Birthday dinner

My birthday was only 2 weeks ago, but I've been quite active since so it feels so long ago. For example I went to a camping trip with Céline, Emilie, Viyaleta, Marizol and Isis to Putuo shan. We came back last Monday and we had a great time. We set up our tents on one of the beautiful beaches of the island and stayed there for 3 days. The weather was perfect and so was the company. To our surprise Céline and Emilie only got half a tent when they bought it so we shared mine. It was a bit tight and I think the girls wished for less snoring from me. When the tidal water set in our tents were located only 10m from the ocean, and I must say it was magic to fall asleep to the mighty sound of heavy waves. During the night the waves were glowing like neon and gold because of the plankton. Beautiful! In the morning we woke up at 08:00 AM with sunny weather and to the sound which took us to sleep. It was nice to leave the tent and walk right into the ocean for a swim. This was not supposed to be the main story of this post so I will move on. I just had to mention it while it's still fresh. I posted pictures from the trip on Picasaweb along with a few other albums. Please have a look.

Pictures of the camping trip to Putuo shan (普陀山)
My albums at Picasaweb

As i wrote in the previous post I was surprised by my closest friend on my birthday. The next day we went to a Brazilian restaurant for dinner. A few days earlier I sent out invitations on Facebook and via SMS to friends in Ningbo. 18 people responded positively to the invitation and to my joy 18 people showed up. It was a mix of foreigners and Chinese friends.

The restaurant is one of my favorite places in this city which I have visited once before. They offer a buffé for 98 Yuan and it is just delicious. Besides the dishes around the buffé table, very frequently a waiter comes out from the kitchen with barbecued meat on a sword or a stick. If you allow it he slices a piece of the meat and puts it on your plate. Every time he shows up he brings a new kind of meat from moo moo, oink oink and baa baa. Even chicken rolled in bacon...mmm, even better than it sounds. For 168 Yuan open bar is included in the buffé, but I chose not to. I really did not want to get to drunk and now I am happy I didn't.
For my Chinese friends I think this event was especially pleasant. They have probably never eaten so much meat before. Kevin misunderstood and put everything on the plate at the same time, even the food from the desert buffé. I wonder how the mix of vanilla yogurt, cake, fish and mashed potatoes tasted like.

I spend the whole Friday stressing around down town doing preparations before the dinner. Everyone, including me was a bit late for the reservation and it didn't really make me less calm. I did now show it though. I really tried to be a good host, but when I finally sat down it was hard to stand up due to tiredness. Therefor I did not greet every new arrived guest in the correct way. Anyway I improved during the evening and tried to have a chat with everyone around the table. As the Chinese tradition I went around the table, cheering and had a drink with every one, one by one. A nice tradition, but I did only drink small zips every cheer.

Angela brought me "a humble gift" as she put it. It was a beautiful Chinese fan which she painted her wishes on with Chinese characters. Kevin gave me a small wooden turtle with the Zodiac. The turtle symbolizes long and healthy life, and by giving me this gift he shows that he wishes me this. I think I have written about Paypay before, my Chinese friend. He is a extremely talented photographer and I am learning a lot from his works. His gift was a bunch of pictures, samples of his best works. It may seem silly if you don't understand the Chinese customs and culture, but this is really a precious gift and it means lots to me. Also he gave me a 3D puzzle of an old Chinese building. I will put it together when I find the time. Benson could not attend the dinner due to a business trip, but he prepared a special gift to me earlier that Armin delivered to the happening. It was a wooded 'doll' that you uses for drawings of humans, painted as Bruce Lee. When I turned it up side down I found a painted portrait of me. This was a thing that pushed me over the edge to become a bit emotional, but I did not show it. My friends brought me so personal gift and of course it's impossible not to be moved. I hope they could see my appreciation.

