Friday September 25, 2009
Me and Wijb decided to hop to Tang Paradise Theme Park. These days the weather is just fine not anymore stifling and not too cool either to stop you enjoy the beauty of nature and we both have a chance to have an extra holiday and off from work.
Tang Paradise park, is a man-made, ecological park with a great ambience with pleasant nice environment in fact. I t is located in South east of Xian city in vast greenish urban area a bit far from pollution and less traffic around.
This Royal park is located in the center of urban ,resort district which is surrounded by couple of parks around ,luxury, exclusive under construction building and villas and on the other site Big Goose Pagoda which is very symbolic and respective in Chinese religious and even though I can say more historical and cultural nowadays.
This tourist attraction not only claims to be the biggest cultural theme park in the northwest region of China but also the first royal-garden-like park to give a full display of the Tang Dynasty's (618-907) culture.
We sat on scooter and got there in less than 15 minutes. Altogether there are 12 scenic spots are distributed to the tourists. The opening hours are from 9 AM to 7 P.M.
There are large number of buildings which are representing the Tang Dynasty structure and architecture. when you get in you can take an English map and it give you not too vague guidance of the area. As far as we heard , there was a large park area on the north site which we passed by and apparently it is represented to the public in 2008.
After crossing the over pass foot bridge you could get to the other site of Paradise park and enjoy the park with a huge man-made lake in front and some paddle boats as well which are part of adventures there.
While we were strolling and staggering around we bumped into a photography exhibition, or open gallery there. There were so many professional photographers and artists there to take photos and interview the artists and a small speech around there and we had a good chance to walk around the exhibition and enjoy of watching remarkable pictures from unknown places in China. Some were totally from outskirt of cities and some were from nature and sands and desserts and grassland from autonomous areas in China which means Mongolia and Xing zing place/
There was a hotel inside and some snack shops, handy crafts market , Chinese paper making ,a tea house and some sculptures which all represent the Tang period atmosphere.
IT IS NICE TO STROLL AND WANDER AROUND A COUPLE OF HOURS AND ENJOY THE NATURE THERE.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday September 23, 2009
Wednesday September 23, 2009
Xi'an is one of China's eight ancient national capitals and the home of the famous Terracotta Army. It served as China’s capital for ten dynasties, spread intermittently over a 1,100 year period from 221 BC. This was the significant year when the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shihuang, united China for the first time. China derives its name from Emperor Qin.
One of not so well -developed and well- known attractions in Xian is located in South east of Xian in outskirt a couple kilometer far from the center.
Today Wednesday 23 of September me and wijb decided to hop on the scooter and hit that place which is called “Ocean Park “ on the spot as the weather is quite pleasant and not scorching or balmy anymore.
Although he looked up for the direction we were wondering exactly how to get there, which is not so astonishing, anyhow.
After couple of minutes we stopped by a hotel and with my broken Chinese , asking for map finally ,I could somehow figure out how to get there.
Anyhow we passed by of bunch of empty ,under construction buildings which can call them “pretty luxury types”and exclusive district.
That neighborhood was kind of foppish and elegance in matter of being clean and green and architecture of building and street was entirely new and more likely Western style. Some high blocks and some just couple of floors and presumably like villa style by the end of construction will be appeared.
Immediately after that we both were thinking if we could live there. well it was a nice area but in compare with out residential ,good-class ,dwelling area as we have everything around and handy and green enough ,I bet we wouldn’t switched our place at all.
By the time we arrived there was almost eleven-ish and we got the ticket with half price which was a pleasant surprised and got in. It was totally manifest and tangible empty as we expected at this season. I am sometimes wondering if these kind for places are popular enough in china and lucrative for the organization or not at all.
Ocean park was not too big in comparison with the one we saw in Dali an and Shanghai and the one I visited in Kuala Lumpur(Malaysia) which was fantastic in matter of size and variety of things and more important being natural which is something a visitor of nature expect that.
The point is with a surveillance of observing things as equipments marine animals statues and so on, were made of plastic type. Everything together were compiling more likely a photo album which you are glancing through .In some points was totally funny and eye-catching though.
Some other thing which was dragging our attention was couple of funny, baloney path notes, for instance : “the way to the Marine life”. There was nothing alive there, not even one small Marine animal,
as a symbol.
We passed by an area which we presumed they are trying to show Aliens flew over arctic as we could see a symbol of aliens and a UFO there. For us was kind of irritating and in funny side irrelevant to the Park theme!.
In total was quite fun and kind peaceful adventure to be out and compare places in different societies as we travel and pass by.
Xi'an is one of China's eight ancient national capitals and the home of the famous Terracotta Army. It served as China’s capital for ten dynasties, spread intermittently over a 1,100 year period from 221 BC. This was the significant year when the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shihuang, united China for the first time. China derives its name from Emperor Qin.
One of not so well -developed and well- known attractions in Xian is located in South east of Xian in outskirt a couple kilometer far from the center.
Today Wednesday 23 of September me and wijb decided to hop on the scooter and hit that place which is called “Ocean Park “ on the spot as the weather is quite pleasant and not scorching or balmy anymore.
Although he looked up for the direction we were wondering exactly how to get there, which is not so astonishing, anyhow.
After couple of minutes we stopped by a hotel and with my broken Chinese , asking for map finally ,I could somehow figure out how to get there.
Anyhow we passed by of bunch of empty ,under construction buildings which can call them “pretty luxury types”and exclusive district.
That neighborhood was kind of foppish and elegance in matter of being clean and green and architecture of building and street was entirely new and more likely Western style. Some high blocks and some just couple of floors and presumably like villa style by the end of construction will be appeared.
Immediately after that we both were thinking if we could live there. well it was a nice area but in compare with out residential ,good-class ,dwelling area as we have everything around and handy and green enough ,I bet we wouldn’t switched our place at all.
By the time we arrived there was almost eleven-ish and we got the ticket with half price which was a pleasant surprised and got in. It was totally manifest and tangible empty as we expected at this season. I am sometimes wondering if these kind for places are popular enough in china and lucrative for the organization or not at all.
Ocean park was not too big in comparison with the one we saw in Dali an and Shanghai and the one I visited in Kuala Lumpur(Malaysia) which was fantastic in matter of size and variety of things and more important being natural which is something a visitor of nature expect that.
The point is with a surveillance of observing things as equipments marine animals statues and so on, were made of plastic type. Everything together were compiling more likely a photo album which you are glancing through .In some points was totally funny and eye-catching though.
Some other thing which was dragging our attention was couple of funny, baloney path notes, for instance : “the way to the Marine life”. There was nothing alive there, not even one small Marine animal,
as a symbol.
We passed by an area which we presumed they are trying to show Aliens flew over arctic as we could see a symbol of aliens and a UFO there. For us was kind of irritating and in funny side irrelevant to the Park theme!.
In total was quite fun and kind peaceful adventure to be out and compare places in different societies as we travel and pass by.
Comments about ER T.V series:
Comments about ER T.V series:
Monday September 28, 2009 it has been already a month passed from our faculty meeting to greet us back to work. I have already had a 10 day work and then been almost 10 days off from work due to closing the university campus which is affected by Swine flu.
More over upcoming October national holiday which is a week and might be more for us due to our weekends off in additional gives me chances to study other languages and back to my art and painting a bit more.
Today after a big shopping day and got our free moon cakes from management office I am back to write down about another T.V series which I do adore and kind of addicted.
I have always been fascinated by good T.V series
We are watching DEADWOOD and ER as I wrote on my last Blog about Deadwood. For now I am going through ER.
All the actions in ER TV series happen in a hospital and there enormous numbers of patients any type, to come there and hospitalized for short or longer periods.
I can say as I have been trough couple of it’s seasons it is particularly active ,strong characters ,authentic actions and some synopsis are competitive by bringing new doctor and surgeons who are ambitious and make it more colorful and harder to judge and digest the movie. I do like these cases which I have to kind of find out and make comment in the end of each episode abut what has happened and what could happen in reality. Its Set largely in the emergency room of Chicago's fictional County General Hospital, ER focused on the professional and personal trials and tribulations of the unit's staff,
The point is this series is really realistic as it happened if you hop into one of the hospitals and take your web cam and get some nice shots of what they do. Physician training remained a major focus all season. Viewers were frequently invited to consider different aspects of the residents' professional development. In some parts even you don’t see the nurses as their actions have been totally captures by physicians. Even if what they do sometimes facing with wrath from physicians.
