I... a teacher...

Can you imagine having me as your teacher?

Don't fear because for all of you this nightmare won't become reality! However chances are very high that a bunch of Chinese students will have to deal with me next academic year... The interview on Friday went great!! I talked to the Head of the Department of Foreign Trade and after half an hour he decided my educational and professional background and my English are good enough to become a Foreign Expert for Yunnan University. In this position I will be teaching economic and business courses for one year. The final decision still needs to be made by the Foreign Experts Office, but I heard that is mostly a formality. So I kind of expect an offer next week and hope it´s all reasonable what they want me to do and what they are willing to give me in return.

Last night we had a party to celebrate everything and we decided to go out. The pre-party in Trish's room was great but going out afterwards wasn't that spectacular ;-) In the SpeakEasy (the most well-known bar around here) an Italian band was performing and their music was horrible! So we got out of there in no-time, had some meat-on-a-stick and went back home. I still haven't been to Kundu which supposedly is THE clubbing district of Kunming, so that is next on my things-to-do-at-night list! Have to know where to take Mark when he's visiting ;-) Luckily I still have some time left before that happens...

More nonsense next time!
Hastelafietstas,
Tuudje

Back in Kunming

Strange weather...

A call to the consulate at 14.00 on Wednesday taught us that the passport arrived that morning and Shos could pick it up. Luckily there is a 16.10 train to Kunming for which we still could get tickets!! Racing around Chengdu in taxi got us to the train station just in time :-)

So this afternoon we arrived in Kunming after a 20 hour train ride. It feels good to be back "home"!! Had a very nice time in Chengdu, although in the end we were really waiting to be able to get back to Kunming. Nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves and did a lot of fun things and met many great people! The first few days it was really hot in Chengdu (around 32-36 Celsius), but the last few days the weather turned and it got a bit colder and even rained. Here in Kunming it is cloudy and rather chilly at the moment and I have no idea how it's going to be in the next weeks. Hopefully nice, warm and sunny!!
Below you can find some pictures and a movie from our little holiday!

Playing cards & drinking tea and beer in People's Park with Sam & Shos


American Style Birthday Diner


Little panda cubs having a great time
Watch the movie

Pretty hard to put a whole "hotpotted rat" in your mouth ;-)


Now I'm off to get some food and hopefully get a good night rest for my job interview tomorrow @ 16.00!
Toedeloe,
Moi

Pandas, mountains and Chengdu

Waiting...

We are having a nice little holiday in Chengdu! Visited the pandas, went to several parks in Chengdu and made a two day trip to Qingcheng Mountain. Now we are back in Chengdu and don't have a lot left to do except waiting for the call from the consulate that the passport is ready and we can pick it up!
But we are not bored! The weather is good (really hot), there are many nice parks with tea houses where you can easily spend and entire afternoon drinking tea, playing cards and reading. Food is great as well! Had hotpot twice, some delicious dumplings, great noodles and a fantastic hamburger... (no not McDonald's!!).

Other really good news is that I will have a job interview this Friday!! It's an interview for the position of economics/business teacher at Yunnan University and I would really like to get that job! It would be so nice to continue the kind of education I did in Maastricht only now you are the one that is supposed to know everything ;-) So instead of presenting 2-4 times a semester you have to do a "presentation" in every class!

Hopefully the passport will be done on Thursday latest so that we can travel back to Kunming together, otherwise I have to go by myself since I need to be back on Friday for the interview.

Pictures and more stories in a few day when I get back to Kunming!!
Houdoe,
Ikke

Change of plans

Why?