After the dinner we moved down to Lao waitan for drinking and dancing. I had a pain on my right side of the chest that reminded me of the lung problem so when people asked me to dance I had to refuse. They told me I had to dance on my birthday and it was hard to come up with an excuse. I kept it a secret to everyone except Armin because I didn't want to worry anyone. We were there to have fun.
We were all a bit tired and the parties in Ningbo starts at 24:00, so the bar was a bit empty. Moving on to a dance club, spending the night in the bar chatting with friends. I had a really nice time filled with excitement. One by one people started to drop off and return home, a bit early but they were tired. When I shared a taxi home with Céline and Kevin, Fredrik were still dancing salsa with Ruru in an ally.
All in all the  Friday evening was great with a perfect ending.

Posting a few pictures from the Thursday and Friday, taken by Vincent and Armin.

Being surprised by Céline, Emilie, Armin and Vincent on my birthday at Starbucks

Showing off with the watchCheering with ViyaletaBoris and a piece of moo mooMy reaction when I opened Bensons presentShowing the portraitCéline with my present from AngelaEmilie with the Zodiac turtleEmilie and VincentRuru and Fredrik

Suplise!

Tired and late for class. This is how my Thursday started. Still I decided to start the day slowly so I took my time getting ready to face the sunlight. I arrived in the classroom more than 10 minutes late. To my big surprise I was met by smiles and applauses. "What have I've done?", I was thinking, but when my dear class started to sing Happy birthday in Chinese it came back to me: It was my birthday. With a smile on my face I took a seat and enjoyed the singing. It turned out they had practiced the song in Chinese before I arrived at class. I felt surprised, happy and appreciated.
After class my friends joined me for lunch at a restaurant of my choice and it was my job to order the dishes. I tried to order to satisfy everyone around the table but failed. The restaurant is specialized in spicy food and the French girls are not so fund about hot spices. Anyway we enjoyed nice company during the meal. Time for coffee and we moved out business to a cafe near by. This was especially nice, because normally only Armin and I drink coffee after lunch. We played a game of "Fia" and once again I totally dominated the board game! OK maybe not dominated but I left the cafe with another win in my record.

Pleased with my friends attention this day I took a taxi to the center of Ningbo for shopping before my teaching class later that evening. My plan was to buy for new clothes for the dinner Friday night. I've booked a table at a Brazilian restaurant to celebrate my birthday and to have a good time with my friends, and for this event I needed a new outfit. I did not find anything to buy that afternoon, but I received a present from a friend who is manager of a store down town, a new belt. This was very welcome because I wanted to buy a new one for some time. 

For a few weeks I wanted to buy a new wrist watch and I found just the one I want. Two weeks earlier Emilie and Armin helped me pick a watch I really like but I wasn't sure I could spend the money so I decided to wait. This Thursday I went back to the store to see the watch again and my opinion had not changed, this was the watch for me. I checked the watch for a few minutes but asked the owner to keep it for me for a few more days, until Sunday at the latest. It is not that often a man buys a new watch so I wanted another opinion and maybe some help with the bargain. It was now time for me to head towards work. The office is located 15min of walk away from the city center. I put on Daniel Merriweather in my earphones and started to cruise the avenue in the sunlight. Even though it was rush hour in this huge city and everyone was looking at the foreigner, I felt swallowed by the music and atmosphere and had a nice feeling of being alone for a moment.

My class turned out great and everyone was happy with the evenings agenda. Armin called me during the break. He told me that he and Benson was shopping down town and wanted me to join them for a beer after my class. Not a bad idea, even though I was a bit tired. Benson, who is Chinese, could help me bargain for the watch. We decided to meet at the big Starbucks after my work and one of my students offered me a ride which I accepted.

