"牛" year (bad pun intented)

During New Year's eve I worked long to write some cards to accompany stuff I'd give people. People who mostly wrote me cards I received on Christmas. It's so unfair: to be in the center of attention... I feel I'm in such a debt after all this.

I was rushing on a bike to the Grand Auditorium of Tsinghua at 23:57 during that night to catch the midnight with the movie evening that was going on there. Suddenly while riding I remembered a scene exactly from a year before. I was home with mom and my little brother, lighting the pathetic amount of fireworks we had for that evening. I realized that this year I wasn't there. What about next year? Our family concept is spread so thin across different continents. It must be hard for my brother. Or maybe he doesn't care, I don't know.

The New Year's day slept in, woke up really late and did nothing in particular. I really enjoyed the sense of freedom on this day. On the other hand, that meant I had no one to share it with. They say the first day will mark the rest of the year. It's so assuring to know now that I spent it alone. Heh-heh.

Every day that takes me closer to the day I leave is just going to leave me more mixed feelings. But I still haven't started counting the actual days, which is a good sign I guess.

Chinese Facebook, among other things

Oh, I'm back finally. Do you know why is it so hard to write here every time? Because I have to click *wait 5 or so minutes*, click *wait some more* and so on... just to get to this text box into which I'm typing now. I so hate this firewall thing which makes using Blogger so much of an annoyance. I know, I know, I could use proxy every time I write here but that's also a hassle.

Anyway, I'd like to start (if this still can be called a start) with a quotation from our beloved chairman Mao, who said something like "one is not a true man, until he has stepped on the Great Wall". Well now, I'm going to continue with another will-be-famous quotations of my own: "one is not a true Chinese student, until he has registered on Xiaonei", the Chinese Facebook-clone.

Actually, on a quick glance, they bear so much similarities that you couldn't distinguish between them. But after discovering and fervently using the Chinese version, I've began to notice subtle (and some not-so-subtle) differences. Firstly, when you visit someone's profile, you leave a mark (like it or not), which means you can't stalk on people without them noticing, haha :D Secondly, there are no relationship information available, it's not even asked for. Instead, on the so-familiar left menu, right under the picture, you get one's hometown (because it is quite normal to travel far distances to go study).

And boy, do the Chinese people love to share stuff (links, pictures, videos etc.) on it! My main page is constantly updating (with only some 40+ friends atm). But the main thing about Xiaonei is that it forces me to learn Chinese as I'm trying to stay current with the latest gossips and stuff like that :D That's why I've become a heavy user of some of the online Chinese English dictionaries. Indeed, my Chinese is has improved quickly. Now I wish I had had the energy to get on it earlier. This is a bit too little too late, but still fun!

Last few weeks have been hectic. Not necessarily because of school. I've been growing a bit apart from it, skipping classes here and there (but still almost always returning homework on time). So I guess the trend seen from my last posting was not temporary. I've also been spending a lot of time at the TV station. They are my family now. Next Wednesday, on Christmas Eve, me and some of my dearest TV station friends are going on a late dinner. I'll try teach them some Finnish Christmas traditions, the good ones I learned when I was young. And of course, there will be presents :)

Yesterday, a fellow exchange friend called me. He said, "I just called to say goodbye. I'm leaving today." After I put my phone down I realized that it has started. The decline. The end of the banquet is near. With that realization came the sadness, sending shockwaves through my body. One by one, my exchange buddies will be gone.

Then one day, it will be my turn.

What's worse, I leave behind so many people whom I've learned to call my friends (In Finnish: "ystävä", not "kaveri", there's a huge semantic difference). Well, they still are after I leave, but I also know what distance does to relationships. Like roses, no matter how you tend them, they wither. Slowly and painfully. Someone said to me, "treasure these moments, for we will miss you". How can I treasure them when my heart is full of pain?

I feel like a prisoner, sentenced to death, knowing my execution date. I'll be forever counting the days...

This will be my third and last quote this time around, and it will be in Finnish. It's from a song and I'm sorry if you don't know the language, but you'll have to look it up, because in the process you might learn something important:

"Kuka voisi kellot seisauttaa / ja ajan pysäyttää / kun maailma lainaa kaikkein kauneintaan."

Yes, my time here is only on a loan. And I'll have to pay it back. With an interest...

But despite all this gloom I hope I've achieved something while being here. Rocked the boat. Left my mark. On things and on people's hearts and minds. You can watch one of these marks on Youtube. It's a music video... hope you like it!

Busy times

Whew, I think now's the time to chill out for a while. I was so busy (and wrapped into) shooting a music video for my colleague at the tv station that I let it interfere with my studies. That video will be shown at their department's students' festival. Nothing biggie but I'm actually skipping classes to do shooting. But I guess if the locals can do it, why can't I? And for your information, the video is going to be GREAT! I'll link it here when it's finished :)

By the way, today I got to do one of the coolest things ever here which was to shoot a four-camera live broadcast and webcast of the 2008 campus singing contest finals. The only bad thing? I heard that in the Spring semester it will be a model / fashion show instead of the singing contest. Why god whyyyy!??!??

