awaking from the long sleep

ok ok, I know it is long enough when Amit was even posting in the comment when he was just sitting on the table next to me. well, what can I say, life hasn't changed dramatically and all I am enjoying at the moment are all those small things in life, like spending time with my family finally in the first 2 weeks of Feb. It has been too long, more then a year that I can talk with my mom face to face, and it was way too short time not even for a catch up. Besides all those sentimental, we also celebrated a great time in Thailand beaches, with stars and torch lights only lighting up the sky. I tried my first snorkeling experience, was great and I managed it well until the next day when i was too excited to try more and deeper, I cut my leg with a few deep wounds on the rock and had to give up for a supposed to be great 2nd trial. After the short 16 days I came back to Germany with the anticipation that my job arrangment is ready. Well, it took a few more dramas but now everything is settled (at least from the look of it, I hope there aint any more produres hinden somewhere in the overregulated german system). So the good news is that I am now fully employed with an unlimited contract in this big yellow company doing something wonderful and hopefully valuable as well.

hugs from the Karneval city of Cologne. Alaaf!!

extremely sleepy now

because I couldn't really sleep well last night...

because my brain was overwhelmed by the fact that...

TICKETS ARE BOOKED TO GO HOME IN CHINA!!!

yeah, this is happening, for as long as more than a year by then, I am finally reaching home sweet home with my mom's warm dishes and hopefully promising decent tempreture in the city where I was born and lived for the previous 18 years before going to univ.

so the time's set: Jan 28th 8:15 in the morning I will be embracing my homeland again. The distance has made life hard sometimes, but I hope these short yet nice 2 weeks can make it up for you(mom,family,life-long friends,well-cooked food,chinese books etc), at least for a small tiny part.

also in the plan - small island trip to Thailand, with not so decent budget in my bank account but who cares?! (at least not for now...)I hope to see some of you in Bangkok/Phuket from 6 Feb to 11 Feb before I returning back to neat but less fun Germany and work.

sad that this is an e-ticket I can't just frame it to the wall and smile at it until the trip finally starts; lucky that it is an e-ticket, so the 'accident' of forgetting-to-bring-the-actrual-ticket-but-the-payment-paper-thing won't happen again. this time.

Bring it on!

“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.”
— Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom

Misc

movies watched this weekend:
Country of My Skull: I found the love story a bit cheesy in a way that it was not neccessary and somehow distracted, but as the kids in South Park always said 'I learnt something today', I did too, a great deal. Any suggestions for following reading?

Dancer in the dark: for the 3rd time but the only time that I was actually able to finish the movie, maybe because this time I watched it together with someone else. 2 previous attempts failed because I found it too crule and real. Life is hard, it forces people to the conner.

Current reading:
Veronica decides to die - typical Paulo Coelho I would say, not much surprise yet so far, but still have like 100 pages to go.

Extremely loud and incredibly close - Jonathan Aafran Foer (he was born in 1977, which made 2 people shouted 'he's born in the same year of mine' with a not-too-happy-but-what-can-I-do look). This book looks like a huge red block but very easy read, for the weekend, I already finished more than 250 pages. I love this book, it feels like falling into a secrete passage, and I have the feeling that I don't want to read it fast cuz once it finishs I will be sad. The same when I was reading 'the hours'.

Currently good news:
after paying another 50 euro to the 'Alien'office here, I finally got my visa till end of Feb...50 euro for a few more months' worry-free of how-long-i-can-stay is probably worthy.

Rhein is beautiful by its river bank if winter is not that harsh...and the Sunday myth in Beijing (sun only comes out in SUNdays) also happens here, rain strikes back today firecely again.

wish you have better weather, or at least heating in place.

Male:Female-120:100

according to recent statistic from the Chinese government, now the propotion between male and female population in China is 120:100. A direct result will be in future 30 years, consider homosexuality is still not a open concept in China, 30,000,000 men will have no Chinese women to marry to.

Why? Tranditionally Chinese family culture considers boys are those who carry out the root of the family since kids will share the family name of the father, girls will just marry someday when they grow up and will "join" another family, so it is just a product waiting to be "sell out". And of course in the times of argruculture, men were also stronger workforce while women can only do light housework (which btw was not the reality).

Time changes but trandition sticks with us. And some people even said that nowadays Chinese girls are having a much bigger market including a lot of foreigners (;)) but the chance of Chinese men finding a foreign wife is somehow much slimer (don't ask me why! ask those spoiled guys!!)

so any solution?

the old one

DSC02566
Originally uploaded by muwing.

our "new" room

DSC02567
Originally uploaded by muwing.

today is the day that we moved out from the office to the room next, tied up and cleared away everything for the new team to land on a brand new office tomorrow. I was taking down the postcards and plan papers from the board above my table... we were not leaving yet...still a month to go before actually leaving the dearest baby completely, don't argue with me that we won't leave completely anyway. You know prefectly what I meant.

Closing up the day with:
1, meeting with Danish Industry, potentiall open up a new great relationship
2, picked up Andrea (the last new team baby) from the airport with the whole old team and a danish flag bag
3, cashed up the used bottles and bought back a whole box of beers just for the old team
4, danced to our favourite song - a cantonese children song! Yah!
... ...

Tomorrow, biking tour kicks off the new year!!!

It is okay to be ignorant...

but indifferent!

Was wiki-ing something today and suddenly came to the items about Tibet and the Tibet Issue. Not my first time browsing over these pages that I would not be able to open the links when I was in the mainland, honestly speaking, they shocked me but also turned me away for the first few times, cuz I still strongly believed that they'r just telling their side of story, until today when I was reading a pdf file about the comparison of different "sayings" towards this issue from both Beijing and Tibet sides, I had to admit that I slowly accept more of what they told, at least I couldn't believe in my textbook anymore.

I went to Tibet last summer, but I am pretty sure I am not seeing the whole picture. But also I would suggest all those people who have quite extreme viewpoint about Tibet should visit there, and judge by your own eyes and brain. I still couldn't make up my mind, but I guess it doesn't matter, what matter is the process of in pursuit of truth with courage although sometimes it usually hurts.

still, when I saw the supportors of "independance of Tibet" are promoting the boycott of Beijing 2008 Olympic, I found it cowardice.

China rebukes Japan over shrine

sometimes I am not sure whether we are over-reacting, I mean, we should already give up hope on the Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, to the end of days, he's just a political figure, sole goal is to earn more political capatical by playing populist in parliment. I was happy that the Chinese side took up the initiative to conduct a conversation, but Ms. Wu's sudden leave without a sincere explanation which might very probably serve as a national protest of a kind has just wrapped away the efforts and sincerity shown from the Chinese side.

just as I repeatedly said, I will never involve in politics, it is either too complicated or too childish.

peace.