Back

The hubbub and long queues at Beijing airport told me the summer fling was over. It was also one evening in the last week of August in 2000 that I first arrived in the capital. What did not change over a whole decade was the hot weather which made me feel really bad. The difference is the city is no longer new to me today.

Ok. The trip to Britain was great, as I had expected. It was more than seeing the places of interest. Just sitting in a street corner watching people walking by, each with an umbrella in hand was a pleasure. Hopping on a tube in London, listening to the voice announcements with a British accent at every stop, or overhearing chitchats in a diversity of languages are interesting too. Hopping off at the wrong stop and being left alone in an almost obsolete train station called Lydney without a mobile phone and finally being picked up by a very nice English woman who took me to the town center made the journey a bit adventurous, but I enjoyed it. And… I almost forgot… I’d tasted raspberries, blueberries and blackberries!

What I love most is the clear sky and mild climate. After I came back, I can’t help wondering why so many people are leaving their native countries for China while complaining about its problems. Is it because it’s easier for Caucasians to make a living in this developing country? Will they still choose China if they are deprived of their priorities here?

Seriously, I need to think about my next move. The more I see, the more insatiable I become. Sometimes I have an evil thought. I stealthily wish the prophecy of 2012 were true. As all good things come to an end, why not all end together?

The scene is perfect, all we need is a blue sky.

在北外四年，居然没有去过紫竹院公园。上周六在国图上完课，顺便去拍了几张照片，试试我的LX3. 可惜北京很难见到蓝天。周日天气突然就凉快了，很奇怪。

又一个同事离开了。前两天还在看杜拉拉，最后一集记得她说，都走了，我都有些不认识这个地方了。公司就是这样，铁打的营盘流水的兵。对于我们的新加坡同事，平时更多是通过email/skype沟通，好多人还没见过面就say goodbye了。还是那句老话，天下没有不散的宴席。离开也是一个新的开始。

So, that’s it. One week to go. Can't wait for the getaway...

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.