Because this morning someone pick-pocketed Shoshannah and got hold of her wallet. Normally that just would have sucked, but unfortunately she still had her passport in her wallet from our previous trip so this time it really sucks. To get a new passport she has to apply for one in person at the American consular in Chengdu approx. 1100km from Kunming… And it will take 5-7 working days for them to process this request. So she’ll have to wait more than a week to get it.
Besides that it is her birthday this Thursday (same date as my dad!), so we decided to combine the good with the bad and turn the trip to Chengdu into a little holiday. So once again I’m going on holiday :-)

Today we got another taste of Chinese bureaucracy. Shoshannah has to report the incident at the Public Security Bureau (PSB) of the Bus Company, then at the Kunming Municipal PSB and even at the Newspaper… And since it takes the Chinese so long (you have to get a ticket to be allowed into the PSB), we only did the first PSB today. Luckily her supervisor at the University is very friendly and tries to help when possible.

That’s it for now, tomorrow I’m going to teach one of Shoshannah’s English classes (exciting!!) and then I’m off to Chengdu for another holiday!!!

Hastelavista,
Mr. Luud

Chinese food

Has nothing to do with the Chinese food as we know it in Holland!!!

This week we actually cooked twice ourselves! Shos made Chili Con Carne and I tried to make "boerenkool met worst". The chili was so spicy we could hardly eat it and proved to be a valuable lesson in the spiciness of Chinese peppers. To prepare my dish I needed curly kale (boerenkool) but as that doesn't grow in China I used Chinese cabbage. Added some potatoes and a very mild kind of yellow pepper things to it (tasted like piccalilli) and I had a great mash pot (stamppot). And of course the real Dutch Unox smoked sausage completed the feast!

Besides that we always have diner at restaurants. Mostly Chinese, but sometimes we go to Thai, Korean or other types of restaurants just to enjoy different tastes. Chinese food almost always is prepared in a wok and their dishes consist of vegetables, meat, tofu, eggs and cheese (local goat cheese). Just order a few dishes, add some rice, a beer and you have a great meal for only a few (2-3) euro per person! The dishes we know in Holland like Fu Yong Hai or Babi Pangang just don't exist in China! Doesn't matter because this is a lot better :-)
And although I do eat and drink quite a lot here I don't gain any weight. Probable reasons: 1) Enough exercise, 2) Healthy food, 3) Increased metabolism due to all the spices, and 4) Hardly any candy...

This week I really started studying Chinese and got a call about a job possibility at a Dutch/Chinese company. More about that when I have more info! Besides that it has been a lazy week. Did some cycling and fitness, watched a few movies and that is about it!

Next week more news from Kunming!
Zaijian,
Rudolf

May Holiday

Back to the Gorge!!

After a really nice Queens Day celebration on Saturday evening, we left for Dali on Sunday morning. We arrived in Dali after a six hour bus ride and went looking for our hotel. Nice place with friendly people! The first day consisted of nothing but walking around the old city and enjoying the great weather. The second day all of us decided to go on a bicycle ride to the Shaping market about 30 km outside town. After a pleasant ride (on old, rusty, dangerous MTB's) we got to the market and did a little tour.



After the market Shoshannah and I wanted to go further north while the others decided to head back to Dali. We cycled another 20 km and towards the place we thought we could catch a boat to Dali... but we were wrong. The boat would bring us to a place about 25 km outside Dali. Luckily a bus stopped right in front of us and was heading to Dali!! So we threw our bikes on top of the bus and had a very nice ride back to our hotel! Very nice day, although everyone was caught by surprise by the strength of the sun... Everyone had a sunburn somewhere ;-)



On Tuesday we took a bus to Lijiang. Same story here, first day everyone explored the town and the second day we went to the Black Dragon Pool Park. Again it was very sunny and the Yulong Snow Mountain looked amazing! Took some great pictures in the park!



Shoshannah and I left on Wednesday afternoon to go a day early to Tiger Leaping Gorge because we didn't feel like getting up at 6.00 AM. The bus was small and packed with tourists and half an hour before we should have arrived at the gorge the bus broke down... But sometimes break downs are fun! And this was one of those times! Right next to where we had to stop was a garage and 100 meters down the road was a little restaurant that served (cold) beer... so the three hour break wasn't bad at all!!

