Tag: china

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in china music

we’ll have our own rickshaw cart

adventure movies come with a soundtrack. the opening tunes for ed harcourt and miss rita, who sent me and p. the song because it reminded her of us (thanks again!).

it’s called “Shanghai” and we hummmm it on a daily basis, it’s perfect. :)


Let’s move away together, go interplanetary
Maybe in Chinese weather, where it’s sanitary
I’ll go out trawler fishing, yeah we’ll have tuna steak
I’m on a special mission, for us to have a break

We’ll climb the corporate buildings
Spray-paint the outside walls
You bet that they’ll be yielding
When the castle falls
We’ll swim beneath the ocean

Near the coral reef I have a certain notion
That it will not be brief

We’re going to Shanghai
To watch the red sky
We’re moving to Shanghai
Goodbye, goodbye
We’re going to Shanghai
So don’t you cry

We’re moving to Shanghai

Looks like we might have made it
Put on your silkworm dress
You look so beautiful and I look such a mess
Across the city’s landscape, the sun burns crimson red
Maybe the moon will wait, before we go to bed

We’re going to Shanghai
To watch the red sky
We’re moving to Shanghai
Goodbye, goodbye
We’re going to Shanghai
So don’t you cry
We’re moving to Shanghai

Maybe, maybe we’ll have a fresh new start
I’ll learn the martial arts
We’ll have our own rickshaw cart
We’re moving to Shanghai…


(Shangai, Ed Harcourt)

Categories
in the netherlands

jelly good.

dear friends.
after six months here in portugal to wrap things up at the university, i am now, officially, an “engineer”. a pretty clueless one, career-wise, but i’m working on that bit. ideally, i would like to develop my designing skills, as i realize i still have a long way to go to get any good. i like information visualization and interface designing, but i want to explore a lot more before i choose what i really want to focus my attention on.

on a different (but related) subject, and since i’ve told it to my parents and most friends, i can give the rest of the internet the big news too: we’re moving to shanghai, me and p.
yes, shanghai. the biggest city in china, the 8th in the world, the “pearl of the orient”.
after my one year in the netherlands, and p’s 6+9 months in the netherlands and the usa, i think the “exploring bug” really got into us.
it just seems right. the right timing, the right city, the right person to hold my hand on the plane. and besides, if you don’t trust your intuition, what else do you have?

the details of the process of moving there include job hunting, a house, plane tickets and luggage allowance, visas and plenty other details that will keep us busy on the next few weeks. i’ll try to keep you posted. wish us luck! :)

Categories
in china

the anatomy of an adventure

…applications, english teacher, forums, celta, freelance web content writer, waiting, graphical designer, hours per week, proofreader, curriculum vitae, relocating, follow-ups, french, teofl, computer science, photography assistant, software engineer, motivated, rmb, native speakers only, proficiency, portfolio, fluent, yes-no-maybe, thesis, experience, accommodation included, classifieds, patient, esl cafes, scamming, ads, certifications, applications, telephone interview, career, email, internship, information technology, craigslist, expat, developer, web-designer, job board, forms, portuguese linguist, z visa, i am looking forward to hearing from you, ana. stop. rewind. play again.

it’s funny to think that, almost a year ago, i was doing the exact same thing that i am doing now: looking for a job abroad, trying my luck everyday. i eventually did get lucky.

note to self: “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”.

Categories
in china music

ni hao ma?

mandarin
her face is a map of the world
is a map of the world
you can see she’s a beautiful girl
she’s a beautiful girl
everything around her is a silver pool of light
people who surround her feel the benefit of it
it makes you calm
she holds you captivated in her palm

suddenly I see
this is what I wanna be

suddenly I see
why the hell it means so much to me …”

kt tunstall, suddenly i see

i heard the tunes of this song on the opening of the devil wears prada, and it has been stuck in my mind the whole day. i like these kind of jolly songs that make me want to shake my head around and sing out loud. they usually have the energy that it takes to lift spirits and motivation a bit, and turn me into a productivity frenzy bee.
does this happen to you? what’s your soundtrack? please share!

ps – lulu, i’ve started learning mandarin this week :) i’m one step closer!

Categories
in the netherlands

the big big city of argentina.

we couldn’t believe it at first.
argentina. tango. coffee. buenos aires. boca junior. patagonia. eva peron. astor piazzolla. mate tea. the second largest country in south america!!…
and she thought it was a… a city somewhere?!
how to explain someone from a country with over one billion people that there are other (big) countries in the world as well?

we had to do something about it, we had to introduce the world to our chinese girl!

and so, from monday on, we have cultural evenings. everyone picked a country and has roughly half an hour after dinner to present it to other floormates. a country per day. pictures, movies, music, food, history, anything goes… i predict funny after-dinners and interesting geographical researchs.
we hope it works.

ps – my day is tomorrow. egypt, here we go!

(click the image for bigger size)