Midterm frenzy and other things

Wow, this week's been frenzy. With lots of midterms coming up next week the people are getting very busy with their schoolwork and deliverables. I myself have done a few half-nighters, with some of my Chinese (you know... Chinese Chinese) schoolmates pulling full-nighters this week. And when the Chinese people do it, they have to work in the shared washing room of their floor, because electricity to their rooms are cut at 11 pm.

Can you imagine that? Someone working over their laptop in the washing room in the middle of the night? Apparently, that's common. And here I complain being just massively tired.

Wait... have I already spent about half of my time here? That can't be true. One semester is definitely too short a time, noooo! Just when you get used to the idea that you're living in your true motherland, they'll take you away.

I never quite felt Finland was my true home, and after few months in China, the mixed feelings are even stronger. There's just this new sense of identity and belonging I've never felt before. Like not once have I woken up in my dorm and wondered "What the hell am I doing here?", it feels just so natural.

Oh boy, I just don't know what will happen in the future.

Another TWiT (this week in Tsinghua)... is in the can

Actually, there are still some homework left to be done in the weekend. But other than that, the week's been quite chilled both in workload and in temperature :/

Last Sunday I went to have a lunch with the TV station crew, outside campus. And you know the saying what goes around, comes around? Well, didn't I just write about me terminating the relationship with the Man upstairs. But as I followed the crew into the fray of what is known as the Beijingese traffic (ok I'm overly dramatic again, gonna tone it down a bit...), cold shivers began to run through my back. Haven't I been here before? Yes! This ONE time of the week when the Christian folk is meeting, we're going to have a lunch - in the same restaurant!

But, I think it went well. I sat at such an angle that the others couldn't recognize me, and I'm pretty sure they won't take a second look at what had been a bunch of college kids having craploads fun. Just check the picture on the right if you don't believe me :P TAKE THAT, DAD (I know you aren't reading but if you had, that's for you), I'm having my own fun! Ah, just gotta love these people.

Even Mel* came there. But turns out she's already got a boyfriend... mmh that explains a thing or two. Anyways, it seems that the whole station is full of gossiping or then it's just the Chinese people being different, but like the main topic through the lunch was who is whose bf/gf and who's got a crush on whom and I got to teach them how to say 'I love you' in Finnish... yay. For some reason, they forgot to invite Cindy there. I guess she's still unofficially in the ranks? Huh, beats me. And beat me she did, at the game pool, to which I took her playing this week. But hey, exciting news, she's single! Although according to her own words, she warms slowly... so don't get your hopes high!

Meanwhile, the midterm time draws near but apparently I still don't have exams for at least a week. I'm not even paying that much attention to school lol. These courses are quite easy to pass, and the professors give lots of points just for trying. One thing is annoying, though, and I already briefly touched that subject. It's the cold! In Finland, at least the apartments and rooms are well insulated but here, I'm freezing my ass off. There is a central heating, but it's not on yet (government controlled stuff apparently), so I'll just have to shiver more for at least a week or so.

Anyway, lots of love to the folks back at home, hope you haven't forgotten about me and keep on commenting! :)

*) If you didn't get it, please refer a few posts back. The names are in the title, can't really miss it.

Forgive me Father, for I have... Melissa, Cindy and Gertrude!

Meh, note to self: Don't try crazy bike jumping tricks while going against this huge torrent of bikers riding to the opposite direction. Result: Only a dropped chain this time, luckily. No human casualties, just had to play grease monkey for a while.

Now, to offer you guys back at home new update on things, shall we? First I'd like to start with some lightweight news. I broke up with Jesus, and a huge burden was lifted from my shoulders. How did that happen? Haha, long story, but I blame it on my dad. Towards the end of the National holiday week he managed to talk me into going to this underground Christian community by exploiting my interest in new things.

Well, actually his sales pitch was: "You'll meet some nice girls there." And stupidly, I bought it. I'm beginning to think he knows some nice girls there. But anyway, in the end I did it mostly just because I wanted to make him stop nagging. I mean for god's sake, I'm atheist! So, Sunday morning I went there and told them I wasn't going to show up anymore. *Sigh* why do I always have to pick up the pieces after my dad? Let this be the last time I ever listen to his stupid ideas. Even my mum's were BY FAR SUPERIOR. Or is this just me being oedipal? Go figure.

A lot of people have asked me about how the Chinese girls are (I JUST WONDER WHY??). Well, ok I admit, I've avoided this topic long enough. Lol, even the Chinese people here have asked what I feel about them. Now obviously I've only spent most of my time here in Tsinghua, the geek school, where chances of getting a good-looking girl are pretty slim (it's still possible, though, but 2/3 of the students are male). On the other hand, getting a smart girl is a surefire thing: I feel like I'm the midget in the land of the giant minds here... please rescue me!

Yeah, anyway. They say there are lots of beauties in Beida, or Beijing University. It's the Arts (for my Finnish friends: humanismi, not taide) uni next door, so you know, less geeks and generally more women. Apparently these are the top two unis in China and they are always competing with each other just like Oxford and Cambridge. Have I gone offtopic? Oh I think I have. Yeah, girls. Obviously, there wasn't and won't be enough time for me to get a whole picture but I can give a quick overview on three different people I've encountered here. Let's call them Melissa, Cindy and Gertrude*.

