Next stop: UK

Dreaming about a visa refusal, I jolted out of sleep at 2am today. Luckily, it was just a dream.

After 12 days’ waiting, I finally got my tourist visa to the UK this morning. The excruciating experience is a test of my patience, which I really really lack.

Traveling should be spontaneous. What had stopped me from traveling abroad in the past was the complicated visa application procedure. The documents I had prepared this time might have added up to 50 pages. Besides paper work, you also need a bit of luck.

Last month our HR director in Singapore head office quit her job and she said in her farewell email that she was going to take a break to travel to places she’d never been to and see the world. I was impressed. It will not happen in China. An unemployed person can’t even get a visa. His motive will be questioned in the first place.

Isn’t it a paradox of life? When you are employed, you don’t have many long holidays to travel; once you quit, you can’t get permission to enter another country; when you are retired, you are probably too old to move around.

Well, I’m very happy to get the visa and I’m looking forward to my first trip to the UK in August.

Suddenly into calligraphy

In a carton blanketed with thick dust, an old booklet about Chinese calligraphy caught my attention. It was hand-written and printed on a kind of carbon paper. A printer was unheard of back in 1991. It’s been 19 years since I last practiced calligraphy.

I decided to pick it up. Calligraphy used to be a mandatory course when I was in primary school. But I doubt if it still is today when a kid can use his iphone to photograph his homework and share with his schoolmates. They definitely won’t write so much as to develop hand calluses as we did.

Calligraphy is often associated with tradition and senility. But it shouldn’t have been. It doesn’t matter what you write. The nuances lie in every stroke of the characters and the slight movements of the wrist. Brush pen dances on the paper and ink soaks into it, leaving a special aroma in the air – it’s a wonderful moment.

胡思乱想

夜深了，公交车还在疯狂地咆哮着。

心情不好，又没有人诉说，只能在这里瞎写一番，希望不好的情绪能在敲击键盘的过程中得到释放。

天气热，人也变得很懒，不饿的时候连吃饭的欲望都没有。朋友好像都很忙，忙工作，忙考试、出国。相比之下，我似乎是一个完全没有追求的人。安于现状，顺其自然。记得去年年底公司聚餐的时候，我们的VP说了一个特别好的词“无欲”。想必我现在就是这种状态。No desire for anything. I guess I’ve somewhat achieved the Taoist ideal of non-attachment.其实本来性格就很laid-back，不愿意去争什么，只是工作中有时候需要改变一下自己。

很佩服那些对未来有明确规划的人，但我做不到。为了一个目标去做一件事会很累。什么也不要想，什么都不要做，大脑一片空白。

Deadline

Speaking of cultural differences, I thought of another example. My job involves a lot of liaison between Chinese clients and our Singaporean colleagues. When I need something from a Singaporean colleague, they always ask what the deadline is. Without a deadline, I’m afraid things will be dragged on for years. But for many Chinese, this may be a stupid question and they just tell me ASAP. Damn it! When the hell is ASAP? I have to trick and push them to get an answer. What’s so hard about setting a deadline, anyway?

Our big boss’s age is a big secret!

Earlier this year, my boss’s boss, the VP based in our head office in Singapore came to Beijing for a couple of meetings. One of our clients, a state owned company, wanted to give him a present – something that indicated his animal sign. Well, that equals to asking for one’s age, which is invariably a secret. Both our boss and his assistant happened to be out of the office that day, so I turned to another colleague for help. She texted the boss, but got no reply. Later she told me on skype that it was rooster. “He didn’t reply, but I guessed after asking around for his age. It’s 99.9% correct.” Hmm…the mystery is solved, but cultural differences exist forever.

夏天来了

街边饭馆儿的座位又摆到了户外，
烤串儿的炉子又冒起了浓烟。
院儿里的孩子突然冒了出来，
路上的姑娘们迫不及待地穿起了连衣裙。
突然之间，已是夏天。

今年北京的春天是十年来持续时间最短的一个春天。烟台这时候还很凉快。原来这十年来并不是全球变暖导致春天越来越短，而是内地的气候就是如此。

不喜欢夏天。不喜欢夏天的热。

Clean eating

Consuming food in its most natural state – or as close as possible to it – is the soul of clean eating. It’s not a diet; it’s a lifestyle approach to food and its preparation, leading to health, well-being and a lean look.

Yes, it's exactly what I've been aiming at. Going veg may be hard, but eating clean is least I can do.