I won't say too much about the gorge... Once again it was incredibly beautiful!!! This time the tops of the surrounding mountains were still covered in snow and it was a lot less green than last time. Just check the pictures! I once again enjoyed every meter of it even though I was glad when we arrived back at Jane's on the third day. Jane's is the place I stayed several times now and she is a great person that runs a great hostel! Always willing to help you, cheap and comfortable rooms and good food! That same night she arranged a sleeper bus for us. We left Jane's at 19.00 and got back in Kunming at 6.00 the next morning.





Trish, Paula, Amy, Katie, Morgan & Shoshannah, thanks for a great May Holiday!

I wonder what will happen in Kunming the coming weeks...
Auf wiederschnitzel,
Ruud

Almost Queens Day :-)

It's gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day!!

To start with I'll tell you something funny:
Everyone seems to think that I moved to a huge city and in a way you are right. Kunming has 4.5 million inhabitants, which is approximately 5x the number of people in Holland's biggest city (Amsterdam) so most Dutch people would consider it a very big city. However size is a relative matter... Weert only has 49.000 inhabitants which equals to approx. 0.003% of the Dutch population. But since there are around 1.3 billion people in China, the relative size of Kunming is almost equal to that of Weert (using population as the variable). So, in fact the change for me isn't that big at all ;-) That sounds logical, doesn't it..?





The past few days I once again visited one of Collin's classes, checked out two gyms, went cycling again and got an invitation for a Queens Day party organized by the NBSO (Netherlands Business Support Organisation, Kunming) thanks to Marc. Really looking forward to that, because it is an ideal chance to get to know and start networking with some of the Dutch people that live here. Besides that I'm grateful I will still be able to celebrate Queens Day :-)
To get back to those gyms, I decided to "join" one that is in the building opposite my apartment building. It is old, simple, small and cheap. The other one is a much more fancy one with a sauna and a lot of classes you can attend. However getting there requires a bus ride and I know that that will be my most important argument for not going...

Sunday I will go to Dali with Shoshannah, Trish and four of her friends for a short holiday. Together we will visit Dali, Lijiang and trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge. I have been to these places during my previous trip as well, but it is one of the most beautiful areas of China, so I don't mind going back at all. Travelling for a week with five girls... let's hope I (and my eardrums) survive :-)

To all of you: Have a great Queens Day!!!
See you all next week!
Branch

Cycling and having fun

Mexico vs. China...

Last Saturday I made my first cycling trip in China. I knew beforehand that is was not going to be easy finding good roads around here, but I must say that I was pretty successful! It took me about 10km to get out of the city traffic and found a nice, but very steep climb on the western side of Kunming. Of course I tried cycling up and I reached the top, but a combination of high altitude (around 2000m) and heavy gears caused me to get off my bike two times ;-) Nevertheless the top rewarded me with a magnificent view over entire Kunming! My first 33 Chinese kilometers are in the pocket!
Later that day we decided to make Mexican food (makes sense when you're in china, right..?!).



After a great diner and several Redheaded Mexicans (tequila shots) with Trish, Aaron, Shoshannah and three of their Chinese friends we went out for some real Chinese entertainment: KTV. Also known as: Karaoke... I have to admit that it was really funny, but it definitely is not something I want to do more than two times a year ;-)

You can listen to a recording of my magnificent voice, but I have to warn you: I CANNNOT SING!! Haha, enjoy the video!



On Sunday I didn't do anything spectacular, slept in, ate, watched some movies and that's it :-)

However, the next morning I joined Collin to one of the classes he's teaching (Collin's job is the one I would like to get next year...). The subject of the class was International Negotiations and I really enjoyed watching him teach. What he does is giving a kind of lecture, while actively involving his students at the same time. Felt like the system we used in Maastricht, with the difference that here they actually have a teacher and in Maastricht the students educated each other.
In the afternoon I went cycling again. Found a great road to the south and climbed the hill towards the Dragon Gate Temple (about 4.2km with a 300m rise in altitude). It was a great ride and everything went perfect until I got back into the city itself... I knew I had to go north and a little east, but it still took me about an hour to get back home! But well, another 60km could be added to my cycling total ;-)

About the weather... it is great! Feels like summer all the time. Sometimes there are some strong winds, but you can always walk around in shorts and a t-shirt! My two cycling trips already caused "sunburn lines" on my arms!

