a laowai

Am i right ?

Anyway, agree or not, it's not my problem, you have to understand that people have different opinions, and we are not all the same. If you don't understand that and don't accept it, don't read my blog and everything will be fine ^^

PS : all anonymous comments will be deleted. I don't give any credits to anonymous comments because they only show that the person is not brave enough to write what he thinks under his own name.

I won't surprise anyone if i say that chinese are impolite and rude.
The idea we have, before coming to china, is that chinese are very humble and welcoming. It's something you hardly see when you arrive.

If for western people, chinese seems rude, there is several reasons. Actually each countries have a different level of politeness and good manners.
But why do chinese look so selfish ? With strangers, they won't care much about them. A guy or girl being robbed, everybody can see it but nobody will move.
If they seem so selfish with strangers, they are totally the opposite when you become a part of their private life. When you are close to a chinese person (collegues, friends or whatever), they are so different and are very welcoming, they will help you, make your journey absolutely great.
You will be their best guest because they know how to treat well guest. But it's something you can only see if you become close to a chinese person.

In a recent and serious survey, about which cities have the rudest people, in the top list we could find Taipei, seoul and Hong-Kong.
China was not in the survey, but you can easily imagine that it is even worst than in HK.

Few days ago, i wanted to wish an happy birthday to a friend, by MSN. She was on busy mode, so i just send a very short message.
Her answer was pretty clear and rude : "working". I wonder, when you have time to write "working" why you can't write "thanks" or "sorry busy" instead ?
For chinese, it looks normal but for westerner, it's another example of rudeness. Never bother a "princess" (i will write an article next time about these chinese "princesses" ;) )
The same kind of thing happened to a girl who wrote in her blog that she was sad because one of her friends wanted to delete her of his MSN. The reason, she always leaves without saying goodbye to him online.
If it still doesn't sound important for her to say bye, for the guy (who obviously was not chinese), it hurted him because he expected more attention and caring. And politesess is the best way to show how much you care about people. We don't like to be treated like shit.

It reminds me another story, of a french guy in Beijing, during a heavy rainy day. He was waiting for a taxi and when a taxi arrived, a girl was leaving the taxi and he was holding the door for her and even put his umbrella above her to help and protect her from the rain. She didn't say anything, didn't look at him, just ignored him.
Is it so hard to smile or say thank you ?

I can't say all chinese are unpolite and have the worst manners on earth, it's totally untrue of course. But the numbers doesn't help. Millions of people everywhere, people don't have time to say "sorry, thanks, my pleasure", to keep doors opened for others, to be gentle, to care about others, to help others. That's why the most friendly people are always in smaller cities. The smallest the city is, the more friendly people are.

When my friend went to Paris few months ago, she was very surprised. She told me she loved the place, people were very nice to her. They were smiling to her and stopped their cars in order to let her cross the road. When she ask her way to some french men, they were helping her and accompagned her to the right place, all the time in a friendly way.
I don't mean all people abroad are very polite, not at all, but she was smiling and a pretty girl (hi Carol ^^ ) smiling in the street in france, you can be sure that people will always help her and give back their smiles.
Have you ever seen someone alone smiling in the street in China ? Not really. And when we, laowai, are trying to smile, it doesn't help much, they wonder why you are smiling for no reason.

But of course, there are always some exceptions, which show that people are different, and have different manners. 2 years ago when i was in shanghai, i had to go to a company for an interview. I had the address but i couldn't find the building, it was not easy to find it. So i asked some people arround. A girl, who didn't speak a word of english, took my paper, and tried to find the place for me. She asked a guard, and went with me to show me where was the entrance. Wow i was really surprised and happy, at this time i wish i could speak chinese, just to thanks her and maybe treat her a drink or something.
Sometimes when i keep a door open or i push the button of the lift in order to let someone enter, i have a sweet or shy "thank u" or "xie xie" or "ngoy". And i always return a smile.
IT COSTS NOTHING to smile or to say thank you, really nothing, if people could do that more often here, china won't be one of the rudest country of the world.

Guangzhou doesn't have a very good reputation, that's why i always try to show something different. And what i like the most here (after my gf of course), it's the parks. They are huge, they are incredibly colorful and beautiful, they are quiet and clean, they are simply the best places to have a good time with your lover / friends / relatives.

The local gov spends a lots every year to preserve the parks (don't forget that Guangzhou is also known as "the flowers city") and it's the reason why these parks are not free (never really expensive too anyway). Free entrances parks are never as beautiful as those where we need to pay. It's quite logic, we can see that everywhere in the world.

To the people who are going to GZ for a business trip or just to visit, don't forget to visit some parks, they are a part of Guangzhou, the good image, they are something we can't see everywhere, it's also a part of the chinese culture that people forget too often, unfortunately.

More pictures in my photo gallery : GZ PARKS

happy valentine's my beebeeee

(some pictures of the romantic dinner ^^ )

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	5.6
Mind:	5.4
Body:	5.7
Spirit:	4
Friends/Family:	5.1
Love:	7.7
Finance:	3.1
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Life: Your life rating is a score of the sum total of your life, and accounts for how satisfied, successful, balanced, capable, valuable, and happy you are. The quiz attempts to put a number on the summation of all of these things, based on your answers. Your life score leaves room for improvement. You can make changes to improve your trouble areas, and this will bring you greater satisfaction. Focus on your weakest points and set about to change them. Do not delay your happiness and success.

Mind: Your mind rating is a score of your mind's clarity, ability, and health. Higher scores indicate an advancement in knowledge, clear and capable thinking, high mental health, and pure thought free of interference. Your mind score is not bad, but could be improved upon. Your mental health is not weak, but you are not achieving full mental clarity and function. Learn how to unclutter your mind. Keep learning, keep improving, continue moving forward.

Body: Your body rating measures your body's health, fitness, and general wellness. A healthy body contributes to a happy life, however many of us are lacking in this area. Your body score is fairly average, which means there is room for improvement. Keep a focus on your physical health. Protect your body as it is your most valuable physical asset. Nutrition, stress reduction, and exercise are key.

Spirit: Your spirit rating seeks to capture in a number that elusive quality which is found in your faith, your attitude, and your philosophy on life. A higher score indicates a greater sense of inner peace and balance. You seem to be lacking in spirit. Improve your score by refining your beliefs and searching for answers to philosophical questions. Consider new belief systems if your current beliefs are not rewarding you.

Friends/Family: Your friends and family rating measures your relationships with those around you, and is based on how large, healthy, and dependable your social network is. Your friends and family score is not bad but can be improved. Maintain your current social net, while you try to expand it. Try new things and form new friendships. You will be rewarded greatly.

Love: Your love rating is a measure of your current romantic situation. Sharing your heart with another person is one of life's most glorious, terrifying, rewarding experiences. Your love score is in good shape, meaning that things are going well. Do all you can to maintain it, and continue to grow and move ahead.

Finance: Your finance rating is a score that rates your current financial health and stability. Your financial score indicates some trouble. Raise your score over time by making changes which will lead to greater prosperity in the future. Be sure to live within your means today.

(the worst sofa ever)

( http://www.zhb.gov.cn/english/air-list.php3 )

What a great idea we had to go to visit Lamma island in Hong-Kong. It was absolutly great. Quiet and beautiful place, we enjoyed it much. A kind of small paradise near the noisy, polluted, overcrowded center of HK.

Here is a gallery : Lamma photos

I want to live there :P