The Beauty of China

I have to admit that my impression of China has improved remarkably after my home trip during Christmas. Before then I didn't hate China, but every day there were things annoying me so much that I didn't go out more than absolutely necessary. Those who have read the earlier Norwegian articles might have understood that;)

But the wierd thing is that these things that annoyd me before, are things that I found quite cool now, and helps to put China in front of other countries. In example:

People EVERYWHERE
I used to think that this was a pain in the ass. Smelly and spitting Chinese people everywhere you go. Walking up and down Nanjing Lu on a Saturday was tabu for me, and taking the subway in rush hour was some sort of the story of a claustrophobians perversities.

But now I love this! I love that there are people everywhere! And it's actually not as many smelly and spitting (well, okay, to many spit) Chinese people as I first thought. No matter where you go, there are someone to look at, or talk to (if you speak Chinese, of course). Walking on The Bund, Nanjing Lu, Huai Hai Lu or whatever with my MP3-player is actually a thrill, and there's always new shops that has just opened, or that you just didn't see the last time you were there. Follow the fake-sellers into crappy buildings and be offered fake sunglasses for insane prices. The metro too is great, even 5-6 o'clock in the evening where 3 millions or something want to get in the same metro as me :) It's really fun, and it's starting to feel quite comfortable.

Beautiful girls
And I have to mention the Chinese girls. When I first got here, my immidiate thought was that Chinese girls aren't as pretty as Scandinavians. This might of course have had a connection with the fact that I had a girlfriend, but still I should be able to see the beauty in other girls ;) Anyway, this too has totally changed, which makes it a lot more fun to be here! =D There's actually a lot of beautiful Chinese girls out there!

Chinese language
Not strangely, I thought the Chinese language was next to impossible. Learning to differ words only by small differences in sounds seemed like a waste of time. But as the time went by, and I slowly learned more, I actually find it a bit fun! And managing to talk a bit, and make yourself understood in front of taxidrivers, marketsellers and such are like a personal victory everytime! I don't think I'll ever speak Chinese fluently, but I'll most definately continue to learn Chinese the years to come =)

People staring
The first months here I felt like people were staring at me aaaaaall theeee tiiiiime. And they probably still do, but I just don't notice it. It really bugged me to walk around in the supermarket whilst people, mostly older Chinese, could stand right next to me in the pyjamas, blowing bad breath in my face and stare at my pasta and Oreos cookies. I didn't think that this would change, but it actually has:) Now I find this rather fun! Yesterday a guy in the same line as me just picked up the bottle of wine I was gonne buy, looked at it, showed it to his friends, and then put it back. Without even looking at me one time. Not even a friendly "is-it-okay-that-I-look-at-this-wine?"-look. Stuff that would have bothered me before, is just fun now:) Especially in other cities than Shanghai (or at least the three other cities I've been to), there's quite fun to be a foreigner. Going out to a club and being like the only foreigner there gives you a lot of attention. I can mention our trip to Xi'an, where me and Stian were applauded up on the dancingstage ;) On second thinking, that might not have been of admiration...hmm

Working in China
As a combined factor of those mentioned above (and those I've forgot to mention....feel that there's quite many), I was pretty much set on not working in China. Ever. The cultural differences were waaay to many to begin with. But as with everything else this has totally changed. Now I'm strongly considering finding some job here afterwards (if I don't get into Emerson, that is). It's a thrilling thought to maybe work for a papermanufacturer or something like that, earning just enough to pay rent and live a normal life:)

So, thanks China! ;o)

And yes....sorry to Thomi and Stian for harassing their English blogs;) I see now that it's more fun to write in English, so I plan on continuing with that;-)