In some episode sadly ,you see how much nurses are down to their senior physicians and mostly if any errors happened from the juniors they jus give a report to the seniors ,instead of giving to the intern doctors chances to learn from their mistakes and not just cover it, which in reality doesn’t happened as often like that.
I quite like one of the characters he is a young senior intern surgeon who has married for couple of years and his life nowadays is so much ups and downs and can call it “falling apart”, cause he has been offered to a higher position for next year and his wife is a young lawyer who is seeking for more options and chances in her life, This couple are a great symbol of a lot of ambitious,, over educated families who mostly consider their position and forget about priorities in life and when they get it which is too late.
He has so many obstacles in front of him and kind of discomforting him, but after a high, sever accident with one of his patients he is awaking from a deep sleep and try to take a proper ,accurate decision for his life.
The bottom line has usually been that the physicians' role is unrealistically large and robust, and the nurses' role correspondingly small and flat. In dramatic terms, the physicians are the tragic heroes, while the nurses are essentially members of the cast.
It has been one of the successful TV. series so far cause of high quality of acting ,variety of senses and strong character including brings new stores line every time to the audiences ,something have to say ,not just junk,
Monday September 28, 2009 it has been already a month passed from our faculty meeting to greet us back to work. I have already had a 10 day work and then been almost 10 days off from work due to closing the university campus which is affected by Swine flu.
More over upcoming October national holiday which is a week and might be more for us due to our weekends off in additional gives me chances to study other languages and back to my art and painting a bit more.
Today after a big shopping day and got our free moon cakes from management office I am back to write down about another T.V series which I do adore and kind of addicted.
I have always been fascinated by good T.V series
We are watching DEADWOOD and ER as I wrote on my last Blog about Deadwood. For now I am going through ER.
All the actions in ER TV series happen in a hospital and there enormous numbers of patients any type, to come there and hospitalized for short or longer periods.
I can say as I have been trough couple of it’s seasons it is particularly active ,strong characters ,authentic actions and some synopsis are competitive by bringing new doctor and surgeons who are ambitious and make it more colorful and harder to judge and digest the movie. I do like these cases which I have to kind of find out and make comment in the end of each episode abut what has happened and what could happen in reality. Its Set largely in the emergency room of Chicago's fictional County General Hospital, ER focused on the professional and personal trials and tribulations of the unit's staff,
The point is this series is really realistic as it happened if you hop into one of the hospitals and take your web cam and get some nice shots of what they do. Physician training remained a major focus all season. Viewers were frequently invited to consider different aspects of the residents' professional development. In some parts even you don’t see the nurses as their actions have been totally captures by physicians. Even if what they do sometimes facing with wrath from physicians.
In some episode sadly ,you see how much nurses are down to their senior physicians and mostly if any errors happened from the juniors they jus give a report to the seniors ,instead of giving to the intern doctors chances to learn from their mistakes and not just cover it, which in reality doesn’t happened as often like that.
I quite like one of the characters he is a young senior intern surgeon who has married for couple of years and his life nowadays is so much ups and downs and can call it “falling apart”, cause he has been offered to a higher position for next year and his wife is a young lawyer who is seeking for more options and chances in her life, This couple are a great symbol of a lot of ambitious,, over educated families who mostly consider their position and forget about priorities in life and when they get it which is too late.
He has so many obstacles in front of him and kind of discomforting him, but after a high, sever accident with one of his patients he is awaking from a deep sleep and try to take a proper ,accurate decision for his life.
The bottom line has usually been that the physicians' role is unrealistically large and robust, and the nurses' role correspondingly small and flat. In dramatic terms, the physicians are the tragic heroes, while the nurses are essentially members of the cast.
It has been one of the successful TV. series so far cause of high quality of acting ,variety of senses and strong character including brings new stores line every time to the audiences ,something have to say ,not just junk,
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A short review of Deadwood .TV series:
A short review of Deadwood .TV series:
One of our hobbies for the evening time is watching T.V series and movies, meanwhile eating our dinner.
One of the series which I am addicted and draw my attention to follow the storyline is ‘Dead Wood’.
Deadwood is town in South Dakota ,which is part of uncivilized society on that period of time in old America back in 1800’s. Covered by corruption and violence every now and then.
There are a couple of characters whose personalities are kind of bizarre in the movie. One of the main character is “Seth Bullok” who I call him “swollen -stick man”. He is kind of arrogant and far from the community. He moved with his Jewish friend to the town and tired to find a legal business there and got a second position as a sheriff there. He is nice and trust-worthy, but he involved with affair with a rich widow calls “Alma Gareth” and in meantime tried hard to bring peace to the camp ,but his snobbish ,cold manner make the audiences feel hatred towards him ,sometimes!
I don’t admire her either ,as she is too rich to be there ,I mean part of the community .She never find a friend or even try to have one, more over she accept a Norwegian child under her authority and adapt her.
Her husband killed there and instead of being positive or doing something she tries to keep the gold from her husband side and has affair and he is addicted to drugs as well. She has to make a forceful marriage as she is pregnant secretly from sheriff and she wants to keep all her will for herself rather transfer to her ex husband family, in meanwhile she got sick and got rid of her illegitimate fetus and then treat her second husband badly , unfairly and draw back to the drugs again after a break.
We have Jane a cow boy drunk girl who tries to act so shrewdly and be as man in that society ,nice helping others but always drunk, on the other hand we have a young whore who find the Jew man( sheriff’s friend) attractive and try to spy on them in favor of her old fucker and boss in whore house and get a job there and her previous activities involve with being baby sitter for the rich widow as well…
We have a lot small other characters who act pretty nice and in their position have a great ,valuable role in the movie though.
In brief it is an epic story of greed and power, war and romance, forbidden loves and secret alliances, and a young hero who rises to power in a modern-day kingdom.
One of our hobbies for the evening time is watching T.V series and movies, meanwhile eating our dinner.
One of the series which I am addicted and draw my attention to follow the storyline is ‘Dead Wood’.
Deadwood is town in South Dakota ,which is part of uncivilized society on that period of time in old America back in 1800’s. Covered by corruption and violence every now and then.
There are a couple of characters whose personalities are kind of bizarre in the movie. One of the main character is “Seth Bullok” who I call him “swollen -stick man”. He is kind of arrogant and far from the community. He moved with his Jewish friend to the town and tired to find a legal business there and got a second position as a sheriff there. He is nice and trust-worthy, but he involved with affair with a rich widow calls “Alma Gareth” and in meantime tried hard to bring peace to the camp ,but his snobbish ,cold manner make the audiences feel hatred towards him ,sometimes!
I don’t admire her either ,as she is too rich to be there ,I mean part of the community .She never find a friend or even try to have one, more over she accept a Norwegian child under her authority and adapt her.
Her husband killed there and instead of being positive or doing something she tries to keep the gold from her husband side and has affair and he is addicted to drugs as well. She has to make a forceful marriage as she is pregnant secretly from sheriff and she wants to keep all her will for herself rather transfer to her ex husband family, in meanwhile she got sick and got rid of her illegitimate fetus and then treat her second husband badly , unfairly and draw back to the drugs again after a break.
We have Jane a cow boy drunk girl who tries to act so shrewdly and be as man in that society ,nice helping others but always drunk, on the other hand we have a young whore who find the Jew man( sheriff’s friend) attractive and try to spy on them in favor of her old fucker and boss in whore house and get a job there and her previous activities involve with being baby sitter for the rich widow as well…
We have a lot small other characters who act pretty nice and in their position have a great ,valuable role in the movie though.
In brief it is an epic story of greed and power, war and romance, forbidden loves and secret alliances, and a young hero who rises to power in a modern-day kingdom.
Tuesday 22 September,
Tuesday 22 September,
The second day of break time; and I was wondering today that it has been quite long time that I haven’t done any painting.
Sometime when I check Face Book, I see some friends doing art and I am thinking back in time to 15 or even more than that ,20 years ago when, I was doing art so seriously ,even I chose my major in art field .
I have had so many exhibitions in and out of Iran .Actually; I was blossoming so fast forward for my age.
Even back to that time I remembered that I was thinking about how lucrative could be my art, in matter of selling and looking into the market.
I was just 22when I finished the study, and I was working for almost 2 years professionally as watercolorist painter, organizing exhibitions in galleries and had customers, who were bugging me with calls and hooked on me with shitty questions.I always wanted particularly special artist.