At Starbucks I found Armin to be alone. Benson left to see a friend so no watch for me. Armin suggested that we should have a quick coffee and then head down to Lao Waitan for beers. This made me a bit worried because I talked with Céline the day before about doing something back at campus. We ordered coffee and when I asked Armin about the others he told me that they are back at campus doing nothing and he looked a bit nervous. I became a bit suspicious and Armin looked over my shoulder. I turned around and to my big surprise I see Céline, Emilie and Vincent walking down the stairs from the second floor, carrying a cake with burning candles singing Happy birthday! I was stunned and it was to impossible to hide my joy. After blowing out the candles I hugged them all, obviously happy, and they handed me a present. We went upstairs, sat down and cut the cake. I was extremely curious about the present and was ordered to open it.
I could not believe my eyes! They bought the watch! Just one hour after I left the store they arrived to buy it. A perfect gift, because apparently I really wanted that watch. They, along with Helen, Charles, Viyaleta and Fredrik, have truncated money to buy the watch for me.

We ate the delicious cake and I felt surprised, chocked and mostly appreciated. This was a great ending of a great birthday! I went to bed that night with a big smile on my face and I am not sure that I ever felt so appreciated. I am grateful for my wonderful friends who paid lots of effort to show it to me!

I will soon update the post with more info about the dinner party we had last Friday.

Teacher Kerry

Today I am feeling the result of yesterday's activities. The tennis session was a bit too intensive. We played between 13:00 to 17:30 in 30°C and compensated with many bottles of water. The tennis courts were all available for a reason and the activity must have looked stupid to others. It was fun though, and I really enjoyed playing double with a Chinese student called Mosquito against Armin and a girl called Maggie. We were leading in the beginning but somehow we ended up losing. Probably because of my mistakes. I was expecting pain all over today but I am just a bit stiff in my back and ankles and my suntan is slightly improved, as well as my back hand. I must admit I took a break from writing this post to play tennis for another 2.5h today before going to cooking class. This weeks dish was fried pumpkin with egg and salt, my favorite! I know I should take it easy due to my lung problem, but I cant. For me it is worse watching the other kids play basketball, tennis or practice Kung fu from the bench than worrying about surgery. I need to move! And I really enjoy these sports. If I feel bad I will just take it easy.

Céline is back in town after some travelling and that is good news! We decided to study together at the library more frequently and I really need it. She is an excellent study-partner. Somehow I learn a lot studying with her and it seems that she thinks the same about me. I know that the French girl also improves her English with me so it is "win win". The past weeks have been really "easy living" so not it is time to get a grip of the Chines language again. My score in Chinese writing and reading exam went down from 81% to 70%. Not so bad, especially considering that the last exam was totally in Chinese characters, but I can do better.

Teacher Kerry, that is me. As I wrote in the last post I took a part time job as English teacher, offered by James. Every Thursday I meet my class of Chinese businessmen to teach them the English language and also exchange some cultural knowledge. The job is very satisfying in many ways. I found out I really enjoy teaching and think that I am pretty good at it. Of course, I am a rookie and there is much to improve but I have a solid base in my opinion and my students seems to be pleased. Another positive side about this new friends and connections. Already the first session I got a few hints from one of my students who owns a shipping company and a trading company. If I will leave China she talked about an agency in Sweden and that might be interesting. Almost everyone is involved with trading or shipping here so there are many opportunities if your'e just a bit curious, social and open minded. Not sure yet, I might have other plans, but maybe trading as a side business isn't a bad idea.

Teaching my class i relatively easy. All of my students are somewhat advanced with Chinese measurement, and they are very curious about western culture so we never run out of topics. My job is mainly to make them speak and use the English language. The first lesson I got instructions from my employers how to run the class and I followed the orders. The next lesson after that I totally ignored it and ran my own race. A session often starts with small chat about work or activities that took place the recent week.  When I think we had enough of it I read an article to them and they follow and they are trying to learn how the words are to be pronounced. Then we have a discussion about the article and I can hear if they understood the text or not, and what to improve. The last hour we play a game and they really enjoy it. I prepare words for them and one by one they will explain the word to the others without revealing it. If they succeed they receive points. This forces them to speak up and practice. I am there to correct and encourage. I see huge improvement compare to the first session. Mainly that is because they are more comfortable about speaking up now I think. They told me that they feel relaxed with me as their teacher, and I hope it is true.

