The past week saw a couple of brushes with the Chinese health system. Firstly, Irene's lower back pulled in a very painful spasm, that rendered her frozen on the spot, when pulling her jeans on…yes, I was surprised too...The incident occurred at a critical moment – in between me serving porridge and getting Fleur ready for her first school day! Irene could not be moved so while she lay on the floor, I had to serve breakfast and drop Fleur off at school...A couple of days prior to the incident, we met a friendly Dutch girl who happened to be a nurse and studied Chinese medicine in Suzhou. It also so happened that we exchanged phone numbers with her. Serenda was extremely helpful and guided us through the whole process of navigating through the Chinese health system to a point where we could obtain some help for Irene. She accompanied us to the Cowloon (pronounced Chow-long) hospital, where we paid about R12 to be registered on the hospital's system and to see an emergency doctor. The emergency doctor advised to come back the following day to the acupuncture ward. Apparently he had seen worse cases and did not look too worried about Irene. After a painful night and the smell of Tiger Balm in our noses we were shown the following day to the VIP ward, where most Westerners (referred to as laowai) go for treatment. As you probably guessed this is also more expensive. They are however very efficient and professional and in no time Irene had someone applying acupuncture needles to her back and she started her treatment. After three acupuncture sessions she is definitely better and taking it easier.
Two days after the "ugly incident with the jeans" with Irene's back still quite sore, we went to Shanghai for our Chinese medical tests. Apparently you cannot convert or submit your home country's tests for accreditation. It is not accepted in China. You're not allowed to eat for twelve hours before tests but on your arrival you are given a number and then you have to wait with other aliens with very low blood sugar levels to go through the battery of tests. The room is cramped with a huge fish tank in the middle of the waiting room. Probably to calm the highly strung, irritated and nervous bunch of aliens. Here you have to fill out more forms and wait. When they call your number you receive a gown and are then shunted from one doctor to the next. I will not go into all the details of the range of probes we were subjected to, but suffice it to say that it was thoroughly done and with amazing speed. Each test is conducted by a different doctor and I could not help to laugh when one doctor started pressing my nose from side to side. "Why are you doing this?" I asked. "To see if it was broken". I did not try to press the matter at this stage but it appears that guys with broken noses will probably be marked as potential "threats to the public order". When they submitted me to a ultrasound, I could not even get a smile from the doctor examining me when I said that I was not aware of the fact that I was pregnant. Well so be it, they have to one hundred percent sure that they do not let foreigners into the country that may disrupt the good order!
The results of the probes will be sent to us/made public on Tuesday next week…Thereafter we need to submit the test together with more documents to the authorities in Shanghai to confirm our work permits. This has to be done within a month so we're felling a slight bit of pressure in that regard. Our D-day is the 2nd of May.
All the best for the next week!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
"It's life Jim but not as we know it"
I'm finding that I have a light bout of "writer's blight"...it's like "writer's block" but the effects can range from "light" to "shrivel up and die" proportions...(for a moment I thought I was Woody Allen)
Anyway, before the writer's blight take a turn for the worse here goes...The car finding expedition has finally took a turn for calmer waters! We decided to rent a car for a month and try out a driver before we commit to a long term lease or buy a car. In China it is common to enter into a two year lease agreement on a car together with a driver. They assign three drivers to each car so you get these guys on a rotation basis. The rental companies have obviously done their math and the cost of renting a car for two years will work out approximately the same as buying the car and paying it off (for them...) over two years. The appealing thing however, is that you do not have the added responsibilities of insurance, services (they don't have maintenance plans in China) and licensing fees. As for the driver you pay his salary directly to him. He works from 8 to 5 and does a lot of "waiting'. We enquired how to deal with this problem, because if he is not driving (which will not be all that much, especially in the beginning) he will be "waiting" quite a lot of the time. The answer is pretty much that " he is a driver it is his duty, he must wait until you tell him to take you anywhere". You also pay him an allowance for meals, a small cell phone allowance and if you want him to work on weekends and over time you pay extra for that too. Oh and if the guy knows two words of English you pay extra for that too! You probably wondered about the largesse of employing a driver when he'll be sitting around a lot, waiting). Let's just say it has to do with a South African GPS that doesn't work, a driver's test and written and practical exam before one has a converted Chinese license, weird unwritten traffic rules, millions of drivers and cyclists and billions of Chinese characters...