I had just had a chance to enter to fashion field starting doing programmes on T.V as independent designer cause I had had 6 months training in meanwhile studying at university and I was too young for all these.
So what happened then?
Can we call it, all talent and desired died, suddenly?
Sounds a bit unsecured and hectic, it is.
Well, sometimes the ideas towards art, comes back to me.
Back in time, I wanted to grab and snap the chances. Traveling around Asia or East Asia, chances to get another job as over seas teacher seeking for a better and different life, finding my soul mate, partner, somewhere else in this world.
Maybe I was so too early for everything in life, a prodigy lost in life.
It has been 2 years that I am back to playing music ,and from last year I just watched a movie showed a talented boy how he found his way to start his art and how he blossomed at the end, was a warning and sparkle in my life again.
As the time bring chances in life ,I have had a chance to choose in a certain time in my life ,to digest the risk ,get out of country stand on my feet and use my valor to be a teacher and now stand as a professor at university teaching English and working on my languages skills, and on my free time to draw sketches for fashion and paint, or be there, stick to art there which was great back to those period there and seeking for other chances might have happened or not totally blind and veiled situation in front.!?
Sometimes you receive a total condemnation from society which has happened to me back the time in Iran and even in China couldn’t catch chances back professionally to my art, but I do it as hobby though.
Long introduction today I am in middle of creating something new again. Painting is something that brings me back memories from summer vacation in Holland.
In meanwhile I was drown in my artistic mood about clothes and new design, just a idea came in my mind which when I READ THE FOLLOWING ADRESSS
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/
An article from The Guardian gave me a surprised stun. Such a coincidence.
Girls just want to have fun. That was the message from the British designer Luella Bartley at London Fashion Week yesterday, where she unveiled a collection of sweet, colorful dresses and separates with a pop twist.
I was thinking to buy and even maybe design some new, colorful clothes and now the fashion update goes girly style this year apparently. GOOD news for charming girls.
Thinking about art ,having artistic mind helps your life to be more colorful and creative and always you have something to do ,to think new……
The second day of break time; and I was wondering today that it has been quite long time that I haven’t done any painting.
Sometime when I check Face Book, I see some friends doing art and I am thinking back in time to 15 or even more than that ,20 years ago when, I was doing art so seriously ,even I chose my major in art field .
I have had so many exhibitions in and out of Iran .Actually; I was blossoming so fast forward for my age.
Even back to that time I remembered that I was thinking about how lucrative could be my art, in matter of selling and looking into the market.
I was just 22when I finished the study, and I was working for almost 2 years professionally as watercolorist painter, organizing exhibitions in galleries and had customers, who were bugging me with calls and hooked on me with shitty questions.I always wanted particularly special artist.
I had just had a chance to enter to fashion field starting doing programmes on T.V as independent designer cause I had had 6 months training in meanwhile studying at university and I was too young for all these.
So what happened then?
Can we call it, all talent and desired died, suddenly?
Sounds a bit unsecured and hectic, it is.
Well, sometimes the ideas towards art, comes back to me.
Back in time, I wanted to grab and snap the chances. Traveling around Asia or East Asia, chances to get another job as over seas teacher seeking for a better and different life, finding my soul mate, partner, somewhere else in this world.
Maybe I was so too early for everything in life, a prodigy lost in life.
It has been 2 years that I am back to playing music ,and from last year I just watched a movie showed a talented boy how he found his way to start his art and how he blossomed at the end, was a warning and sparkle in my life again.
As the time bring chances in life ,I have had a chance to choose in a certain time in my life ,to digest the risk ,get out of country stand on my feet and use my valor to be a teacher and now stand as a professor at university teaching English and working on my languages skills, and on my free time to draw sketches for fashion and paint, or be there, stick to art there which was great back to those period there and seeking for other chances might have happened or not totally blind and veiled situation in front.!?
Sometimes you receive a total condemnation from society which has happened to me back the time in Iran and even in China couldn’t catch chances back professionally to my art, but I do it as hobby though.
Long introduction today I am in middle of creating something new again. Painting is something that brings me back memories from summer vacation in Holland.
In meanwhile I was drown in my artistic mood about clothes and new design, just a idea came in my mind which when I READ THE FOLLOWING ADRESSS
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/
An article from The Guardian gave me a surprised stun. Such a coincidence.
Girls just want to have fun. That was the message from the British designer Luella Bartley at London Fashion Week yesterday, where she unveiled a collection of sweet, colorful dresses and separates with a pop twist.
I was thinking to buy and even maybe design some new, colorful clothes and now the fashion update goes girly style this year apparently. GOOD news for charming girls.
Thinking about art ,having artistic mind helps your life to be more colorful and creative and always you have something to do ,to think new……
First day of break ,Monday, September 20:
First day of break ,Monday, September 20:
The first day of our break from work goes not very well at least for me.
Sometimes things goes on the way totally illogical and unexpected.
As they called me from the deputy municipal of headquarter at university to say: ‘The classes might be shut down for a while and no one knows for how long due to sever fast spread of Swine flu”. It was a good news and bad at the same time.
Swine flu is spreading everywhere in campus, no surprised as the quality of classes and dorms are pretty low and in our teaching building is so filthy and damp no wonder the students get sick. No proper hygiene either. It is not too ghastly at least for now.
I am happy at least we seem to be fine till now.
I have received 4 phone calls and bombarded with emails to help those desperate to give the students lesson plans and home works. Mostly things are like that and possibly I might have make up classes later on.
I have spent almost 3 hours proper nice lesson plan for all levels, but they couldn’t get it so they come up with misunderstanding and something different and finally I discovered they wanted something to be published on the Net and then they couldn’t get it and what they exactly want and asked me make it easy in the way of putting numbers and steps for students.
Usually Chinese come like that, no offence to the Chinese who read this. I am not trying to rebuking them. But unclear mumble things, for instance: use words maybe and possibly ,and could you give some suggestions by bumbling words. All those crap words, and if you are bold to neglect them ,good for you, well done, otherwise, it goes on and on until you strangle yourself .Or maybe I am too scrupulous and diligent!
.
I have had so many people doing business here around me and as they claimed too, it is such a night mare understand what they want, cause they don’t know themselves exactly, like a vulnerable victim come close and….
It is not like Europe to have expectation of being professional and precise and meticulous. Things works in different way and you need to know it here.
Well god, that’s the beginning. Some people here have no apathy I wish I could be like that.!
I was kind of pissed of for couple of hours why it is the only one here me to do all work and others hang around.
Anyhow despite that today is a green day and a pleasant weather. I am going to enjoy the rest of the day.
The first day of our break from work goes not very well at least for me.
Sometimes things goes on the way totally illogical and unexpected.
As they called me from the deputy municipal of headquarter at university to say: ‘The classes might be shut down for a while and no one knows for how long due to sever fast spread of Swine flu”. It was a good news and bad at the same time.
Swine flu is spreading everywhere in campus, no surprised as the quality of classes and dorms are pretty low and in our teaching building is so filthy and damp no wonder the students get sick. No proper hygiene either. It is not too ghastly at least for now.
I am happy at least we seem to be fine till now.
I have received 4 phone calls and bombarded with emails to help those desperate to give the students lesson plans and home works. Mostly things are like that and possibly I might have make up classes later on.
I have spent almost 3 hours proper nice lesson plan for all levels, but they couldn’t get it so they come up with misunderstanding and something different and finally I discovered they wanted something to be published on the Net and then they couldn’t get it and what they exactly want and asked me make it easy in the way of putting numbers and steps for students.
Usually Chinese come like that, no offence to the Chinese who read this. I am not trying to rebuking them. But unclear mumble things, for instance: use words maybe and possibly ,and could you give some suggestions by bumbling words. All those crap words, and if you are bold to neglect them ,good for you, well done, otherwise, it goes on and on until you strangle yourself .Or maybe I am too scrupulous and diligent!
.
I have had so many people doing business here around me and as they claimed too, it is such a night mare understand what they want, cause they don’t know themselves exactly, like a vulnerable victim come close and….
It is not like Europe to have expectation of being professional and precise and meticulous. Things works in different way and you need to know it here.
Well god, that’s the beginning. Some people here have no apathy I wish I could be like that.!
I was kind of pissed of for couple of hours why it is the only one here me to do all work and others hang around.
Anyhow despite that today is a green day and a pleasant weather. I am going to enjoy the rest of the day.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
One of rainy in september 6th, 2009
September 6”
First of all I apologize to readers following the stories and send me their prompt comments. I haven’t uploaded things for a while and all is due to bad internet connection to blog site through proxy system. One of the reasons tempting me to write and I do love to spend some of my free time for that is receiving some comments from readers and thanks a lot.