Last week James asked me if I could do a private English session with a 19 year old man to prepare him for a test that would take place 3 days later in Shanghai. He applied to an English university and needed to take test in writing, reading and attend an oral interview. As normal, James asked me 2 hours before the session would start and it was 2 days before my exam. I accepted though, thinking it could be an experience and some extra money could not hurt. The kid was son of a successful businessman who owns a large factory in Ningbo.
When I entered the classroom the kid instantly stood up and greeted me in the most polite way. I could tell that his kid have been drilled in behaving properly. Probably through his fathers business events. It was very clear when I gave him my business card later that evening. He made all the correct steps by the book in how to receive a card properly.

It took almost 5 minutes before he could say one word correctly, except his name. I was thinking that it would be a long lesson and he cannot speak English at all. It turned out he was extremely nervous and I could see him shaking. This was his first meeting with a foreigner and to many people here that is a big thing. The day at the opera a girl approached me and said "Hi, this is a big honor for you. This is the first time I speak to a foreigner and it has been one of my greatest wishes for years". I was not really surprised but it felt a bit weird. I greeted her and I could hear her heart beat like a drum-set. "Wow, you are so handsome! Now I need to go because I have something to do. Bye!", she said and disappeared quickly. I wonder how much courage it took before she decided to talk to me.

It took a few minutes before I found out what kind of interest the kid has, and I tried to make him talk about them and be curious. His nervousness suddenly took a change. He traded his seat for another one next to mine and explained about Taekwondo with glowing eyes. Until he started to study English for real he used to practice Taekwondo 6 days a week and he has a black belt. The Chinese humor is not like mine, but after I tried some jokes with him he was much calmer. After the first hour his English was not so poor after all.
I did a fake interview to prepare him for the real one. I have received questions from James earlier, but it was obvious that the kid had practiced the questions over and over again. If I asked something else he was totally lost. Even if I did ask the right questions but in the wrong order he was confused. So, I threw the paper and started to perform a quite hard interview with him with my own questions. He gave me some real good answers after some guidance, and they sounded much better than the standard replies he was provided with.
I met his parents after the lesson and he seemed quite happy with the past 2 hours. His mother thanked me I don't know how many times. They asked me if I could teach him for another 2 hours on the day before the interview and I accepted. It was the same day as my ordinary class but a few hours earlier. I spent the gap shopping so it was perfect. Our office is located in the center on Ningbo.
His parents drove me home in their brand new Audi S8 after both sessions, which is much better than the taxis' here, and fortunately not faster.

He called me last Saturday just after the test and interview to tell me how it went. He said that the writing was very easy but the interview was a bit tricky. All in all he was happy with his performance. I was very pleased to hear it. I was also very happy that he called to let me know.

On Chinese TV once again

I want to start the post with expressing my gratitude to special people. Sometimes I receive emails and IM's from friends that tells me positive things about my blog. I am really grateful for the kind words. That you are taking yourself time to write such messages warms my heart. Thank you! Just to brag a bit I will post what a friend and novelist from England wrote to me 2 days ago.
"Hiya Fredrik, just wanted to send you a mail to say hi, I still read your blog and I love it, its kind of like a serial television program for me!  I wish I had had the courage to do what you are doing, back when i was single."
Thanks Nicholas!
I am aware that I need to update the blog more frequently. People have sending me friend-requests on Facebook with the message "I am a reader of your blog", and this is more than flattering and very encouraging! When I started the blog I thought only my family would read it. Glad I was wrong!