We have also appointed an assistant who starts working for us in a week's time. This was quite an interesting experience...You literally have "labour markets" here. It's such a novelty! When you decide to recruit, you send your requirements to the management of the labour market. They post it on a website where job seekers can look at what employers have available. On "market day" all the employers and job seekers convene in a huge four storey building. There is a giant scroll at the entrance that lists all the jobs and at which booths the employers are seated. There are literally thousands of people. The employers get issued with a box that has instant coffee in and tea. You are assigned to a booth and then the interviews begin. People line up and you literally see a person per minute! There are thousands of job seekers that are very willing, very keen and very able to work. For our position of personal assistant, all the applicants had university degrees. It is really quite emotional to see how willing these people are to work and the sacrifices they are willing to make to be able to be employed.
Anyway, before the writer's blight take a turn for the worse here goes...The car finding expedition has finally took a turn for calmer waters! We decided to rent a car for a month and try out a driver before we commit to a long term lease or buy a car. In China it is common to enter into a two year lease agreement on a car together with a driver. They assign three drivers to each car so you get these guys on a rotation basis. The rental companies have obviously done their math and the cost of renting a car for two years will work out approximately the same as buying the car and paying it off (for them...) over two years. The appealing thing however, is that you do not have the added responsibilities of insurance, services (they don't have maintenance plans in China) and licensing fees. As for the driver you pay his salary directly to him. He works from 8 to 5 and does a lot of "waiting'. We enquired how to deal with this problem, because if he is not driving (which will not be all that much, especially in the beginning) he will be "waiting" quite a lot of the time. The answer is pretty much that " he is a driver it is his duty, he must wait until you tell him to take you anywhere". You also pay him an allowance for meals, a small cell phone allowance and if you want him to work on weekends and over time you pay extra for that too. Oh and if the guy knows two words of English you pay extra for that too! You probably wondered about the largesse of employing a driver when he'll be sitting around a lot, waiting). Let's just say it has to do with a South African GPS that doesn't work, a driver's test and written and practical exam before one has a converted Chinese license, weird unwritten traffic rules, millions of drivers and cyclists and billions of Chinese characters...
We have also appointed an assistant who starts working for us in a week's time. This was quite an interesting experience...You literally have "labour markets" here. It's such a novelty! When you decide to recruit, you send your requirements to the management of the labour market. They post it on a website where job seekers can look at what employers have available. On "market day" all the employers and job seekers convene in a huge four storey building. There is a giant scroll at the entrance that lists all the jobs and at which booths the employers are seated. There are literally thousands of people. The employers get issued with a box that has instant coffee in and tea. You are assigned to a booth and then the interviews begin. People line up and you literally see a person per minute! There are thousands of job seekers that are very willing, very keen and very able to work. For our position of personal assistant, all the applicants had university degrees. It is really quite emotional to see how willing these people are to work and the sacrifices they are willing to make to be able to be employed.
Job seekers at the job market
Interview with a future employer
The last member of our "early infrastructural staff" is the ayi (domestic). We have an interview with an ayi today so will give an update on this matter soon!
The weather has been very nice the past Easter weekend with nice sunshine for three consecutive days! Yesterday was misty and raining. When the mists descend on Suzhou it is quite heavy and enveloping...not something that we are used to. On the topic of "weather"...I briefly touched on a kite flying expedition some time ago...Kite flying is a BIG past time in Suzhou and whenever the weather permits and there's wind, people head outdoors to fly their kites. There is a really beautiful walk outside our apartment through a park with many camphor trees that opens in a huge open square next to lake Jinji where people fly their kites. Not sure who's having the most fun...kids or adults!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A grand day out
On Sunday the mists lifted, the sun came out and we headed outdoors.