Today is Saturday and another rainy weekend.
This season is going to be long in this pat of China luckily (I love rain and murky, gray sky)
Back on my childhood, when I was little I loved to have rainy days every day which we didn’t. I hated scorching, hot or balmy weather.
In Tehran (for all my Iranian friends out of the country, is a flash back) the city I used to live, we had plenty of snow in almost over 3 months or even more, back to the time we were kid’s and even though Couple of years ago .My dream was that I wanted to live somewhere green and have everyday rain, for me snow was ok but not too fascinating, and now I do want more snow and less rain though.
Isn’t that amazing of what we have and what we don’t in life and not always appreciate it!
It has been almost 6 years I have been living in China and especially on the east coast; we do have so much rain I strongly can say approximately 6 months of the year.
These years’ car factories and other type of factories work hard to expand their products as more and more customers’ enquiries increase rapidly. So you can imagine how much it affects the weather, as I do believe it exist in so many developing and even developed countries. Some cities might suffer less though.
How ever, we have too much rain for half of year if it stops raining we do feel a bit amount of pollution. This city which I am located now is surrounded by mountains and I am hopping soon having snow fall.
Friday, September 18, 2009
My special Thursday night, second week of work:
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9WoXGG53zcafL66dcOPkXlxqmoYVC6QgK5JA0sZWBrjhnNWMxWcC75FZwtHmcOkzpKuSB8Px7f60QtShyphenhyphenFbvojiJFK74FfFPSUr8u0N5K120SrRCa0X7JdVYL9law1bkyLTRn-wrw7k/s320/DSC00867.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383003886022993730" />My special Thursday night, second week of work:
The whole last week was kind of swinging between new term of work and our woozy time being at home and be free to what to do.
I was supposed to have an evening class called English corner. In fact I was happy and sad at the same time. As the matter of fact, I was supposed to have it with Wijb which art least we know each other and happy to work together rather than having with a boozy, scum person.
These kind of classes we might have quite large number of students or vice versa and the point is they want to see a foreigner face and practice their oral English and I love it too, but we don’t know how many and what level and where is going to happen!?
Anyhow by the end of the day we got the message that the class has been canceled. Thanks god for good sake. I was so tired after my last class 6.30 P.M and was not ready at all to have another 2 hours in the evening.
Well now what to do?!
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When wijb gave me the good news by the time ,I came back home .afterward we went back to our usual amusement schedule again. I call it “mind boggling” thing as we do. .
Me and wijb are a great match to find a way to amuse our selves.
We are hooked and snatched on some T.V series as Blue hill street and ER and Dead Wood and South park which is basically a bitter comedy turn into a cartoon. I do love all. Comparatively all have their own specialty and strong different perspective of view.
We pass diner time ,quite smoothly ,relaxing meanwhile having fun learn good lessons from each of these movies based true stories, in the end make our own judgment and discuss about it .
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Bird flu and classes:
Bird flu and classes:
Today Thursday , is the hardest day of the week for me, as I have classes which are split into morning ,afternoon and plus the last 2 hours English corner in the evening that I am sharing it with Wijb.
Despite that Things are going nice and smoothly. It has been already couple of days we
see polices standing in front gate of university and our campus building and check everybody’s temperature .I was wondering something is wrong. Today I heard that one student has got the bird flu!
Well, that is not very good news though. Although we know they have treatment for it and it is not a fetal sickness, but getting it is not good at all.
Well, from now on , we should live in panic and be more careful ,by washing our hands more often and sterilize things we get and use. It is easy to say and hard to handle , cause we are teachers and dealing with students and is unavoidable not to be so close to them.
I still remember my school time back home. Sometimes I still have night mares about it. It was part of my life and so many others which was tough , harsh and sometimes gloomy and grim. In fact few year of my school time was great and couple of years hard, as we had sever examination time ,had to study hard in Math major and get ready for entrance exam at university.
Anyhow ,nowadays we I go back and remember those time I am happy I have done theses things which has made me to be here and stand in this position in another country. If I was not studios and hardworking, not had enough stamina I was not here, I was not able to pass the bridges and stand up here and be proud of my self of knowing 2 other languages and even teach them, do my art even now a days not professionally and have found a good partner casue oftravelling and expanding experiences in my life.
My condition and memories:
Tuesday September 15,
My condition and memories:
Well today was my day off. I don’t feel very well. It has been almost week that we are having crappy weather and this is a flu season. I and Wijb both are woozy and lousy. I have tried to keep home warm and use more fruits and vegetables and take hot showers and do some exercise. Last night was one of those nights we slept just few hours and I can’t make a good nursing for Wijb.
Anyhow, I think his germs are inside me. I have to fight with this sickness and be strong as I hate catching cold, especially I have to work and the next 2 days I am having tough hours teaching.
Today was mild in the early morning and we decided to play tennis. Our tennis has improved grudgingly and we both enjoyed a lot.
I am missing some warm borsch, thick soups. We both know in china is impossible to order this kind of soup.
Chinese soups no offence resembles hot boiled watery stuff with some vegetables floating and swimming on it.
I still have the taste of nice corn, chicken and beef soup, which my mum used to make in cold winters, back home. Recently I missing home a lot and last night part of my sleeping time passed with weird dreams about my past life in Iran .It has been long time and unfortunately I couldn’t have been home. Few days ago, I confess to my mum how much I miss her and home made cakes and food and chats and I am so regretful, that I couldn’t go back home.
I voluntarily scarified it for Wijb because I though he missed me and the time am not safe, especially for him due to Iran condition after June election poll. Moreover we would miss being in such a nice an apartment which now we are, as moving time was in last week of August. We had good time back to Wijb’ home and it was part of our summer plan though.
Anyhow during 2009 so many things has changed in my life, I met Wijb, we started relation ship and we moved from a city to another, we have been offered nice, high respective job at university and we got engaged. I have made 6 trips in china and to Europe as well. In fact sort out our documents for marriage plus tension sand stress afterward starts learning Dutch and some other plans. Just bad timing to go back home which I need making it sometime soon and I hope so.
.
My condition and memories:
Well today was my day off. I don’t feel very well. It has been almost week that we are having crappy weather and this is a flu season. I and Wijb both are woozy and lousy. I have tried to keep home warm and use more fruits and vegetables and take hot showers and do some exercise. Last night was one of those nights we slept just few hours and I can’t make a good nursing for Wijb.
Anyhow, I think his germs are inside me. I have to fight with this sickness and be strong as I hate catching cold, especially I have to work and the next 2 days I am having tough hours teaching.
Today was mild in the early morning and we decided to play tennis. Our tennis has improved grudgingly and we both enjoyed a lot.
I am missing some warm borsch, thick soups. We both know in china is impossible to order this kind of soup.
Chinese soups no offence resembles hot boiled watery stuff with some vegetables floating and swimming on it.
I still have the taste of nice corn, chicken and beef soup, which my mum used to make in cold winters, back home. Recently I missing home a lot and last night part of my sleeping time passed with weird dreams about my past life in Iran .It has been long time and unfortunately I couldn’t have been home. Few days ago, I confess to my mum how much I miss her and home made cakes and food and chats and I am so regretful, that I couldn’t go back home.
I voluntarily scarified it for Wijb because I though he missed me and the time am not safe, especially for him due to Iran condition after June election poll. Moreover we would miss being in such a nice an apartment which now we are, as moving time was in last week of August. We had good time back to Wijb’ home and it was part of our summer plan though.
Anyhow during 2009 so many things has changed in my life, I met Wijb, we started relation ship and we moved from a city to another, we have been offered nice, high respective job at university and we got engaged. I have made 6 trips in china and to Europe as well. In fact sort out our documents for marriage plus tension sand stress afterward starts learning Dutch and some other plans. Just bad timing to go back home which I need making it sometime soon and I hope so.
.
Showery, rainy days and my students:
Showery, rainy days and my students:
Today I have had officially my second week of teaching.
I really felt good about it. I am kind of used to teaching here and the ambience of university is quite nice and impressive to me.
My students are majorities engineering students, but today I had some art ones. They are studying landscape design.
The matter of fact is, students’ progress has been less spectacular but equally impressive.
A lot of art students don’t pay attention that much to the languages, I do know the reason they talk with their brushes and their art. They are proud of their ability to create things and that make them to be one step behind other ordinary classmates in other majors.