Enough foreplay!
The past week have been filled with action so it is hard to pick a starting point. I have been on Chinese TV once again, ridden a horse, starting to teach English to business men, arguing with a taxi driver etc etc. I will start with the TV-happening and leave the other things to a post later this week.  Here we go:

Four times during my stay here in China I have been in front of a TV-camera. I don't know why, but somehow they think foreigners are interesting. A few weeks ago I wrote about being on 6 o'clock news and last Thursday it happened again.

James, a student coordinator asked a girl named Sandra, Armin and I if we could do a favor for the government.  We were suppose to show up at some kind of ceremony and just be there doing what we do best, being foreign people. We accepted, because I usually turn down James's requests due to lack of time. At arrival a man opened the door to our taxi and said the words "Hello my best friends!". Of course, we had never seen him before, he is just interested in foreigners like the rest. We entered an old opera-building. I must say it was quite impressive and the architecture was stunning. It was recently restored with the cost of about 70 million Yuan. (~$10m)

Instead of posting the pictures here I will publish them at http://picasaweb.google.com/hanfre79

We had a guided tour around the complex when suddenly a cameraman, reporter and a photographer shows up. While walking around the area we tried our best to please the cameramen and our hosts. From time to time they interviewed us and asked weird question. Armin was their favorite target and he did a great job! We heard later from one of the hosts that the mayor watched the news and he was more than pleased. Frankly I have no idea what was said during the show because they dubbed it to fast Chinese, but they seem happy with it. I think the whole idea was to promote a government paid service for foreigners who visits the word expo. When we left our host escorted us out and got us a taxi. His farewell was even more odd than his greeting. While closing the door to the taxi he said "Good bye my best friends, I love you!". I responded with "We love you too". What else could I have said?
The event was broad-casted the next day, last Thursday, at 18:00. I did not see it myself but one of my students said the same evening "I saw you on TV!".
The newscast can be found below and out part starts at 08:00 minutes:
http://www.nbtv.com.cn/video/index.asp?channel=1&contentid=120100514062000

Moving on to the arguing with the taxi driver.
As a foreigner in China I must be aware that people are trying to trick me from time to time in order to earn more money. This does not bother me really because I am on my guard most times, and sometimes I even play along depends on who it is. A poor man who tries to earn extra 10 Yuan selling me something with a hopeful smile on his face, well then it is OK. 10 Yuan for him is food for a whole day. But when people assume that I am stupid or fool be because I am a foreigner, no then it is not acceptable.

Armin and I took a taxi from a shopping center called Wanda Plaza to our university. The trip is under 3km and that mean the fee is 10 Yuan + 1 Yuan in fuel compensation. We entered the taxi and I said to the driver "To Wanli University, back gate" in Chinese. The driver repeated it and I confirmed that he understood correctly. In the next crossing he chose the left lane and waiting for the green light, but we know that Wanli is located to the right. I once again told the driver that we wanted to go to Wanli university and pointed in the right direction. "Yes yes!" he said, but turned left anyway. This triggered Armin who tried to connect with the driver. "Hey! Where are you going?", he yelled a couple of time in Chinese without any reaction from the man behind the wheel. After a few minutes without any connection Armin called James and gave the phone to the driver. Their discussion went on for 2 minutes or so and finally the driver made a U-turn and headed for our school. It was obvious that he was trying to fool us. I told Armin that I would not accept paying a single Yuan over 10 + the fuel consumption, and noticed that the value on the taximeter showed a "0". We could not see the number before the "0" because it was covered by a recipe. Armin asked it I was ready to deal with it and mentioned that he police might be involved. I was in the mood for arguing and knew that we had the law on our side. I think if anyone would call the police it would be us, not him.