We ended up in a beautiful park where hundreds of people were flying kites. What novelty! We bought each of the kids a kite (ZAR50) and soon we were all maneuvering our kites in a bright(ish) sky.
After our kite running expedition we headed to a new shopping centre and ate pizza of all things at a Pizza Hut! Times square is brand new and modern with a good range of shops with all the well known brands and a very nice amusement park for the kids with a dinosaur theme. Several lifelike dino's stand around for the kids' entertainment.
The girls are getting quite adept at using the chopsticks and they are both very interested in the variety of foods and are becoming quite adventurous little eaters. Eating in China is a fun and social event. It is even better if you have your own private dining room and hostess. The host or most important person at the table get the best seat, directly opposite the door. He then summon the "fu-yen" and orders from the menu. The idea is to order several dishes that the host believes his party will like. A good host will order the dishes in several tiers. The first volley of dishes normally consists of light and cold dishes. Typical appetizers. These dishes can sometimes be slightly sweet. A recent discovery for me is a plate with steamed chestnuts and jojoba berries...very good. My Western palate finds it hard to order wine with the food. The tastes differ very much from one another so it is difficult to select the traditional white and red to accompany the food. So far I find a light beer is the best companion to a Chinese meal.
The second couple of dishes are more substantial and typically includes a whole fresh steamed fish, duck and pork or beef or other seafood (crabs, snails, shrimps, prawns). With these dishes you can expect a good variety of leafy vegetables and also maybe a mushroom dish. The variety and the tastes of mushrooms are fantastic! The host may at this point order some more "second tier" dishes. Dessert is not as we know it...a plate of fresh fruit is dessert but it is a refreshing end to a meal.
The highlight of the evening was when our hosts took us for an after dinner massage...kids and all!
The massage is a fun affair and literally the whole family can join. Depending on the size of the party you are ushered into a room with enough beds for everyone. You are served green tea in a glass with an orange. When everyone is comfortable, the masseuses enter and start massaging everyone in unison starting with the feet. It is a very fun and social experience. The kids enjoyed it hugely and they were spellbound for the whole two hours. If you want your kids to relax take them to a massage!
We ended up in a beautiful park where hundreds of people were flying kites. What novelty! We bought each of the kids a kite (ZAR50) and soon we were all maneuvering our kites in a bright(ish) sky.
After our kite running expedition we headed to a new shopping centre and ate pizza of all things at a Pizza Hut! Times square is brand new and modern with a good range of shops with all the well known brands and a very nice amusement park for the kids with a dinosaur theme. Several lifelike dino's stand around for the kids' entertainment.
The girls are getting quite adept at using the chopsticks and they are both very interested in the variety of foods and are becoming quite adventurous little eaters. Eating in China is a fun and social event. It is even better if you have your own private dining room and hostess. The host or most important person at the table get the best seat, directly opposite the door. He then summon the "fu-yen" and orders from the menu. The idea is to order several dishes that the host believes his party will like. A good host will order the dishes in several tiers. The first volley of dishes normally consists of light and cold dishes. Typical appetizers. These dishes can sometimes be slightly sweet. A recent discovery for me is a plate with steamed chestnuts and jojoba berries...very good. My Western palate finds it hard to order wine with the food. The tastes differ very much from one another so it is difficult to select the traditional white and red to accompany the food. So far I find a light beer is the best companion to a Chinese meal.