I do explain to them as an artist and English teacher, how much theses 2 are connected, helping each other to make connection to the society which we live in.
I do understand them part of teaching pass with my Chinese and translate them into English, which impressed the students and as a result get them to work.
My teaching method is use the students to be each other’s teacher and I monitor them and give them score (this is just for fun) but they learn better, cause they need to concentrate and it build their self confidence and I tell them the point and reason in the end so therefore, they all felt positive at the end of the first week. Personally, I am so happy of my try and creation things in classes.
Most of them are so impressed with my English, not just want to boost me up and flattering things, but I tell them even with wrong education system they are able to build up their languages skills and what they basically need to do.
I assume got the teaching’s instinct from my parents, could be gene in my body. Anyhow today I had my new colleagues around and they were asking me to give some suggestion for their study, in mater of how to handle it in a better way.
Rainy days
September 17th, 2009:
Rainy days”
Some people say rainy days are gloomy days. When it gets dark and moldy, so many creep inside their houses.
Me and Wijb both like rain and I have enjoyed rain enough for almost one month in middle of summer in Holland though.
Fair enough, but things get a bit harder to get and buy, as we are so lucky and prepared and planed for everything.
We just got out for eating and back home for the rest of the days. I am quite busy with reading and studying 2 other languages and my violin is my best friend after Wijb in the time of loneliness and gives me spiritual great motivation.
For the past 2 days was raining continuously and I and Wijbren were totally busy like beavers inside the home and even we didn’t care and it didn’t bother us either.
As I have been in a raining country (China) for over 5 years, so that I am quite used to this weather for at least 6 months of the year.
Especially, on the east coast when it gets so much rain for half of the year.
But actually, we still have some hopes to have some snow in this part which is North West of China and surrounded by mountains.
Rainy days”
Some people say rainy days are gloomy days. When it gets dark and moldy, so many creep inside their houses.
Me and Wijb both like rain and I have enjoyed rain enough for almost one month in middle of summer in Holland though.
Fair enough, but things get a bit harder to get and buy, as we are so lucky and prepared and planed for everything.
We just got out for eating and back home for the rest of the days. I am quite busy with reading and studying 2 other languages and my violin is my best friend after Wijb in the time of loneliness and gives me spiritual great motivation.
For the past 2 days was raining continuously and I and Wijbren were totally busy like beavers inside the home and even we didn’t care and it didn’t bother us either.
As I have been in a raining country (China) for over 5 years, so that I am quite used to this weather for at least 6 months of the year.
Especially, on the east coast when it gets so much rain for half of the year.
But actually, we still have some hopes to have some snow in this part which is North West of China and surrounded by mountains.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The first day of work( teacher’s day)
I had my first day of teaching and back to work today and it was exactly adjust on Teacher’s day.
Well I don’t know how much in Europe take care of this day, possibly not too much ,but in Asia and middle East ,we respect teachers in different levels by buying flowers, greeting cards, saying nice words shows appreciation, being more polite and nice in classrooms or other ways.
Students were so excited specially men to see a female teacher.
As my teaching style goes in this way that for the first session they should ask me questions and I check their level and grammar and so on, therefore some were shrewd enough to ask about my age and my marital status and my mobile number, that was funny though.
I came up with some hints to tell them what kind of questions socially accepted in West and polite and what separated as being informal and bit rude and not convenience to ask someone you meet for first time…
Anyhow I had great day back to work. it was hard starting the day to wake up earlier while Wijb had time in bed and I had to work and after 3 months off from work.
Anyhow my Ms engineering students were so nice and eager to learn I had 4 hours sweet teaching and feel adjust for next week teaching.
Well I don’t know how much in Europe take care of this day, possibly not too much ,but in Asia and middle East ,we respect teachers in different levels by buying flowers, greeting cards, saying nice words shows appreciation, being more polite and nice in classrooms or other ways.
Students were so excited specially men to see a female teacher.
As my teaching style goes in this way that for the first session they should ask me questions and I check their level and grammar and so on, therefore some were shrewd enough to ask about my age and my marital status and my mobile number, that was funny though.
I came up with some hints to tell them what kind of questions socially accepted in West and polite and what separated as being informal and bit rude and not convenience to ask someone you meet for first time…
Anyhow I had great day back to work. it was hard starting the day to wake up earlier while Wijb had time in bed and I had to work and after 3 months off from work.
Anyhow my Ms engineering students were so nice and eager to learn I had 4 hours sweet teaching and feel adjust for next week teaching.
Our big feast and annual teachers meeting:
From the University management we received an invitation for a big meal on a hotel close to the university’s office department. It was Tuesday night and almost one hour earlier I received 2 phone calls one after the other for changing the schedule .It was not very sweet though.
As usually big meal( Business dinners) open discussions and it is a great time talk to the bosses and melt the difficulties, they came up with new timetable for me and some other stuff.
In fact that dinner was good in so many ways.
We met new teachers and some of our old colleagues .Wijb was so happy to talk about his hobbies with some other men!
Some new females were so interested to see how long we have our relations ship and how we met. Well that was out of blue. But I can understand a lot of westerners desperately looking for men to get married. I WAS SO PROUD OF MYSELF and Wijb and we felt at the end everyone look at us and admire ,so we are so lucky, both!.
The food was so much and variety of dishes and sea food and of course toasting wine. We tried to escape from that but it was unavoidable and inconvenience. In fact after having 3 glasses we felt woozy and at night we both had wired night mares!
As usually big meal( Business dinners) open discussions and it is a great time talk to the bosses and melt the difficulties, they came up with new timetable for me and some other stuff.
In fact that dinner was good in so many ways.
We met new teachers and some of our old colleagues .Wijb was so happy to talk about his hobbies with some other men!
Some new females were so interested to see how long we have our relations ship and how we met. Well that was out of blue. But I can understand a lot of westerners desperately looking for men to get married. I WAS SO PROUD OF MYSELF and Wijb and we felt at the end everyone look at us and admire ,so we are so lucky, both!.
The food was so much and variety of dishes and sea food and of course toasting wine. We tried to escape from that but it was unavoidable and inconvenience. In fact after having 3 glasses we felt woozy and at night we both had wired night mares!
Monday, September 7, 2009
the story of Our new scooter
Buying a scooter:
Yesterday me and Wijb made decision to get an electric scooter. He would prefer to have a gas one, but as new regulations in big cities in china we can’t ride a gas, petrol scooter inside the city, out skirt possible.
In recent years, service outsourcing industry in Xi'an has maintained robust growth. The outstanding contractor enterprises, rich human resources and preferential policies have paved a solid foundation for Xi'an to becoming a capital for service outsourcing.
Anyhow after seeing one of colleague’s scooter had been taken away by police, WIJB GOT CONVNICED TO GET ELECTRIC ONE. Well I went with him as we always share everything ,like nice old couples( it has been just a year we are together0,MOREOVER I AM SO CAREFUL OF CHOOSING THINGS AND BARGAINING.
Our Chinese is not that much advance to go through mechanical words, therefore we took one Chinese with us. We met a new American teacher though ,but she was hesitated to get one and we were being lead to another out skirt area. There were just 2 shops and so limited and prices were so high in comparison’s we have one hour rush hour in Chinese cities between 4 to 5 and shifting taxies, so we were standing for half an hour and then finally got one, by the time we arrived to the destination it was 5.30 anyhow we realized new brands are insanely expensive ,so I agreed we get a good second hand.
In fact when we were in taxi I once again realized how much a middle size city as Xian has robust in economy and city size ,when you are sitting in car you have chance to look carefully around. there are enormous changes happening in each Chinese cities, constructions, skyscrapers, highways which have their own advantage and disadvantage though.
Anyhow, the one we got it is just used 6 months and they gave us a good battery, we are not looking for race ,so we considered mostly for battery ‘s life on the road.
As they claimed it take 80 KM for one and half for 2 passengers on the road till recharged. We had to wait one hour in dust and dirt and pollution to received a charged battery, but the point is we asked for something additional for free, as for second hand they should be happy just to sell .
The point of view is, that Chinese talking for an hour to them to negotiate and finally we got nothing, we could always bluff and run away. they mentioned this type can’t add this or that.. blablaaa..
Now it is on our shoulder to get more stuff for it, but I am happy at least we have one now.I am going to add a photo of scooter as well. our first scooter !