When we arrived at Wanli university the driver moved the recipe and the number "20" appeared on the taximeter. "20 Yuan, please" the man said. Both Armin and I burst out in a short laughter followed by the words "NO WAY!". "Wanda to Wanli is 11 Yuan, always!", we told him but he did not accept it. 2 minutes later without any progress we called James once again and a wild discussion went on in the front seat over the phone. We heard that he said something about not understanding and our poor Chinese confused him. We know that this was not the case. The only poor thing in the taxi was the drivers ability to hustle. We suspect that he put the taximeter to 20 when we entered and then he just drove around to make the time go, hoping we would not know the way home. Finally he gave the phone back and said "OK". We just gave him 11 Yuan and exited the car, a bit pissed off.
It had nothing to do with money. We give more to beggars. We just can not accept that people are trying to fool us because we are foreigners. If we allow it once it will happen again.

"Här plockar du inga Svenska liljor"
- Stefan Andersson

Incy wincy spider

This is starting to become a habit, but I must once again apologize for not updating the blog frequently. I had an exam this Friday in mathematical statistics so I spent the week doing nothing more than study for it. Therefore I chose to prioritize that instead of the blog. Usually I am lousy making the right prioritation but this time I think I made the right one. The almost 5 hour long exam went well. At least I could not perform better than I did so I am happy with it. Afterwards I could enjoy a quiet evening outdoors playing cards and drinking Martini and beer with Celine, Emilie and Armin. Well deserved but I was exhausted. Last night I hit Lao wai tan with the same group of people as Friday evening for drinking and dancing. Armin had to bail out quite early. He did not feel to well after the slimy Chinese  red wine we tried earlier that evening. Was good to have fun after this week but maybe we stayed out a bit too long. The sun was shining when we took the taxi back home.

To the topic. A few days ago Simon had a visitor in his room in the form of a scarab. The scarabs in China are quite big and they sound like a helicopter when they attempt to fly. Maybe the sound makes them appear more vicious than they really are. This made Simon a bit afraid of it and I had a good laugh until he managed to trap it inside a shoe-box and throw it out on his balcony.

Later the same evening it was my turn. I could hear the helicopter sounding just outside the balcony door and I did not like what I heard. My balcony is equipped with sliding doors and also with a net door for keeping spiders, mosquito's and helicopters out of the apartment. This didn't seem to bother the scarab much because he kept on trying to penetrate the net, which isn't 100% proof. The door is a bit distorted. First I thought that he was after my cucumber flavored chips and there is not way I would surrender them to the noisy hooligan. But after analyzing the situation a bit more I realized maybe he was interested in the light in my room like other bugs. I now had 3 choices; I could just wait until he manages to enter the room or I could confront him now hoping I could still use the moment of surprise. I don't think he had noticed me by that time, but I really was not in the mood for a fight with it. Now I understand what Simon was screaming about. The third option was to turn of the light and just pray for him to leave. Said and done. I turned of the light and sat behind the bed, just waiting. After about 15 minutes the muffled sound of its wings suddenly stopped. What does that mean? Either he lost interest and left or he managed to enter my room. I hoped for the first, so after a few minutes I turned on the light to find out. Phew, I have outsmarted the scarab! Happy with my triumph I returned to my computer to continue the studying. Almost immediately I saw something moving in the periphery. It was clear that I had an intruder in the room. I was a spider.