The second couple of dishes are more substantial and typically includes a whole fresh steamed fish, duck and pork or beef or other seafood (crabs, snails, shrimps, prawns). With these dishes you can expect a good variety of leafy vegetables and also maybe a mushroom dish. The variety and the tastes of mushrooms are fantastic! The host may at this point order some more "second tier" dishes. Dessert is not as we know it...a plate of fresh fruit is dessert but it is a refreshing end to a meal.
The highlight of the evening was when our hosts took us for an after dinner massage...kids and all!
The massage is a fun affair and literally the whole family can join. Depending on the size of the party you are ushered into a room with enough beds for everyone. You are served green tea in a glass with an orange. When everyone is comfortable, the masseuses enter and start massaging everyone in unison starting with the feet. It is a very fun and social experience. The kids enjoyed it hugely and they were spellbound for the whole two hours. If you want your kids to relax take them to a massage!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Almost a legal alien
After a rather soft landing in Hong Kong we arrived in Suzhou.
We really feel like space travellers because of the absolute assault on one's senses...Almost everything is different - sounds, smells, trees, cars, people, buildings. We also realize what it must feel like to be illiterate...
As many space travellers before us, the first major mission was to get ourselves "connected" and to establish contact with our mother ship. This was not done without a few technical "glitches". We marched to an outlet of "China mobile" as we were told that it is the most reliable network, wide coverage etc. Irene took the first step but her phone was incompatible with the card so I landed up with the sim and lo and behold my Blackberry"s approval ratings hit an all time high! A cool thing is that in China you can choose your own number. It is important to choose a "good" or "lucky" number preferable not containing the letter"4". Four is considered unlucky and you will also find no hotel or apartment with a 4th floor or a room with a four in it. 3G (they will go straight to 5G) is not very well developed in China and apparently we have to wait another month before we can obtain 3G compatibility with our phones.
Something that also posed quite a challenge in the first couple of days was to get a cable with which to connect the computer to the power supply...A search for "adapter plug" aroused some surprised looks and gestures...Lastly we took the cable to a computer store"downtown" with the help of our housing agent. In the same store we could source a cable for RMB480 (ZAR600) and at a different counter in the same store one for RMB20...There's some free market enterprise for you!
Yesterday we found an apartment and will be moving there in about three weeks...
Wherever we go people literally stop and and stare at our kids (both girls with blonde hair) and will comment and say "piao liang" which means 'beautiful"All the stares are a bit unnerving at first but you get used to it after about a day and just smile back. I know how Paris Hilton or Britney Spears' father must feel like! I heard before that Chinese people are very concerned about children and their welfare...Murphy would have it that in Suzhou's relatively cold weather (ranges between 6 and 12 degrees), Renee refuses to wear a jersey and constantly says "ek kry warm"...The whole range of threats, promises, alternatives and asking nicely cannot get her to wear a jersey (oh and no socks)...So it happened that especially when she is with me, a fairly large group of normally elderly ladies would gather and scold me (in Chinese of course) for apparently being such a useless excuse for a father to let his beautiful blond daughter walk around without a jacket...Hey and we are trying to attract as little attention as possible!
The reason why I called this blog "Almost a legal alien" is that the red tape is still not done...On Tuesday we are travelling to Shanghai to complete the last leg in the process of being formally called "alien" by presenting ourselves at the relevant government office and having some kind of an interview and a medical test. We also found out seventy two hours after our arrival that we had to report to the local police within twenty four hours...Luckily because we live in a hotel, this was taken care of on our behalf (and without our knowledge).
This whole weekend and Monday the Chinese have a public holiday what they call "tomb sweeping". It is quite a novel way of families getting together and visiting relatives graves and commemorating their dead ones.
Next mission to find a car and a driver...watch this space...
We really feel like space travellers because of the absolute assault on one's senses...Almost everything is different - sounds, smells, trees, cars, people, buildings. We also realize what it must feel like to be illiterate...