Nothing more to say at this moment!
Mazzel,
Rudi

Getting used to everything

Ni Hao!

After a few days in Kunming I'm starting to get used to the idea that I will be here for a long time. I try to make myself feel at home by exploring the streets, starting to learn some Chinese and doing things I would do back home as well. I bought a Chinese SIM-card, so I can call people and companies around here, put my bicycle back together and shopped for several items I still needed. There is one thing that is a lot worse than expected: Chinese are small! And so are their feet... The largest shoe size they sell is 44 and I'm a size 45/46 :-( So I can't find any sport shoes (except very ugly, huge basketball shoes) or normal shoes to fit my suits... It's going to be a challenge finding them!

Yesterday I got a call from Aaron, one of the Americans teaching here, that a Chinese company was looking for a white person to act as a spokes person for a perfume company. Of course I was interested, because why not get a job just because you are white... haha! Three people from that company picked me up in a huge Toyota and drove me to their company near the airport. Although one of them spoke a little English and acted as a translator, it was really hard to understand what it was that they exactly wanted me to do. After a tour of the company and lots of blah blah another person arrived that did speak "excellent" English. But even with his help my exact job description remained a little vague.
However this is what I think they want me to do: To be a representative of the company they do business with in France. To do that I have to sit in a glass office, pretending to be heavily involved in Research and Development on new perfumes and cosmetics, while Chinese tourists walk by and are impressed by this tall, white, "handsome" person that is working for this company so they will buy more products...GREAT Chinese business experience! Don't know yet whether I'm going to do it. First have to discuss the amount of time and the pay, but it sounds really "fun" to play a "white monkey"!! And at the moment I don't have anything else to do ;-)

Today I will make my first cycling trip. But that is going to be a challenge as well. There are no good maps of the area and traffic is, like in any other Chinese city, a disaster... Let's just hope I'll be able to remain on my bicycle ;-)
Besides the daily stuff, we are also planning the better parts of life: holidays!! The first week of May (National Holiday) we're going (back) to Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang and Dali. For the summer we are planning to go to Laos and the Philippines! Lots of good thing to look forward to!!

Mensjes, dat was alles, de groeten maar weer!
Rudolf

Back in China!!!

He's back!!!

The flight to Beijing went without any problems and I arrived as planned around 9.00. Grabbed my suitcase and bicyclebox (which arrived a little damaged, but the contents were still alright) and walked to the exit to enter China! And surprise, surprise... I even had a welcoming committee! Even though it was a single-person committee it didn't make me any less happy! Shoshannah was waiting for me and after several hugs and kisses we dropped my bike at a left luggage place and took a taxi to the center. The first day we walked around and after a trip around Hou Hai lake we decided to go for the HotPot place I loved so much when I was here last time! And it still exists!! Again only 20 kuai for all-you-can-eat-and-drink! Good food and lots of fun.

On Friday we did some shopping at one of the tourist malls. Lots of counterfeit stuff, but also some nice clothing, shoes, jewelry and anything else you can think of. We also changed hotels, because yesterday we came across this very nice, bright, well-located hotel called 7 Days Inn and I loved it from the start. Later that day it was time to do the thing I decided to do long before I got here: get a tattoo! We went to this really nice guy that did Shoshannahs tattoo as well last year. After some talking and showing him exactly what I wanted he copied the picture on some paper and then onto my arm. It took him a long time to prepare all his equipment and I did get pretty nervous. But seeing how he handled his stuff like he'd done it many times before made me feel more at ease. Then the actual hurting started... it feels like he's scraping into your arm with a very tiny and extremely sharp razor blade. It only hurts every once in a while, but in general I must say it wasn't bad at all!! The pictures below show the result!