Yesterday me and Wijb made decision to get an electric scooter. He would prefer to have a gas one, but as new regulations in big cities in china we can’t ride a gas, petrol scooter inside the city, out skirt possible.
In recent years, service outsourcing industry in Xi'an has maintained robust growth. The outstanding contractor enterprises, rich human resources and preferential policies have paved a solid foundation for Xi'an to becoming a capital for service outsourcing.
Anyhow after seeing one of colleague’s scooter had been taken away by police, WIJB GOT CONVNICED TO GET ELECTRIC ONE. Well I went with him as we always share everything ,like nice old couples( it has been just a year we are together0,MOREOVER I AM SO CAREFUL OF CHOOSING THINGS AND BARGAINING.
Our Chinese is not that much advance to go through mechanical words, therefore we took one Chinese with us. We met a new American teacher though ,but she was hesitated to get one and we were being lead to another out skirt area. There were just 2 shops and so limited and prices were so high in comparison’s we have one hour rush hour in Chinese cities between 4 to 5 and shifting taxies, so we were standing for half an hour and then finally got one, by the time we arrived to the destination it was 5.30 anyhow we realized new brands are insanely expensive ,so I agreed we get a good second hand.
In fact when we were in taxi I once again realized how much a middle size city as Xian has robust in economy and city size ,when you are sitting in car you have chance to look carefully around. there are enormous changes happening in each Chinese cities, constructions, skyscrapers, highways which have their own advantage and disadvantage though.
Anyhow, the one we got it is just used 6 months and they gave us a good battery, we are not looking for race ,so we considered mostly for battery ‘s life on the road.
As they claimed it take 80 KM for one and half for 2 passengers on the road till recharged. We had to wait one hour in dust and dirt and pollution to received a charged battery, but the point is we asked for something additional for free, as for second hand they should be happy just to sell .
The point of view is, that Chinese talking for an hour to them to negotiate and finally we got nothing, we could always bluff and run away. they mentioned this type can’t add this or that.. blablaaa..
Now it is on our shoulder to get more stuff for it, but I am happy at least we have one now.I am going to add a photo of scooter as well. our first scooter !
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Xian and shanghai in glance
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Shanghai has a rich collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. The Bund, located by the bank of the Huangpu River, contains a rich collection of early 20th century architecture, ranging in style from neoclassical HSBC Building to the art deco Sassoon House.
A number of areas in the former foreign concessions are also well preserved, most notably the French Concession. Despite rampant redevelopment, the old city still retains some buildings of a traditional style, such as the Yuyuan Garden, an elaborate traditional garden in the Jiangnan style.
The lights of the Bund and Puxi skyscrapers at night.
In recent years, a large number of architecturally distinctive, even eccentric, skyscrapers have sprung up throughout Shanghai. Notable examples of contemporary architecture include the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre in the People's Square precinct and Shanghai Oriental Arts Center.
Shanghai has couple of great museums which are worth visiting and a nice aquarium as well. Podong and Pushi area are completely vast and make the two side of city completely far and isolated from each other.
In fact in this trip as we were there for business we couldn’t be bother to go around the city for all we have seen before .
When we were back I was comparing Xian as an old cultural and historical city with Shanghai, which is commercial and industrial .shanghai is located on east the Chinese sea and absorbing too many tourists and business people from all around the world.
The traffic is horrible there and without Metro line you are crippled. Cost of life is almost as twice as Xian which is located on the North West of China.
The interesting part of Xi'an itself is the area inside the city wall. This is the old part of town and inside are the Bell and Drum Towers, huge Ming-era towers built to house the city's bell and drum. The Muslim quarter is just west of the Bell Tower. You can easily spend a day inside this area: rent bikes and ride along the walls peering down onto daily Xi'an life, wander around the towers and then stroll into the Muslim quarter, snack on street food and find yourself a bargain in the markets. There's lots to see in the surrounding area too, not to mention the Army of the Terracotta Warriors.
City Walls:
The walls were built on the foundation of the Tang Dynasty's imperial residence in Chang'an (read more about Xi'an's History). While most ancient Chinese cities had walls, most have been knocked down to make way for modern-day roads. Fortunately for you, the Ming-era walls are still mostly intact. Take a few hours to climb up and rent bikes at the top. It's a great way to see Xi'an.
Temples & Such:
Xi'an has some lovely temples to visit.
* Big Goose Pagoda, Dayan Ta - originally built in 648 by a Tang prince, this temple compound has been beautifully restored. Its buildings and gardens offer a park-like atmosphere in which to wander. The pagoda was built to store sutras brought back from India by a Chinese monk.
* Small Goose Pagoda, Xiaoyan Ta - was originally built in 684 in honor of Tang emperor Gaozong.
* Great Mosque, Daqingzhen Si - one of the largest mosques in China. Just five minutes from the Drum Tower in central Xi'an, the courtyard can be visited by non-Muslims.
* Temple of Eight Immortals, Baxian An - Xi'an's largest Taoist temple.
* Forest of Steles Museum (former Confucius Temple), Beilin Bowuguan - largely a collection Silk Road history, the museum has some English labels and the area around the museum has been renovated in Ming-era style so is interesting in itself.
Ban Po Neolithic Village:
Many tours to Xi'an will include a stop at this "village" which is basically a museum housing the pits where the remains of this village have been unearthed. A few interesting artifacts are inside the museum, but it's not terribly interesting unless you happen to be a big fan of Neolithic Man.
The Army of the Terracotta Warriors:
The Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warriors & Horses Museum is by far the top reason people visit Xi'an. The museum is just a half hour outside Xi'an by car or bus. Read more about visiting the Army of the Terracotta Warriors.
There are so many big malls and brands from west there. people are not traditional anymore. Everybody is so busy ,running and rushing to work place and time is too essential as nobody care for anything else.
It is good sometimes to have a trip to Eat coast of China and see how much are the differences in life style between east and west in one country.
I DO LOVE TO BE THERE FOR SHOPPING AND STROLLING IN BIG MALLS AND ENJOY MY TIME CHOOSING DIFFERENT INTERNATIONAL CUISINES BUT NOT MORE THAN THAT.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ecstatic ,trip to Shanghai:
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Ecstatic ,trip to Shanghai:
We are back from special trip to shanghai .I say “special” cause it was a hectic ,annoying, tiring , insane, but successful trip at the end. We spent 3 days in shanghai and 2 days on the round train between Xian and shanghai. We had the last document left, which had to be received from our embassies in China related to our marital status in China and our residency in China, which should have been certified by our embassies in order to be presented as well.
Well these days for me traveling is not very special anymore. I have been traveling for 6 years ,all around Asia and East Asia and started traveling to Europe as well.
I do love traveling but, sitting on the plane or train for such a long time and specially for business trip is another story itself.
We arrived Shanghai in the morning and after being 15 hours on the train with a quick shower started our racing game to hop the metro and reach my embassy and all those papers issued and had to jump to the bank miles away to get the embassy fee there.
I am wondering why my embassy in China so weird ,I have been to Berlin and Hagge, both places are so organized and had accepted credit cards ,anyhow we are in CHINA!.WWOWOW! and after 2hours stuff sorted out and we had nice lunch ,but we the speed of jet craft, due to lack of time.
Then rushed to Dutch embassy and suddenly realized we need another creepy documents ,cause wijb had lived in Ireland for a year and need to prove he was single too. Oh my goodness !~
I am so happy we are back .
This morning we were so active and we got some nice shopping for home decoration’s stuff and I had some other shopping as well. well thing somehow done.
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Ecstatic ,trip to Shanghai:
We are back from special trip to shanghai .I say “special” cause it was a hectic ,annoying, tiring , insane, but successful trip at the end. We spent 3 days in shanghai and 2 days on the round train between Xian and shanghai. We had the last document left, which had to be received from our embassies in China related to our marital status in China and our residency in China, which should have been certified by our embassies in order to be presented as well.
Well these days for me traveling is not very special anymore. I have been traveling for 6 years ,all around Asia and East Asia and started traveling to Europe as well.
I do love traveling but, sitting on the plane or train for such a long time and specially for business trip is another story itself.
We arrived Shanghai in the morning and after being 15 hours on the train with a quick shower started our racing game to hop the metro and reach my embassy and all those papers issued and had to jump to the bank miles away to get the embassy fee there.
I am wondering why my embassy in China so weird ,I have been to Berlin and Hagge, both places are so organized and had accepted credit cards ,anyhow we are in CHINA!.WWOWOW! and after 2hours stuff sorted out and we had nice lunch ,but we the speed of jet craft, due to lack of time.