As many space travellers before us, the first major mission was to get ourselves "connected" and to establish contact with our mother ship. This was not done without a few technical "glitches". We marched to an outlet of "China mobile" as we were told that it is the most reliable network, wide coverage etc. Irene took the first step but her phone was incompatible with the card so I landed up with the sim and lo and behold my Blackberry"s approval ratings hit an all time high! A cool thing is that in China you can choose your own number. It is important to choose a "good" or "lucky" number preferable not containing the letter"4". Four is considered unlucky and you will also find no hotel or apartment with a 4th floor or a room with a four in it. 3G (they will go straight to 5G) is not very well developed in China and apparently we have to wait another month before we can obtain 3G compatibility with our phones.
Something that also posed quite a challenge in the first couple of days was to get a cable with which to connect the computer to the power supply...A search for "adapter plug" aroused some surprised looks and gestures...Lastly we took the cable to a computer store"downtown" with the help of our housing agent. In the same store we could source a cable for RMB480 (ZAR600) and at a different counter in the same store one for RMB20...There's some free market enterprise for you!
Yesterday we found an apartment and will be moving there in about three weeks...
Wherever we go people literally stop and and stare at our kids (both girls with blonde hair) and will comment and say "piao liang" which means 'beautiful"All the stares are a bit unnerving at first but you get used to it after about a day and just smile back. I know how Paris Hilton or Britney Spears' father must feel like! I heard before that Chinese people are very concerned about children and their welfare...Murphy would have it that in Suzhou's relatively cold weather (ranges between 6 and 12 degrees), Renee refuses to wear a jersey and constantly says "ek kry warm"...The whole range of threats, promises, alternatives and asking nicely cannot get her to wear a jersey (oh and no socks)...So it happened that especially when she is with me, a fairly large group of normally elderly ladies would gather and scold me (in Chinese of course) for apparently being such a useless excuse for a father to let his beautiful blond daughter walk around without a jacket...Hey and we are trying to attract as little attention as possible!
The reason why I called this blog "Almost a legal alien" is that the red tape is still not done...On Tuesday we are travelling to Shanghai to complete the last leg in the process of being formally called "alien" by presenting ourselves at the relevant government office and having some kind of an interview and a medical test. We also found out seventy two hours after our arrival that we had to report to the local police within twenty four hours...Luckily because we live in a hotel, this was taken care of on our behalf (and without our knowledge).
This whole weekend and Monday the Chinese have a public holiday what they call "tomb sweeping". It is quite a novel way of families getting together and visiting relatives graves and commemorating their dead ones.
Next mission to find a car and a driver...watch this space...
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
There's a reason why it's called "Red Tape"
The past week has been dominated by sorting, packing, moving stuff, talking about packing, strategizing about our move to Suzhou and talking to others about the aforesaid...
We received our license to work in China and although we cannot even begin to read the fine print, we are very happy that we have negotiated the system this far. "Red tape" are two words I've been thinking about quite a lot these days. It's interesting that the colour "red" is chosen, possibly to describe the anger, rage or steam-coming-out-of-your-head-stuff when having to deal with the bureaucrats of society. The fact that "tape" is used, possibly refers to the fact that when one has gone red and lost your temper, the feeling of desperation is further accentuated by a feeling similar to being wrapped up in tape so tightly that you cannot move your arms or legs! Dante's Inferno is suspiciously silent on the subject of where exactly bureuacrats fit in. I mean, look at the word "bureaucrat". Why is the spelling so difficult? You have to leave your computer every time to look up the word!
After being given 3 sets of differing advice about completing the local visa application process, I took a trip to the Chinese Consultate in Sandhurst yesterday. There was quite a lot of anger being exchanged between members of the public and the members of the People's Republic behind extremely thick bullet proof glass booths (I wonder why). However when I got to the front of the line and proudly displayed my "Alien's Employment License of the PRC", I could see a change in attitude from behind the counter and even got a smile! One surprise is that we all need to do quite a substantial medical check up. One of the categories on the medical information form requires from the medical practitioner that he has to certify that we do not suffer from anything that may disturb the "public order and security". Hold thumbs all go well...