The spider was not big at all, maybe 1.5cm long including the legs but he looked scary. Yes yes, a bit girly maybe and I admit he made me feel uncomfortable. I understood that I need to deal with the new contester fast while I had the chance, because he was moving rapidly. This round could not be won by passivity. I grabbed the first tool I could find to catch him with, a thermos that I recently bought for tea-purposes. I had to stand on a chair to catch him since he used my ceiling as his playground. Yes it was a he by the way. Had to be. My first thought was to throw the trapped spider out on the balcony, but this action may be an opportunity for helicopters and others to invade my room. I decided to use the kitchen window. This was easier said than done. I shook and shook the thermos in order to get him out. Did not work. He was grabbing the wall of the container like crazy and refused to let go. And then, to my great horror, I see how he moved to offensive. He was climbing the vertical walls without any problem. This was a big problem and I paniced! He was heading for my fingers and I tried to dodge him by keeping on turning the thermos. In the dark kitchen it may have looked like I was trying to beat the record in solving Rubiks cube. After maybe 30 seconds he entered the thermos again. I placed it near the window taking a combat break. I needed to think about my next move. A decision was made and I tried the shaking-method once again, but more rapidly this time. It had no effect at all, except it made my arms hurt. I took a peak inside the spider-container and soon I had the answer to my in-success. The little creature had created a web inside the thermos! And in almost no time at all, I can't believe it! There is no way that I would allow my thermos to facilitate his business. With a few smooth and fast moves with a chopstick I messed up his new crib. Now he seemed really pissed off, running like crazy. The thermos is not transparent and therefore I could not see what was going on inside it without getting uncomfortable close to it. I decided to place a class over the opening and turn it up side down. After a few minutes the creature relocated himself to the glass and it was time for my move. I once again opened the window and with a sudden move I managed to throw him out of the glass and out into the dark night. But then the most amazing thing happens. Attached to the glass with a string of web he bounced back like a gypsy doing a bungee jump! Quickly I placed the glass near the window and he climbed out of it. Back to square one. To my surprise he crawled very near the window and I took the chance by blowing at him, subsequent he flew out and landed on the sill. Of course he just jumped back inside faster than he left, amazing! But I just repeated the same procedure and this time I shut the window faster than the speed of sound. I could see him outside looking at me with a desire of revenge. It was not time for bed. The battle between the man and the spider went on for over 30 minutes.

Back in the room I saw something I hate on the wall, a mosquito. This is a time when a spider could come to use, keeping the other bugs away from me. Unfortunately I no longer had a spider so I had to do the dirty job my self. I was not planning to be kind this time. The latest number of China Daily was to become my weapon of choice. Carefully I aimed at the little bugger and with a rapid move I released my fury in his direction. I must have missed and hit him on the heel or something, because he was now airborne and I could see that the little flying drill-tower was fully operational. I had to act quickly once again, so I reloaded the newspaper and took another shot in the air. This time it was a confirmed hit and I could see that he landed somewhere in the other side of the room. I am not sure that the hit killed him,  but I did not see him after that so I claim victory by walk over. I went to bed with the feeling of a job well done! Fredrik vs. Mosquitoes: 2-3

And oh! I must take this opportunity to flag for new uploaded pictures from our day-trip to Dong qian lake: http://picasaweb.google.com/hanfre79/DongQianLake#

Mayday

I woke up from a nice dream about one hour ago, at 06:00. I dreamed that I was photographing a sports event in a stadium and my pictures were marvelous! Of course, I woke up empty handed but at least I had some inspiration. I decided to go out for a walk. It would be nice with a shower or a bath, but I lack a bathtub and I do not want to wake up my 'wife' Simon with water-pipe music. Even though I only had 5 hours of sleep I feel like a million bucks today. 06:20 outside I was met by bird-songs and pleasant fragrance from unknown flowers. The birds sounds nothing like home, but then again; neither do the people here. The sun was already high on the sky filling the campus with light. I grabbed my camera and started a walk around the lake located in the area. There were no wind at all so the reflections on the surface were really great so I had a few good pictures. Posting a sample below.
Main library building


I was surprised to see how many students that were active at this time of day. Guess that many are heading for their homes in other cities. Today is a holiday, labor day, and most people are having 3 days off. The Chinese call it May day. Hmm...May day. Makes sense now when I write it. People have been talking about "mayday" for a few days now and I was wondering if they were in some kind of distress.
Anyway, I was glad to see that the food stands were already open because it was time for breakfast. I went to a hole in the wall that serves some kind of pancake. You can fill it with different ingredients, and I chose egg, leek, tea-leaves and some kind of tortilla. A pretty good meal for only 2.5 Yuan (~2.5 SEK).

I love working in the morning and now I really need it. Got tons of things to do. The fragrance of fresh coffee has already filled the room, but I will move the laptop to the balcony. It is a good morning!