Then rushed to Dutch embassy and suddenly realized we need another creepy documents ,cause wijb had lived in Ireland for a year and need to prove he was single too. Oh my goodness !~
I am so happy we are back .
This morning we were so active and we got some nice shopping for home decoration’s stuff and I had some other shopping as well. well thing somehow done.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Chinese food affect in my health and our trip to Shanghai
Today was one of those horrible days for me. I have hardly ever had, serious problems with food and stomach ache, but I think after living with Wijb for a year his stomach weakness transfer to me as well. Well beside kidding ,the problem is Chinese food.
I have been living in China for over than 5 years. I remember the first couple of month while I was teaching IN Chinese schools in Wenzhou, I had 2 colleagues from Canada and every other day they were running to the hospital.
I have had some minor problems with stomach once arriving to China.
Anyhow after Wijb got better from last night till now, over 24 hours I am spinning around with pain and simply I don’t know what has happened.
The reality is that is easy to get sick cause the dish are not that much hygiene in fact.
Well beside that has happened to me we are hopefully heading to Shanghai, after waiting for more than a week to get an appointment with Iran consulate in Shanghai as who are in charge of my case are back from summer vacation.
I wish I had a job like that.!
Anyhow ,I am hopping after spending so much money on the phone calling ,stress out and troubling my parents mentally plus ,consuming so much time for documents to get ready and post them to China ,with this one could be the last paper ,which we need for our marriage in Holland .
Well this is just the first step ,if we go through Iranian marriage law to get a certificate from embassy ,then we need to get some more stuff around. I am hopping things will be done be the end of Jan-Feb. next year..
Although with all these ,I am lucky that my job at University starts next week and hopefully by that time we will have done these paper works.
Then we will be back from trip ,we are planning to look for a scooter ( Wijb loves it)and get a few more things for our new apartment, after wards I must confess I will be too tired after 3 months vacation to go back to work.!
Wijb will have another 2 weeks off ,but this term I have more classes than him, no complain anyhow It is fine schedule.
I have been living in China for over than 5 years. I remember the first couple of month while I was teaching IN Chinese schools in Wenzhou, I had 2 colleagues from Canada and every other day they were running to the hospital.
I have had some minor problems with stomach once arriving to China.
Anyhow after Wijb got better from last night till now, over 24 hours I am spinning around with pain and simply I don’t know what has happened.
The reality is that is easy to get sick cause the dish are not that much hygiene in fact.
Well beside that has happened to me we are hopefully heading to Shanghai, after waiting for more than a week to get an appointment with Iran consulate in Shanghai as who are in charge of my case are back from summer vacation.
I wish I had a job like that.!
Anyhow ,I am hopping after spending so much money on the phone calling ,stress out and troubling my parents mentally plus ,consuming so much time for documents to get ready and post them to China ,with this one could be the last paper ,which we need for our marriage in Holland .
Well this is just the first step ,if we go through Iranian marriage law to get a certificate from embassy ,then we need to get some more stuff around. I am hopping things will be done be the end of Jan-Feb. next year..
Although with all these ,I am lucky that my job at University starts next week and hopefully by that time we will have done these paper works.
Then we will be back from trip ,we are planning to look for a scooter ( Wijb loves it)and get a few more things for our new apartment, after wards I must confess I will be too tired after 3 months vacation to go back to work.!
Wijb will have another 2 weeks off ,but this term I have more classes than him, no complain anyhow It is fine schedule.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Learning Dutch and my progess
Today I was in a refreshing mood .It’s been almost 20 days we are back home .I have decided seriously to study Dutch. I don’t when exactly we will be able to live in Holland ,but for sure it will happen. Wijbren has difficulties to get a job outside of the country due to the recruitment agency requires applicants to be inside the country and available for interview anytime.
When it comes to languages I can speak Persian and English as native level and my native language helps me to understand a bit Turkish and Arabic. I learned English when I was so little and the root of indo European languages are so similar.
I know a bit French and it was hard in grammar ,but now Dutch seems to be easy after knowing English well, cause the root of all European languages are the same. Even though I have no chances to speak Dutch here .Although I have a Dutch boyfriend, but we speak fluently English and it is much easier to communicate ,moreover I am not in Dutch environment yet.
So today I was amazed that after spending only one hour after 2 days not touching books I could remember and red and write a bit Dutch. I am so happy with my fast progress,even so I am not practicing speaking nor being in Dutch environment.
The fact is when it comes to Chinese language ,it becomes a night mare. I have been living here for 5 years and I can understand what they say and can read and write a good enough ,but it is freaking hard this language.
Learning the characters are night mare and each single character comes with another one and the combination make totally another meaning. when it goes to intermediate and upper levels, you need to distinguish what exactly people mean not just knowing single character is enough. We can’t watch Chinese movies cause there is no subtitle and if it has if there is a new character there is no way to read it and you are lost.
Other languages like Persian( indo European language) or Latin ( German, other European languages) whenever you learn the alphabet and pronunciation at least you read and easier you find out the meaning comparing to English or any other languages you know.
Game time and secret movie shot taken from me
Anyhow after coming back from Holland Wijb has changed a bit for good sake.I am happy about it. Cause I feel now he can distinguish between proper thing and right time doing them.
Wijb always like playing Ps2 games and it is understandable in a certain level. but sometimes as woman It works on my nerves .We have other things to do and so many plans for future and could be extra work for instance
.
Anyhow back to the point ,he said one day:” I reached a milestone in my nerdiness yesterday when I finally finished downloading the PS2 game 'SSX 3'. For the past couple of months I've scoured the internet for people's opinions on what the best games for the console are and subsequently downloaded those games if there were enough people sharing those opinions.:
But now what is happening is I am getting addicted. Luckily I can control myself ,during these 2 weeks back to the routine life I was playing hard and meanwhile I was studying my Chinese and Dutch.
I have learner from childhood never loose chances and never let it go as time flies. I know sometimes I am hard to Wijb but it is for us and future though.
In fact today when I was enjoying my favorite “underground 2”which is a racing games and hot and deep inside it. He took a creepy movie of my action which I found it nice and we all laughed about it I would like share it with other friends.
Wijb always like playing Ps2 games and it is understandable in a certain level. but sometimes as woman It works on my nerves .We have other things to do and so many plans for future and could be extra work for instance
.
Anyhow back to the point ,he said one day:” I reached a milestone in my nerdiness yesterday when I finally finished downloading the PS2 game 'SSX 3'. For the past couple of months I've scoured the internet for people's opinions on what the best games for the console are and subsequently downloaded those games if there were enough people sharing those opinions.:
But now what is happening is I am getting addicted. Luckily I can control myself ,during these 2 weeks back to the routine life I was playing hard and meanwhile I was studying my Chinese and Dutch.
I have learner from childhood never loose chances and never let it go as time flies. I know sometimes I am hard to Wijb but it is for us and future though.
In fact today when I was enjoying my favorite “underground 2”which is a racing games and hot and deep inside it. He took a creepy movie of my action which I found it nice and we all laughed about it I would like share it with other friends.
Our friendly surrounding
Our friendly surrounding:
It’s been almost a week by now ,living in this neighborhood .Wijbren adore it. With no exception he finds some excuses to get out of home ,for instance:in order to get some breakfast or what ,then he jumps out for a walk every morning .
Most evenings, we stroll under the shade of trees, under heavy shrubs listening to crackers and grasshoppers singing to find mates, or hop to our small playground. Adapting yourself with a new place and surrounding is another compromising with nature which make life much easier and more colorful.
This morning I woke up with children noises and scream.
First I taught something is wrong ,but then realized that playground in front of us, is specialized for kid’s and this morning I saw parents are running on the track. There are plenty of swings, slides and other toys for kid’s.
Our friendly surrounding:
As we are living in China we are familiar with small parks or any small wood area, which government sets some public exercise- tools for retired people or anyone has time to spend outside in the day time and does some free exercise. In fact our small playground is not an exception at all.
Even everything is close by we are thinking to buy a scooter, for our own sake to make our life more colorful.
These days are hectic. First of all we got disappointed from my consulate in order to get some documents and transfer to embassy which we need for marriage process and nobody basically is back to work to answer us.
Corruption is something which is needed to be consider .In a lot of societies exist ,but in my country more obvious and tangible. They don’t work and with stupid excuses throw the customer form one office to another .