Another little bit of drama is that we lost our apartment that we "reserved" (or thought we did) last week. Apparently the landlord (who was willing to wait for us) was not prepared to wait any longer and gave us an ultimatum out of the blue to sign the lease immediately. Despite mild protestations from our side he/she decided not to accept our final offer. Anyway, Maggie our competent house hunter in Suzhou has assured us there's no need to worry, she has plenty nice apartments lined up. One possibility is in the same block of apartments but higher up in the building. We would like to see the place first before committing, so the plan is to move into a serviced apartment for the first week or so until we sort out the housing problem...
The last weekend we spent saying "early byes" to friends and family and did not worry too much about the move and all the red tape. A very pleasant weekend, with Irene and I even managing to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having a quiet breakfast at Roots.
We have booked our tickets for the 30th of March so we are down to 12 days and counting!! Hold thumbs for our last preparations!
Talk soon!
We received our license to work in China and although we cannot even begin to read the fine print, we are very happy that we have negotiated the system this far. "Red tape" are two words I've been thinking about quite a lot these days. It's interesting that the colour "red" is chosen, possibly to describe the anger, rage or steam-coming-out-of-your-head-stuff when having to deal with the bureaucrats of society. The fact that "tape" is used, possibly refers to the fact that when one has gone red and lost your temper, the feeling of desperation is further accentuated by a feeling similar to being wrapped up in tape so tightly that you cannot move your arms or legs! Dante's Inferno is suspiciously silent on the subject of where exactly bureuacrats fit in. I mean, look at the word "bureaucrat". Why is the spelling so difficult? You have to leave your computer every time to look up the word!
After being given 3 sets of differing advice about completing the local visa application process, I took a trip to the Chinese Consultate in Sandhurst yesterday. There was quite a lot of anger being exchanged between members of the public and the members of the People's Republic behind extremely thick bullet proof glass booths (I wonder why). However when I got to the front of the line and proudly displayed my "Alien's Employment License of the PRC", I could see a change in attitude from behind the counter and even got a smile! One surprise is that we all need to do quite a substantial medical check up. One of the categories on the medical information form requires from the medical practitioner that he has to certify that we do not suffer from anything that may disturb the "public order and security". Hold thumbs all go well...
Another little bit of drama is that we lost our apartment that we "reserved" (or thought we did) last week. Apparently the landlord (who was willing to wait for us) was not prepared to wait any longer and gave us an ultimatum out of the blue to sign the lease immediately. Despite mild protestations from our side he/she decided not to accept our final offer. Anyway, Maggie our competent house hunter in Suzhou has assured us there's no need to worry, she has plenty nice apartments lined up. One possibility is in the same block of apartments but higher up in the building. We would like to see the place first before committing, so the plan is to move into a serviced apartment for the first week or so until we sort out the housing problem...
The last weekend we spent saying "early byes" to friends and family and did not worry too much about the move and all the red tape. A very pleasant weekend, with Irene and I even managing to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having a quiet breakfast at Roots.
We have booked our tickets for the 30th of March so we are down to 12 days and counting!! Hold thumbs for our last preparations!
Talk soon!
Friday, March 6, 2009
On Suzhou
Double click and look for the tiny yellow spot...
The easy answer is to direct people to our new home is that it's 80kms west of Shanghai. A couple of times I saw looks on people's faces ranging from "oh, so it's in the Styx" or "oh, it's in the country side"...
A little bit of background. Suzhou is a fairly large Chinese city with around 10million people (roughly the amount of people in Gauteng). It is economically vibrant and has been identified as one of the twelve economic zones in China. It is known as the "Venice of the east" due to the fact that the old city is built around waterways and canals.