She was supposed to get her tattoo redone after mine, but the tattoo guy insisted we had to have diner with him and his wife first and then he decided to watch a movie... at 23.00 we told him we would come back another day because it didn't look like he was planning to do her tattoo in the next hour or so... Chinese ;-) At night we had some drinks near the Worker's Stadium and went to bed slightly drunk :-)

On Saturday we made a trip to the Summer Palace. The weather was great and at moments like these the palace area looks incredible! After our trip we took a bus to a local noodle place and had some really good noodles. Later that night we again wanted to go out and have a party but it was kind of "dead" all around the lake... too bad, but we still had a nice night.



On Sunday we slept for a long time and then decided to go to the Forbidden City. Arrived around 15.00 both hungry, so we decided to get some noodles. While the noodles were being prepared I already got the entrance tickets and we sat down on a railing to eat the noodles and watch the Chinese do their thing. Had to go on a picture with a Chinese family (they just love white people...) and then wanted to go in. But... the big gate that serves as entry gate was closed! They stop allowing people in at 15.30 and guess what time it was... yes, 15.35 :-( At least that gave us a plan for Monday morning, back to the Forbidden City. So we went to the central shopping street of Beijing, looked around a little and again went back to the HotPot place :-) Lucky me!!



So on Monday we did the Forbidden city tour and got back at the hotel around 13.00. Got our bags, took a taxi to the airport, checked in, got on the plane and at 20.00 we were in my new home town: Kunming!! Again as taxi to the apartment, ordered some pizza and unpacked. Now that I'm "home", I can start doing everything that is needed to get a real life here. Look for a job, study Chinese and do everything possible to make me feel at home here, but I don't think that's going to be very difficult :-)



And you all know: you are always welcome!!
Greetingzzz,
Ruudje

The last weekend!

The "end" is near... but so is a new beginning!

This week I started with putting aside all the things I want to take with me to China. After some rough measurements I was happy to conclude everything falls within the space and weight restrictions I have :-) On Thursday I packed started with the actual packing. My dad and I prepared my bike and were able to add three suits, three shirts and some other bicycle stuff in the big blue "KLM Bicycle Box". So the first 19.9 kg are packed!

The weekend consisted of nothing but small and bigger parties. On Friday out to diner with my parents and my sister and her boyfriend and after the diner we went out in Weert. Nothing special, but nevertheless it was the last time before I leave.
On Saturday Mark, Erwin, Yvonne, Thieu and I went to Holland Casino in Valkenburg with the idea of leaving the place as rich people. Those dreams didn't quite come true but we still had a great time. Thieu was allowed to go into some kind of whirlwind box where he had to collect as many cards as possible. Sensation all over the place, but he did win us a round of drinks and snacks on the house!After the casino we went into town and did some barhopping. Valkenburg is a fun little place to go out. Nothing spectacular, but exciting enough to have a good night out!




Yesterday it was time to say goodbye to my family and neighbours. My whole family was together, the weather was great and everyone was having a good time! We made lots of pictures so I have some physical things to remember them by and the night ended in a bunch of us being a bit drunk and others making fun of the things we did ;-) I had a great time and would like to thank all of you that were present!!! See you in... well... don't know exactly yet, but it will be at least a year and a half!





I must say that the last weeks were really great! Feels like I have done everything I could and wanted to make my goodbye as nice as possible! One thing couldn't be resolved and that is too bad... but that is not in my hands anymore even this ended well!!. So I am going to pack my last stuff and will leave for China on Wednesday afternoon!

Groetjes,
Ruudje

Last full week...

Busy, busy, busy...

After a tough Monday night and a boring Tuesday, I treated myself to a brand new, great laptop as a "goodbye Holland" gift :-) Did some cycling and worked at the printing company, Manger Mangiare and at Parc. Also went clubbing in Utrecht once more (and got really, really wasted...) and went out in Weert with my sister. On Sunday I visited a birthday party and had diner with both my grandmothers and that is it...

