A quickie and some lovely pain

Again I find myself getting ill, it’s about the hundredth time since I arrived here. It’s the humidity, the sudden change in weather, the stress… Pfff. This time I have pain somewhere on the side of my throat, only on the right said. When talking, swallowing, drinking and eating it hurts and the pain continues to my right ear. That’s it. No cough, no running nose, no nothing, except this pain that wouldn’t go away.

Computer crash

Dear all,

It has been a while since I posted something. This time partly because I’m still soooo busy, but partly because my computer crashed. I was hoping they could retrieve some of the data of my hard drive, but apparently that’s not possible. So if someone has any ideas on how to do get something off of it, please let me know! There are unique photos on there which are most important, but also the preparations for a compilation Zouk video and of course my blog entries are on there.

Randomness

Most street artists I see here are disabled in some way. Too bad that on average they aren’t that good…

Did I already tell you about the security checks at the subway stations? It’s like at the airport: you have to put your bags through the scanner. Well, officially… At least half of the people just walk by. In the beginning I nodded friendly to the security guard and walked through, now I find myself walking by without even looking at them. It must be an awful job when you have to tell people to put their bags in the scanner all day long, while most of them just simply ignore you.

Getting the residence permit and other administrative stuff

They do try to really take care of me here. If I have to arrange some official business like registration, visa etc, there’s a student (mostly my flatmate) with me who made the appointment (when applicable), brings the Chinese papers and does all the talking.

Toilets

One more item about the toilets here. Maybe I’m biased since I also went to the toilets in the train back home (some people find them disgusting) and that I’m in a big city now and not the countryside, but I think they’re really not so bad. Even in the subway station they had a Western toilet and they were all pretty clean.

I’m still alive!

To my dear readers,

Don’t worry, I’m still alive! And still in Shanghai. Just saw that it has been over 6 weeks ago since I posted, sorry about that. I haven’t stopped writing, so there’s a lot to come. I just have to find time to put it in the computer and online.

Quick update: I’ve been very busy with working, moving, dancing, setting up some Zouk here, being ill and sleeping. I really like the area I live in now, I’m starting to find my way around the lab and getting to know more people and dancers every week.

Hope to post all my stories soon, so stay tuned.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Like some of you know I have a serious injury at my right shoulder/neck/arm, partly because of a car accident I was in over a year ago, partly because of all the computer work I do and being extremely right handed. After being untreated for over a month since I arrived here, I went to a hospital to get some treatment, see an earlier blog. I got some Tui Na then, which helped for the weekend, but then my symptoms returned again. So it was time for another round of Chinese medicine…

Hierarchy

Hierarchy in the university is very important, but I think it is really part of the Chinese traditions. ‘Flat’ organizations like we might have in Western offices are not common here I think.

At university you can see it clearly, also outside of the office. Besides the large dining rooms there are a few small staff restaurants. At some students are not allowed, at some you have separate queue lines for staff and students. So the students are welcome here, but they might have to wait longer.

Simplicity

In a lot of ways the Chinese are simple.

In the language you do not have the he/she difference, they just use one word for it, so they have difficulties using the proper words in English. You never know who they’re talking about when they don’t use names.

My first Zouk workshop

Thanks to the contacts I made at my first salsa party in Shanghai I was able to teach my first Zouk workshop in Shanghai. On Friday eve I prepared with Gene, the Salsa teacher who’s interested in learning and teaching Zouk. He has seen several videos and has been practicing a bit, but it was clear that no one ever explained the proper techniques that are an important part of Zouk. He turned out to be a fast learner, so in about 45 minutes we prepared the workshop and he learned a lot about Zouk.