What is appealing about Suzhou is that it has a rich history dating back as much as 2500 years. It is world renowned for its gardens and it is one of the "1000 places to see before you die" according to Patricia Schultz. The beautiful gardens in Suzhou have colourful and descriptive names such as "The Humble Administrator's Garden" or "The Master of the Nets Garden".
We will be living in an apartment close lake Jinji, one of the smaller lakes in Suzhou. The apartment complexes in Suzhou have names that make you giggle such as "Golden Love" and "Join in the Grand". We will be living in in a compound called "Horizon Resort". The area where we will be living is known as the Singapore Industrial Park (SIP). It is a massive 200 square kilometre development of businesses, apartments and light industries, mainly aimed at attracting foreign investment. There are roughly 20,000 expats in Suzhou. The SIP is vibrant with modern wide lane roads, bicycle paths and a "nice big city feel" to it. When we were there in October we noticed at least two Starbucks in the area (or "Starbucker" as it is known in China).
The children will go to a British International school called Dulwich College. It is a satellite campus of Dulwich College London. It is a relatively young school with about 500 kids. We like the vibe and the teachers and we're sure they'll fit in nicely. They also place a"cap" of 30% of a nation per grade. In so doing you do get a true international school in stead of a situation where one nation "dominates" the school culture. Children don't go to school during July and August, mainly because of the hot summer. Tannie Bettie (the children's au pair) volunteered (and we accepted), to spend the holidays with us in Suzhou!
Suzhou has steaming hot summers (38 degrees with 100% humidity), we are a bit worried about that! Winters are freezing and snow is not uncommon...
The idea is that Irene and I will take turns to return to SA every three months to keep in touch with the business and obviously to align our work in China with the SA operation. We are still in two minds over whether we want to take the kids with us on these trips.
I can report that since my last post, our Chinese "invitation" has been approved and we should have our visas in our passports, this time next week!. Also we have booked our tickets and our departure date is the 30th of March (a blue Monday!). Our friends have done well to relieve us of our "load of stuff" and our first couple of steps on the journey of a thousand miles have gone without a major hick-up.
Chat soon!
Rihann
Sunday, March 1, 2009
On a journey of a thousand miles
The Chinese philosopher Loa Tse famously remarked that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. He did not however offer any practical advice such as what to pack for this journey, as we discovered the past few months.
Some of our friends took to the philosophical idea by suggesting that we should take as little as possible. Between Irene and I we have decided to follow the good advice and are now doing what Lao Tse probably also would have advised: "Get rid of your stuff and travel light". It also reminds me of that other famous treatise on travelling: "The Hitch hiker's guide to the gallaxy" where it is famously remarked that one only needs a towel for inter gallactic travel:
A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta…wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat…wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes…any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it … win through, and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Some of our friends took to the philosophical idea by suggesting that we should take as little as possible. Between Irene and I we have decided to follow the good advice and are now doing what Lao Tse probably also would have advised: "Get rid of your stuff and travel light". It also reminds me of that other famous treatise on travelling: "The Hitch hiker's guide to the gallaxy" where it is famously remarked that one only needs a towel for inter gallactic travel:
A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta…wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat…wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes…any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it … win through, and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
I once famously remarked that the only things I would want to pack are my hi-fi and coffee machine. After much deliberation it would seem that this is not practical...Being the world's factory China expects one to pay heavy duties on all things brought into the country. So! At present we are getting rid of our stuff and is aiming to travel as light as possible and hope that we can prove Douglas Adams wrong by travelling without towels (because we're moving into a furnished apartment...). The big packing operation starts today. We sold our house and have to be out by the 1st of April (no joke) so evacuation has to start regardless.
Our agents in China advised that we should soon receive our formal invitation from the Chinese government. Therafter we need to locally apply for our visas. This should happen round the middle of March. Our estimated departure date should be the end of March. We have not bought our tickets. This seems to be a very hard to thing to do. It is sort of the proverbial last straw.
Things are starting to gather momentum and we are looking forward to getting there and settling in.
Will talk soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