Doesn't sound like a lot, but it didn't leave me a lot of time to spend on the preparation of my departure. This week I am really going to get all my stuff together and put it all in a separate room, so I can more easily check whether I've got everything I need or not.

Next weekend there are a bunch of goodbye parties :-) Really looking forward to those!
See you all soon!

Knuffel,
Ruudje

Party in da (new) House!

Housewarming Parties in Utrecht City Rule!

The week itself was just like any other week. However on Friday I had diner at Olga and Hans and had a great night. It kind of served as practice for the day after, because on Saturday it was housewarming-party-time at Marks new crib ;-)

After a small tour of his house, some beers and lots of French (Dutch) fries we decided it was time for some rounds of KINGS!! Great fun and the ultimate preparation for a night out!



In Utrecht we started in a very laid back bar and we ended in the "Winkel van Sinkel" where we continued dancing to the techno beats until the very early hours... I could tell you exactly how it was, but it would never be as much fun as the night itself... so next time: join us!!



This is what Utrecht city sounds like... PARTY!!!

Even Sven enjoys Techno

Nothing else to tell you! I'm still busy making the last arrangements before I leave and that's it!

Houdoe!!
Ruudje

Yes, they really exist

Wooden shoes, tulips and of course windmills...

Three stereotypical Dutch things that are not entirely correct anymore. Of course, some people still wear wooden shoes, we do grow lots of tulips and in the countryside you can find dozens of windmills. Just to add a little Dutch feeling to this site I posted a photo of an authentic Dutch windmill. So be amazed!! ;-)



This weekend I was just cruising around on Hyves (the Dutch equivalent of facebook.com) and came across a forum topic titled Kunming. Of course I was interested and checked it out. One of the comments was posted by someone named Marc Frencken. Well there used to be a guy with that name in my high school class. When I checked his website I was pretty convinced it was the same guy. Emailed him and after an online chat it appears that he is Kunming for the next one and a half year as well :-) This news got me even more excited to go there! Already a Dutch friend in China and he even likes to cycle... Is this luck or is it just meant to be?!

Besides that I don't have a lot of new information. Went to The Hague on Friday and picked up my Chinese visa and continued to Schiphol to buy a bicycle box to transport my bike in during the flight. The size of the box caught me by surprise a little... even had trouble fitting the thing in the car!

I still work at the printing company, earning money for a very nice laptop I want to buy. That is probably going to happen next week :-) More news will follow when I have something new to tell you (that's the whole idea behind news isn't it...).

Mazzel,
Rudolf

A little bit of everything

Nothing special, but still a good week!

Last week was the birthday party of my uncle and cousin. Got a taste of the new Grolsch bottles and we played some darts. Was the first time I saw that side of the family since I got back from Asia so we had lots to talk about. For those who don't know Dutch culture... the plate on the bottom is filled with little frikandellen and bitterballen (google on them if you want to know more)!!





Started going to the gym again. On Monday was my first session together with Sven. Good to do some exercise, but why does everything have to hurt afterwards... Planning to go approx. 3-5 times a week and get back into shape.

On Wednesday my sister and I decided to make sushi for diner. Not the easiest thing to do, but it always ensures some fun during the preparation and very tasty food afterwards! Those Japanese food know good food!!



On Friday I once again worked at Manger Mangiare (the cooking studio of Olga and Hans). It was a group of really nice people, so once again an evening to remember! They get to make great food and excellent wines and of course I get the same... haha. Doesn't really help to loose those couple of pounds I was planning to ;-)



Afterwards I called my sister again and we went out for a few drinks. Had a great time, but at the end of the night my sister somehow slipped on some steep stairs and fell down a couple of metres, face forward... She is kind of bruised at the moment, but luckily nothing really important is damaged :-) Get well soon, my little smurf!