Mel is a 19 years old English major. Her dad wants to go to America. Her English is very good, but that shouldn't be a surprise given her major. At first I thought she's shy, but she's actually quite confident with her English and isn't afraid to approach foreign people for an interview, for example. A nice, civilized and harmless girl, though I think she's been trying to avoid me lately lol :)

Cindy is 20 and from Changsha, apparently the creative center of the Chinese TV industry (Wikipedia). She studies journalism, but her English skill isn't that good. That's why she wants me to speak English with her... you know, for some oral practice. Has some sense of fashion, for a Chinese. (Ranting and offtopic again, but usually even if a girl dresses smartly otherwise, you can see them wearing sneakers... like wtf?? The Koreans are far more fashionable than the Chinese here). Well, don't know more about her yet so that's all.

Gertrude should be 21 I think... She's doing the senior year in the same department as me (SEM, the School of Economics and Management), majoring in accounting. Really book-smart, however a lot difference in sense of humour. Speaks ok English, has even been to Canada for an exchange period. We have many courses in common and work in the same case group in one of them, so of the Chinese students I've probably talked most with her. With her new haircut, she reminds me of the character "Edna Mode" in The Incredibles :D :D

By the way, I only wrote this much to spark some discussion into my blog, as I'm bored to see 0 comments one after another. For a post this long, there must be something for everyone. So please, comment!

*) And then of course there's Helen, who kindly named these people so I wouldn't have to invent the names myself. Thank you!

In NJ

Well, it seems there won't be a road trip with my dad as my aunt was able to get me a train ticket back to Beijing

This morning me and my dad drove from Hangzhou to Nanjing. Well, I did most of the driving, as in back in 2006 :) I guess once you get used to the Chinese traffic "rules" - or lack thereof, everything goes a lot smoother.

I also finally saw my grandma - I mean after she got seriously ill, was hospitalized and subsequently released for home care about a year ago.

I guess I'll be spending the rest of my week here, so there's plenty of time.

Loma!

... that was Finnish and means "Holiday!". Yup, the National Holiday week (around Oct. 1st) has begun. I flew to Hangzhou as soon as I could (last lecture on Thursday morning, flight on the same night), got delayed for an hour and a half by the Shenzhou VII rocket launch and arrived in the early hours of Friday morning.

Hangzhou is a beautiful city in the eastern coast of China, few hours' drive from Shanghai. It was very humid when I got here, and a bit warmer than Beijing. I heard Nanjing is even hotter. That's my next destination. The most well-known place in Hangzhou would be the lake Xihu, or West Lake, a very scenic place right by the city. I went there today, but unfortunately my internet connection at the moment (at my dad's place) is a bit slow so the pics will be coming later.

I also visited Zhejiang University, which is the place my parents worked at during my early childhood here in Hangzhou. My good friend from Finland, Shilei (people tend to call him Chili), is also in there to study Mandarin for a semester, and with a stroke of luck we met each other today.

My tour will continue to Nanjing on Monday, and I'll return to Beijing the next weekend. Details unknown for now, but it looks like I'm going to have to take a very long road trip with my dad on my way back...

Happy Mid-Autumns!

So, tomorrow the classes will start... which is very weird, because I think most of the other people have Monday as a holiday (prolonged weekend because of the festivals).

Mid-Autumn festival (or the Moon festival) is the second biggest holiday in China, right after the Chinese New Year. According to Wikipedia, the farmers celebrate the end of the harvesting season. It is nowadays celebrated by eating mooncakes, a kind of small sweet cake, which taste quite good. Also on the Mid-Autumn festival, the moon is at its brightest, although today was a poor day to witness it because there was a thunderstorm over Beijing.

I've now been over a week here, and it's looking really good. I think I can survive here, even though the language barrier (which in my case means difficulties to express myself in Mandarin even though I can speak a bit) often makes me feel quite stupid, like an illiterate moron around some other people.

I hope everything is well wherever you're reading this. Enjoy the festivities and have a bite at the imaginary moon cake!

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go

Wait, hold it. Slash the topic. I still haven't packed a thing. It's just Jewel's song is so sweet that I've borrowed the first line from it.

The handles of the clock has now officially turned into first of September, the month my exchange studies begin.

I've set up this blog as a "base of operations" from which all essential parts of my trip can be tracked. I believe I've got everything here, but of course if I discover new resources, as I like to call them, I'll put them here. Right now I've already got feeds for twitter (for quick status updates) and flickr (for, obviously, my trip-related photos) and some other stuff. If you don't like it, then remember kids: you can always skip the extra stuff by subscribing to my blog feed.

Anyway, this is just my opening post, more will follow after my jet lands onto Chinese soil (hopefully runway though :)

Edit: (September 4, 18.28 Helsinki time) Well, now I'm packed. :) Flight delayed for 2 hours, so I'm still sitting at home, waiting.