West Melon~~

While writing the last blog I was eating "xi gua", literally West Melon... In English they call it watermelon because it's a melon mainly consisting of water. That's easy to comprehend. But why Chinese, they call it West Melon?

Preparing to go to Beijing~~

Only 2 days left before I will leave this place. It looks like the day I will go to Beijing is coming closer and closer. :) Like always when I am leaving, I have mixed feelings. Because the excitement to discover a new place is always tempered with the sorrow to leave a place that is dear to me.
First leaving Belgium leaving all my friends... then my parents and brother and sister said bye to me when going back.. and now I'm leaving Guang Dong and all the family that is living here. After having been living here for a month and a half, I begin to love this place as well (especially the shops :P).

This is the city where I go everyday. It's called Foshan and in terms of China, just a small city...
But I think Foshan might be as big as Brussels.Every city I have been to, big or small, they have an infrastructure where eating places are all together in one area, all clothes shops are together in one area,... so there is a "book-city", a "computer-city" and a "eating-street". And of course, Mc-donalds and KFC, you find in every shopping street.





























This is my grandma, and her cute little house where she has been living all her life since she married our grandfather. This living room has been like that since my first memory~~
So now I am packing and cleaning the house (and I don't understand why the cockroaches have to die in my house!! There is no food in here!!).

Andries asked me where my Chinese making- pictures-instincts were. I have them... but I got out of practice during last year. Here is a little starter. I'm sure I will be more "taking-pictures"- active in Beijing. A matter of keeping the Chineseness high!


This is the living room in our house in the village. Although it's big and comfortable, my parents only come back once in a year.











I spend my birhtday here in this old house, to make my grandma happy. It was a cosy evening. Afterwards we went for a foot massage and beer. For me, that was already three years ago. (Thank you all guys, who sent me bd-greetings. It's nice to get these messages from so far away!)



I decided to go to Beijing by train, although there are some risks. My family declares me crazy. "it's dangerous by train, you are not used to it! why not go by air? You make yourself suffer"
" That's why, I'm not used to it!" I think a train travel of 22 hours will be an eye-opening experience. I just need to be carefull for robbers and to drag all my heavy stuff.

In fact, it's not totally untrue. Since i have been in China, I need to beware of much more things than I'm used to. My spontaneous character gave my family often a silly impression. I know they think:"Why is everything she is thinking that simple?" Hahahaha. That's the fault of AIESEC, making me think I can conguer the world! :D

Hospital-ity~~

Yesterday I went to the hospital to do a physical examination as my future school institution asked for it. And because all my cousins and aunties and uncles were working or busy, I had to go on my own. But it was crazy~
Like every organisation, the hospital is a system. So I first needed to subscribe, to pay somewhere else, going to the 3rd floor to the appropriate section, to get a number, to see several! doctors and nurses in different places, all for this examination.
I thought I could manage it by asking people, but they were really not friendly and don't seem to have time to help you. So I got a little frustrated by running to places I didn't need to be.

When I was about to leave the hospital, I crossed 2 foreigners guided by a nurse. These two guys, absolutely no charmes, but the nurse was giggling, smiling, giving a first class service to these guys. "What the hell":I was thinking, "what do those guys have what I don't have?".

When telling it to my cousin, he explained that the foreigners are "Fresh" to Chinese people.
I felt discrimation, but then to own people. Why are Chinese friendly to foreigners and not to own people?

Maybe it's because this city I am living in is still a small city? Maybe in Beijing it will be different? But next time I will be smarter than that. I will pretend I only can speak English lar.
Maybe that works!~~

Tropical storms?!~~ 0_0!

This night I couldn't sleep. it has been raining already 2 days and 2 nights. Like God is throwing buckets of water down here. The wind is destroying poor quality houses. this night lots of trees fell down. An iron door on the roof of our house was banging the whole night... but i didn't dare to go upstairs and close that thing. I was totally alone in this big empty house. So the next morning there was a big pool of water in the hall and on the stairs.

It's only in the last years that I really realized how much a climate could influence people's living. Maybe because the one in Belgium is a good climate: not too cold, not too hot. And people are complaining about the few drops of rain. Here, the rain falls like there is sooo much water in heaven. It's hot and humid, making me feeling sticky all day. i walk slower and I like siesta's in the noon (it's too hot to do something).

And now, these tropical storms making me sitting at home a few days. It makes me a little bit down, although the temperature drop down till 24 degrees.
Now that it's so wet outside, there are more mosquito's. I have mosquito bites everywhere on my body. And mosquito's are smart: They try to get out of my sight and bite me where I can't see them. When I asked why they only bite me and not other people, they said their skin is already too thick or that i have sweeter blood. I think they say that because I am the only one complaining about these little cruel beasts. :)

update: The tropical storm has a name, Prapiroon, and it already killed 38 people, 14 missing. I just found out on an English channel CCTV9.