Saturday working at Parc de IJzeren Man. A rally ended there, so we needed to prepare food for 250 people. Was so good to see everyone again. Felt like I never left there at all :-) That same night my ski-posse had a housewarming / apres ski party at Ronnies new "crib". Lots of beer, chips and sausage rolls later we once again went into town for a party extravaganza... Back home at 5 AM... lol!

A few more weeks and then........ CHINA!!

De Mazzel,
Ruudje

11 April 2007

That's the date I'll be leaving Holland!

The KLM was going to change its student ticket policy on the first of March, so I decided to buy my ticket just before... For just €363,- I bought a one-way ticket to Beijing where I'll arrive at 8.55 on the 12th of April. After a few days in Beijing I'll be heading down to Kunming where I will stay at least until the summer of 2008. Kunming is located in the most south western part of China (see map below). It looks like it is in the middle of the south of China, but "everything" to the left of Kunming is kind of "inaccessible" area...



Leaving Holland for (at least) such a long period has several consequences. I have to cancel the registration in my municipality, cancel my health insurance, cancel my allowance for the health insurance and find a new insurance to cover my ass while abroad!
Besides that I have to think about what to bring with me and what to leave behind. I already figured out that I'm going to send a box of approx. 20kg by mail before I leave and that I'll be taking a 20kg bag, my bicycle and some hand baggage on the plane.

The job I'm hoping to get in Kunming is teaching Economics. My friends there are putting in a lot of effort to get me that job. If that doesn't work out I'll have to start looking for a job when I get there. And most probably that job will be teaching English to Chinese students. No problem at all, but I'd much rather teach economics or business. Oh well, whatever it is going to be, I am soooo looking forward to go back there!

If anyone of you is in the neighbourhood... you are always welcome to drop by ;-)

Hastalavista,
Ruud

My new job ;-)

I am becoming nocturnal...

Since I'll be going back to China I thought my time in Holland would be well spend earning some hard euros! However I prefer to be free during normal office hours in order to make all the necessary arrangements. So I ended up working shifts at a printing company called Roto Smeets de Boer. The work itself is really boring, but the money is good and I get to work night shifts.

So I spent the last 6 nights (23.00 - 7.00) in a row moving parts of magazines from one place to another and making sure the machines would do their job. The people are very nice, but when you tell them you studied Economics at a University they give a look like they want to say: So what the fuck are you doing here then??? Nevertheless, the work is just fine for now and it serves its purpose: increasing the balance of my bank account!

I already thought of some dates to go back to China and most probably it will be somewhere in the middle of April. I am really looking forward to it and hope I won't encounter any stupid things that will mess up my plans!

That's all folks!
Rudolf

Carnaval!!!

Yesterday I killed another million billion brain cells...

Dressing up like an idiot and behaving like on too. That is what carnaval is all about :-) This year Saturday was the only day I had the opportunity to really celebrate it, since I have to work night shifts at my new job the rest of the days (btw new job is at a printing company). So I put on some party clothes from last year and started the evening with Mark, Sven and Erwin at my sister's place. A "few" beers later we went to Harry & de Gebroeëke Zwiêgelkes and ended in town.







http://images.travelpod.com/users/ruudbatta/serre_chevalier.1171201800.mvi_4725.avi

Although the night was great ending in being really drunk, the morning after wasn't that great... ;-) Poor brain cells! Oh well, I had fun! On Sunday I only briefly went to town, because work started at 23.00. I wonder where I'll be next year at this time of year...



De groeten,
Ruudje

Highlights & Lowlights

Best experience of my life!!!

Of course some things were more exciting than others, some events will vividly remain in memory while others will fade. As a very short summary I will give you all the highlights and also the "lowlights" of my trip.

Highlights

Trekking through Tiger Leaping Gorge! The views and people along the way were just incredible!

Visiting the highest place in the world: Mount Everest! The first sight of this incredible mountain and the extremely cold night I spent in Everest Base Camp are moments I will remember forever.

