All set! Visa approved, ticked booked and the apartment will be ready when I arrive. The plane leaves from Landvetter at 12:25 on Friday 26/2. There will be a 2.5h stop in Amsterdam on the way to Shanghai, where I arrive on Saturday 10:25 local time. Hopefully I will get enough sleep on the plane to avoid jet lag. It is a long flight. Luckily I can bring one of my best friends, my media player.
A person will meet me at the airport and drive me from Shanghai to my apartment in Ningbo, a 150km drive. Doing that trip on my own would probably be exciting but I do not dare to try. In China they do not use the Latin alphabet so reading signs would be a problem.
This week will be filled with stress. The work load is way to high right now and I have no idea how to manage.
The trip does not stress me, instead I feel calm when I think about it. The recent weeks I have been looking forward to it very much, but now I realize that I will miss lots of happenings and people back home. That is a strange feeling really. The trip has been a dream for so long, but the closer I get to it the more I start to wake up.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The successful Swede
I downloaded the Chinese chat program QQ a few weeks ago, in case I will need it if MSN wont work in China. A Chinese girl, Lillian (Yi Lan), contacted me and we started talking. She runs a company at a university in Xiamen where she educates students in English and career coaching. Somehow we kept contact and have been chatting every day since, often with webcam and microphone. She teaches me Mandarin and I am helping her to improve her English. She thinks that it doesn't need any improvement, but I can assure you that is not the case. When she tells me or writes anything to me she uses Chinese and It is my job to understand. Of course she helps me when I get stuck. This funny girl has decided to not meet a boy until she is 28, 4 years from now. You cannot combine a boy and career, she says.
To the subject. Lillian and her friends are having a hard time when pronouncing my name. It is very common that westerners chooses a Chinese name as courtesy towards the inhabitants, as they do for us. Lillian's real name is Yi Lan, for example. So I decided to use another name during my stay in the Middle Kingdom. I asked Yi Lan and her friends for assistance which they gladly approved. After 15min of discussion, which I did not understand, they came to a conclusion. Their suggestion was "Kai Rui Lee". Lee is suitable because the name is very common and lots of foreigners likes Kung fu, they told me. So my surname is taken from the star Bruce Lee. Rui indicates that I am a Swede. Rui dian means Sweden in Mandarin, and Kai means successful. So I adopted my new Chinese name Kai Rui Lee which should mean Successful Swede Lee, and it made the girls very pleased.
I filled in Kai Rui Lee in my visa application, and when I showed it to Lillian she almost cried of pride and happiness.
They say that the name should reflect your personality, and I hope that they are right in this case.
To the subject. Lillian and her friends are having a hard time when pronouncing my name. It is very common that westerners chooses a Chinese name as courtesy towards the inhabitants, as they do for us. Lillian's real name is Yi Lan, for example. So I decided to use another name during my stay in the Middle Kingdom. I asked Yi Lan and her friends for assistance which they gladly approved. After 15min of discussion, which I did not understand, they came to a conclusion. Their suggestion was "Kai Rui Lee". Lee is suitable because the name is very common and lots of foreigners likes Kung fu, they told me. So my surname is taken from the star Bruce Lee. Rui indicates that I am a Swede. Rui dian means Sweden in Mandarin, and Kai means successful. So I adopted my new Chinese name Kai Rui Lee which should mean Successful Swede Lee, and it made the girls very pleased.
I filled in Kai Rui Lee in my visa application, and when I showed it to Lillian she almost cried of pride and happiness.
They say that the name should reflect your personality, and I hope that they are right in this case.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Heading east
The purpose of this blog it to keep my loved ones back home in Sweden informed of what's happening to me in China. Also, I hope that this blog can be useful for other people that wants to go the same way. Mainly I will stick to write about Chinese culture, cooking, sports, night life etc and compare the culture with European customs, but also about my personal adventures.
Background
One year ago I realized that I don't have much time left until I graduate from collage, and the stress of finding an employment in bad financial times was coming on to me. I realized that I need somewhat unique skills to improve my odds on the professional market, so I started to study Mandarin. I believe that this language and knowledge about Chinese culture may be a key to a career. Even if I will be proven wrong on that point knowledge is an easy burden to carry.
In October we had the vice president of Volvo Parts as lecturer at Chalmers Uni. He was there to provide some career coaching, and the most valuable tip he gave us was to learn Mandarin. I took him seriously and started to think about moving to China for better learning. I don't have much that keeps me in Sweden, and China has been fascinating me for a while. After the lecture I asked him for some tips and he told me to email him if I am serious about the trip. Said and done, and he helped me with some connections in Shanghai. Also the purchasing manager of Hemtex who has been traveling to Shanghai frequently hooked me up with some people, and most important he provided inspiration.
So, after much hard work and problem solving I am finally going. I will start as a student of Mandarin at Wanli University in Ningbo. Throwing myself into a long term employment in a country I have never visited before seemed a bit risky. I will work when I have time in the afternoon because I want to observe and learn Chinese culture at work.
I will rent a nice apartment close to the university, but I am considering moving in with some Chinese for better learning. I don't know anyone in China, but flying solo will be exciting.
You will never be first when following someone else's footsteps.
Background
One year ago I realized that I don't have much time left until I graduate from collage, and the stress of finding an employment in bad financial times was coming on to me. I realized that I need somewhat unique skills to improve my odds on the professional market, so I started to study Mandarin. I believe that this language and knowledge about Chinese culture may be a key to a career. Even if I will be proven wrong on that point knowledge is an easy burden to carry.
In October we had the vice president of Volvo Parts as lecturer at Chalmers Uni. He was there to provide some career coaching, and the most valuable tip he gave us was to learn Mandarin. I took him seriously and started to think about moving to China for better learning. I don't have much that keeps me in Sweden, and China has been fascinating me for a while. After the lecture I asked him for some tips and he told me to email him if I am serious about the trip. Said and done, and he helped me with some connections in Shanghai. Also the purchasing manager of Hemtex who has been traveling to Shanghai frequently hooked me up with some people, and most important he provided inspiration.
So, after much hard work and problem solving I am finally going. I will start as a student of Mandarin at Wanli University in Ningbo. Throwing myself into a long term employment in a country I have never visited before seemed a bit risky. I will work when I have time in the afternoon because I want to observe and learn Chinese culture at work.
I will rent a nice apartment close to the university, but I am considering moving in with some Chinese for better learning. I don't know anyone in China, but flying solo will be exciting.
You will never be first when following someone else's footsteps.
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