Back to reality!

De vuelta a la puta realidad.
Veronique and Olivier left this morning. They still have not arrived in Paris. I will talk to them in the morning when I have my breakfast, and they are ready to go to bed. I still don't get used to the idea of the different times. In a way that makes me be more aware of the shape of the planet. It is not that big, really, if I think about it. It is just a drop in the Universe, and we are nothing and a whole universe at the same time. We are little worlds inside the world.
Today, the temperature is between 5c and -7c. Hace un frio de muerte! I am even thinking of buying thermal underwear, and long sleeves thermolactil t-shirts, soooooo unsexy!. Pero ande yo caliente y riase la gente, tio.I have been postponing that as much as I could.
I have started studying a little bit of Chinese at home. If I do one hour a day, I think I will end up learning something. I can always ask Chen Jun (Charles)and Yihui Meng (Isabelle)for help with the pronunciation and the grammar. I still do not understand why they insist in using western names?!It is as if they did not accept who they are and they have to be someone else. Very Chinese in a way. They reject their past and Chinese old things and at the same time they are very proud of their milenary culture. They destroy old buildings to build them up again brand new!? Se lo coman con patatas, porque yo no lo entiendo. One of those things. I suppose I am also full of incoherences, innit?

Expats

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country, fatherland), and is sometimes misspelled (either unintentionally or intentionally) as ex-patriot or short ex-pat (because of its pronunciation).

Lyman's thoughts: 'Being here, or being an expat makes me loose contact with my past. It is a way of erasing my past. My history dissapears. The life of the expats is the life of those who live to the day. I should move to another place every two years.'
That is a way of of running away from yourself, I said. He agreed, and I felt that algo de hueso habia tocao,no en el sino en mi. Maybe I have done that myself as well.

Selina always tells me: 'If you come to China you should have a mission, a purpose otherwise you will loose yourself.'

http://www.evadefilter.com/index.php?q=aHR0cDovL2VuLndpa2lwZWRpYS5vcmcvd2lraS9FeHBhdHJpYXRl

The earth rooster

This is what my Chinese zodiac tells me:
'No major problem to fear healthwise. Perhaps a slight drop in vitality and tonicity, or mild cardio-vascular troubles for those who are predisposed to them. Some of you will show signs of fatigue which are only manifestations of your mild anxieties or of your interior tenseness. A first remedy in this case: to lead a wholesome and well-regulated life. And do not consider recreation and rest as useless or superfluous. Continue to do sport. Don't hesitate to do siestas during the week-ends'.
No te digo, si parece que me conocen! Signs of fatigue!!!! I have the feeling I haven't slept for months. Como si no hubiera pegao no ojo en meses. Pues ale, I will live a more wholesome life, will that mean that I have to start eating wholesome bread as well?! Todo sea por empezar a sonyar de nuevo. I need to have my dreams back.

De carton piedra

I came across this, and it is soooooo true!:'There is nothing very authentic about this great city, yet you can't help but enjoy the charade' Shanghai Chic, nov 16 2005 Telegraph.co.uk

Theatre etiquette

Last Friday I went to to the Shanghai Grand Theatre, mainly to see the building inside. It was impressive. It is an immense theatre. The building was designed by French architect Jean-Marie Charpentier and covers a floor area of 11,528 m². Interior design was by Studios Architecture.

They were showing 'Princess Yang Guifei' dance and drama. Lots of dancers on stage....Fuck! I have just lost everything I wrote. Now I have to start again... Anyway, como iba diciendo: lots of dancers on stage ( lo que sobra aqui es gente, por figurantes que no quede!) nice costumes and settings but no soul, no passion (mas bien soso). The theatre was chock a block( hasta la bandera, a rebosar). Throughout the whole show people did not stop talking, oblivious to what was happening on stage. There was a constant murmur that was more noticeable when the music was softer. Habia tal guirigai que parecia una verbena, solo falto que los de la fila de enfrente sacaran una fiambrera con unas noodles o unos bocatas en papel de alumino o unas empanadillas flitas. Yo flipaba. I was astonished everybody took that as normal behaviour. Only a couple of times, I could hear someone shushing the public. Mucho teatro pero pocos modales. The same thing happened a few weeks ago in a concert by Marta Sebestyan. People were talking when she was singing. It might be the norm here, but I think that is bad manners, a mi no me jodas!

Yang Guifei

Notorious beauty and concubine of the great Tang emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712–756). Because of her the emperor is said to have neglected his duties, and the Tang dynasty (618–907) was greatly weakened by a rebellion that ensued. Her story has been the subject of many outstanding Chinese poems and dramas, including Changhen'ge (A Song of Everlasting Sorrow), a narrative poem by Bai Juyi; Wutongyu (after 1262; “Rain on the Phoenix Tree”), a Yuan dynasty zaju play by Bai Pu; and Changshengdian (1688; “The Palace of Eternal Youth”), a play by Hong Sheng, one of the most notable Qing dynasty playwrights. The daughter of a high official, she was one of the few obese women in Chinese history to have been considered beautiful. She became a concubine to Xuanzong's son, but the 60-year-old emperor found the girl so desirable that he forced his son to relinquish her. Soon her two sisters were admitted into the imperial harem, and her brother Yang Guozhong became the first minister of the empire. Through Yang's influence, An Lushan, a cunning young general of Turkish origin, rose to great prominence. Yang adopted him as her legal son and is said to have made him her lover. With such powerful patronage, An Lushan came to control an army of 200,000. He was jealous of the power of Yang's brother and soon turned against the emperor, leading a great uprising (the An Lushan rebellion) against him. When the capital was captured in 756, Xuanzong and his court were forced to flee to the south. On the road the imperial soldiers became enraged with members of the Yang family, whom they blamed for the debacle, and executed both Yang and her brother.

country bumpkins party

Queridos todos,
este anyo, por razones geograficas no podre estar con vosotros celebrando el cumpleanyos de Jose (con acento en la 'e'). Espero que lo paseis muy bien y echeis muchas fotos para que las ensenyeis y asi poder hacer esos recuerdos mios tambien. Si hay fotos me podre acordar y pensare que yo tambien estuve. Pensare en vosotros este fin de semana y en en especial en ti. Feliz cumpleanyos!

Os quiero.