Walking on China's Great Wall! The wall itself isn't that spectacular, but when you see the inaccessible environment where they build that thing... you're awestruck!

Spending a few days with the Chinese Family of my friend Sun Chao. It gave me a new look on this huge country. No tourist in sight for the next 200km, but just experiencing the real Chinese way of life.

Having fun and drinking BeerLao en whiskey while Tubing in Vang Vieng! My first real holiday feeling. No cultural, no temples, no traveling, just drinking and laughing!

Doing a boat trip through Halong Bay near Hanoi. The karst mountains rising from the water give you the feeling you are set back in time.

World's biggest man-made temple complex: Angkor!!! Unbelievable that people can be so dedicated to some gods that they build structures like this.

Partying during New Year's Eve and The Full Moon Party at Koh Pha-Ngan. Being at a house party on beach and going on until the sun rises again :-)

Climbing Gurung Bromo at sunrise! Although the horses did most of the work, the last climb to the top, the surreal surroundings and the smell are things never to forget.

Getting around is easy in Asia, but renting Push and Motor Bikes rulezzz!! Traffics seems to be crazy, but when you go with the flow everything will work out just fine!!

There is one thing you get from visiting all these sites and that is a very good appetite! Luckily Asian Food is among the best in the world and I enjoyed every single meal!!!

Although all of the above highlight sound great, they would have been so much less exciting if it wasn't for The People I met during the trip! Thank you all for making my trip an unforgettable experience!! I can't mention all of you, but Scott, Iris & Matthias, Rodney, Shoshannah, Martti, Sun Chao, Ryan, Alan, Jordan & Dana, Jack & Jess, and Inge deserve a special thank you!!!


Lowlights

Planting my foot in a piece of glass in Tibet. In the beginning I thought everything would be alright, but it ended up in a bad infection and me spending a few more weeks in China as planned. The positive side is that the foot healed perfectly and I had a great time staying in Kunming!!

Not a real lowlight, but more kind of a disappointment: The Terracotta Warriors. I am glad I saw them, but they weren't as impressive as I imagined/hoped them to be.

And in general the Poverty (and extreme difference between rich and poor) you see all around in Asia. Although it does make you realize how lucky we are :-)


That's it... no more Asia tales from Ruudje. But don't be sad... the ultimate highlight still has to come. I love China and this combined with the people I met inspired me to go back there. So in about two months I will go back to China, get myself a teaching job and lead a happy live there!

De Groeten,
Ruudje

Serre Chevalier

Sun, snow, beer and friends :-)

My return from Asia didn't quite go as planned. The flight from Jakarta to London Gatwick was good, but then for some reason I decided to walk to the wrong train station and buy a ticket for the wrong train... Before figuring out that I did something incredibly stupid I was to late to catch my flight from London Stansted to Eindhoven. Luckily the next flight left the day after at 6.55 PM, providing me with enough time to catch the bus that would bring me (and Mark, Sven and Erwin) to our skiing destination (Briancon, Serre Chevalier).

The trip was once again amazing!! The first few days were hot, really really hot! So during our lunch breaks we could sit/stand on our balcony in our bare chest!! Just great!



Of course we also did a "little" bit of partying!! The party wasn't as good as last year... our hostess was just boring!! That meant we had to make our own party and when you have a notebook, lots of music, some speakers, lots of beer and us... a party is guaranteed :-)





The fourth day it started snowing and that made the skiing absolutely fabulous! Deep powder snow always ensures great fun on and off the slopes! The ski lessons we took this year only increased the fun due to the very nice people in our group (Karin a.k.a. Kaatje and Gert a.k.a Gerard or G-G) and our teacher Marc.





The last days the weather once again was sunny and hot, so Mark and I "abused" the situation and got really drunk on the slope drinking hot red wine :-) once again bare chested... And for some reason (probably because we looked so damn hot...) we got a round of free wine from the waitress haha!



Certainly something we should do again and again and again :-)

Au revoir,
Ruud