Exotic, fantastic!

One thing I can't get used to is all the attention we foreigners receive. In Shanghai foreigners are a common sight but here in Ningbo we are more rare. When we arrived here we were chocked about the response from the locals. For example; Simon and I went shopping the first days here. When we entered a Jack and Jones store we thought that the staff had confused us with celebrities. In a flash of a second we were surrounded by each and every girl in the staff, 12 of them. Simon was more popular due to his height and blond hair. The girls were staring at him like being stunned. They bombed us with words we could not understand. Then they tried to rephrase again and again. When this method didn't seem to have any affect they took help from a friend who did the procedure all over again. At that time all our Chinese vocabulary was limited to "Hello" or maybe a few words more. The girls seemed to be so happy and excited to have us in the store that they refused us to leave.

Several times girls have approached us and asked for having our picture taken with them. Now this does not surprise us anymore. Sometimes we can see that they want to ask for it but don't have the courage to do it, so then we offer the service which is always received with joy and excitement. I have noticed that Chinese people, girls as boys, really want to connect with foreigners but are to shy or have no idea how to act. Mostly this is because of the language. They think that all foreigners are rich and speak perfect English. This makes them feel a bit inferior subsequent they don't dare to use the English they really do know. OK, most of them speak extremely poor English and most often none at all, but we are surprised how many  that really know a few words if we just encourage them a bit like asking for direction. Chinese people, at least in Ningbo, loves to help foreigners in need. This is one of the things I love here, and nothing seems impossible. That is another story for another time though.

If I am walking with a friend in the streets people does not express their curiosity that obvious, they just turn  their heads to look whilst passing us. If I am alone they are much more brave, especially if they are in groups. 2 weeks ago I took a walk to a shopping-center not far from here. The walk is about 20-15 minutes. At this time people on mopeds passing by have sounded their horn at me 2 times and shouting "Hello!" a couple of times. That is another thing, they assume that we all are Americans. Maybe this is not so strange. If we see an Asian back home we might assume he/she is Chinese.

Armin I and I went to Wanda Plaza a few weeks ago to shop at Walmart. For some reason 5 girls in their 20:ts followed us where ever we went, giggling and pointing. If they were trying to hide their curiosity they sure failed. Armin had enough after a while, turned around and said "What the f'***!?", subsequent the girls aborted their stalking-tour and disappeared with a distant giggle. It does not bother me that much, I think it's kind of flattering to be honest. Sure, I know that it has nothing to do with my personal skills, only that my appearance is different from a Chinese, but still. Sometimes I gets to much though. When lots of people are pointing and shouting "Hello! Hello!" it can become a bit annoying.

Especially girls looks at us with big eyes while walking the streets. You can almost see the dreams in their eyes about marrying a westerner man. A cute girl and I was entering the same store once, and when she noticed me she looked at my face totally speechless. She had probably never seen a foreigner before. I opened the door for her and made a gesture that indicated "ladies first". She did not really know what to do and her nervousness was obvious. After a few seconds she entered the store with her eyes still attached to my face but now her face had turned red. At this point I was kind of mean and gave her a smile. For a moment I really did think she was going to faint. I think that a western smile at a Chinese girl can be a potential heart-attack.

Almost every day I receive comments about my different looks. People in stores have been pulling my jacket saying "You look cool and handsome". When I bought furnitures for my balcony the sales lady said "He is very beautiful" in Chinese, thinking I wouldn't understand. A new Chinese friend told me last week that "You are the most handsome man I have ever seen". What?! How am I suppose to deal with such comments? I must admit that it is very hard not to get big-headed when hearing such compliments. I guess we appear to be unique because many people here haven't seen many or none foreigners before. But still it does miracles for your self esteem.

When I was moving to China I thought I would to be taught a lesson about how it's like to be a foreigner and being treated as an outsider. But I can assure you that it is hard to feel like an inferior when you get this kind of attention every day.