For instance with my simple certification which basically my passport needed to be certified that I live in China which I need to Dutch marriage in Holland .
For our marriage documents I need to go to consulate and then pay and send my personal information to embassy to do their job which means 4 times traveling, meanwhile I have high responsibility in my current job and distance here is like traveling between countries in Europe.
Then it comes to our crappy schedule for this semester at university which we need to handle.
Sometimes I think I need to inspire to myself to be more canny and shrewd, how that works when the massive milestones in life in a period of time stumble and you need to throw them away otherwise you will be eaten by harsh nature and society. the anxiety that appears is hard to handle sometimes and I feel I am lost. Now I Am gutted but try to heal as we need to keep our love and happiness in China to survive .
Moreover Wijb is thinking to get extra part time job for couple of hours at EF in Xian which I am encouraging him .which make him busy rather than rest of day time play with ps2 games and we can save more money if we need to move on to Europe one day.
Now we are waiting to get our schedule and then organize our daily life for fall 2009 here.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Our New Place
It has already been two weeks by now, that we are back home. The first week was pretty tough cause we had a severe jet lag and we couldn’t do that much .In fact the weather and food and everything was annoying back home.
The only thing on those couple of days were nice to see ,the first was our old restaurant which the owner treat us in special way and we practice our Chinese somehow the second was our old bakery which produce special home-made bread and we missed it.
I had chances to install the proxy and edit my blog stories and moreover review my Chinese stuff and finish some English novels, contact friends on Facebook, but now I am abandoned for couple of days till have access to net again.
Anyhow we tried to contact people from university to move on to a new place. Last Wednesday eventually we got the key for our new apartment .
it took 2 and half days to move. God I can’t imagine how much bulky ,crap thing I have gathered.
I got rid of some worn out, bulky clothes and more than 3 boxes of shoes and clothes left behind which hopefully will be used by some poor people who are we always seeking and hanging around garbage boxes to find something to eat. If that works I will be rather not to have shit around me and others use them.
We are totally happy these few days to be in this new place. We are on the third floor .This place is smaller and cozier.
Basically we can say much more homely.
This city has so much pollution but when you are not living in high buildings, then you have some advantages as: receiving a better water supply,I mean the pressure of water is much better, and more over, using the stairs instead of lift, even so it seems annoying ,but if the lift is full of people and every single time and you have to wait more than 5 minutes ,especially in rush hour ,to be able to get into the lift then ,you wish you had never had any lift.
This city is located on the North West of China on the line of using heating system for winter, as winters have a bad reputation of cold weather, having cheap heating system is another precious thing.
Electricity in this country is so expensive and not doable for everything. A lot of houses use solar system and gas which is much cheaper.
We have a nice lovely living room and one bed room with a great balcony and nice wooden furniture which make life easier as well.
We are going to add some stuff to add some decoration and buy more plants as well.
The only thing which is annoying here is internet connection which we use kind of proxy to be able to use some sites which are blocked in
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Back to China
Back to China
On Sunday 9th August, we flew back to China .Our flight was surprisingly pretty luxury as Wijb didn’t have a seat ,due to over booked economy seats and the boarding gate luckily gave him a seat on the first class and I was lucky too to move there and we had a great time with first class back home!.
These couple of days back home was pretty annoying and boring as we still have jet lag. We couldn’t sleep over 48 hours properly and food and weather sleeping time are in a chaos.
Anyhow we are coming back to normal situation and keeping busy with movies and I have started my readings in English and Chinese and the new thing is I have decided to study Dutch smoothly and slowly mean while, so quite busy these days.
I HAVE BEEN QUITE BUSY WITH DOWNLOADING MOVIES AND PHOTOS FORWARDING EDITING STUFF IN MY BLOG AND FACEBOOK.
I am hopping my friends and whom read my blog be pleased with ew update stuff.
On Sunday 9th August, we flew back to China .Our flight was surprisingly pretty luxury as Wijb didn’t have a seat ,due to over booked economy seats and the boarding gate luckily gave him a seat on the first class and I was lucky too to move there and we had a great time with first class back home!.
These couple of days back home was pretty annoying and boring as we still have jet lag. We couldn’t sleep over 48 hours properly and food and weather sleeping time are in a chaos.
Anyhow we are coming back to normal situation and keeping busy with movies and I have started my readings in English and Chinese and the new thing is I have decided to study Dutch smoothly and slowly mean while, so quite busy these days.
I HAVE BEEN QUITE BUSY WITH DOWNLOADING MOVIES AND PHOTOS FORWARDING EDITING STUFF IN MY BLOG AND FACEBOOK.
I am hopping my friends and whom read my blog be pleased with ew update stuff.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Mongolia July 2009,second part:
When we got our tour for Grassland ,we were about 6 people and were supposed to get a car with the guide. It took 2 hours to get there. It was such a spiral
The food was quite basic and economical and we slept in a Mongolian tent(yurt) which was made from concert and hard ,but the same shape of traditional one.
The next day we paid for 2 hours horse riding which was good and nice to have some horse riding. In fact Mongolian horses are short and me and Wijbren had
Anyhow we walked along a small lake and saw the wrestling and racing match which was nice. After 2 days we backed and the following day a bit rest and hag around the city and then went to desert tour which was 4 hours far from Hohhot and quite far in fact .
The area was quite small and it was nice to see real desert but riding on camels for 2 hours and some areas were so steep and we both were scared to fall from camels and all 2 by 2 camels hooked on each other ,with one guide in front. To me horse riding was much doable than camels, they were a bit nasty and slow.. but I could managed to take some nice photos on the camels. One time camel was scared and I was close to fall…
I can cope wth camel riding bt to be hoenst is not my favourite things to do and wijbren's face was so pssy and full of anger casue he didn't have ny proper saddle just siting on bundle of blankets.
We had 4 tents and when we arrived to oasis settled our camp there and we had another Dutch boy and 2 Korean girls and a Spanish guy. Our driver was a bit crazy and had 2 big bottle of Baizhou( Chinese wine) which taste terrible.
We had to company those crazy guys and drank the whole 2 bottles and some beer which was not what we wanted. At least on grassland we had nice Austrian and German couples and better company at night for barbecue ,but anyhow it passed and we had to listen to stupid ,charming conversation of those 2 girls and guys ,crush on each other and were drunk and in the morning were all of them pissed…anyhow the way back we waited and a big German truck came to pick us and took us back to base camp out of the desert and then the way back to Hohhot…
way and bumps on the road anyhow with listening to Mongolian music and some Chinese with us practicing their English for free as usual, which is not a big surprise we arrived. 
It was a nice impression to see grassland but such a pity to see how they want to treat you ,cause you are a foreigner.
It was a nice impression to see grassland but such a pity to see how they want to treat you ,cause you are a foreigner.The food was quite basic and economical and we slept in a Mongolian tent(yurt) which was made from concert and hard ,but the same shape of traditional one.
The next day we paid for 2 hours horse riding which was good and nice to have some horse riding. In fact Mongolian horses are short and me and Wijbren had
imported European horse other wise for Wijb would be such a pain in butt to sit in a horse which his feet would drag on the floor, longer than horse's leg .!
Anyhow we walked along a small lake and saw the wrestling and racing match which was nice. After 2 days we backed and the following day a bit rest and hag around the city and then went to desert tour which was 4 hours far from Hohhot and quite far in fact .
The area was quite small and it was nice to see real desert but riding on camels for 2 hours and some areas were so steep and we both were scared to fall from camels and all 2 by 2 camels hooked on each other ,with one guide in front. To me horse riding was much doable than camels, they were a bit nasty and slow.. but I could managed to take some nice photos on the camels. One time camel was scared and I was close to fall…
I can cope wth camel riding bt to be hoenst is not my favourite things to do and wijbren's face was so pssy and full of anger casue he didn't have ny proper saddle just siting on bundle of blankets.
We had 4 tents and when we arrived to oasis settled our camp there and we had another Dutch boy and 2 Korean girls and a Spanish guy. Our driver was a bit crazy and had 2 big bottle of Baizhou( Chinese wine) which taste terrible.
We had to company those crazy guys and drank the whole 2 bottles and some beer which was not what we wanted. At least on grassland we had nice Austrian and German couples and better company at night for barbecue ,but anyhow it passed and we had to listen to stupid ,charming conversation of those 2 girls and guys ,crush on each other and were drunk and in the morning were all of them pissed…anyhow the way back we waited and a big German truck came to pick us and took us back to base camp out of the desert and then the way back to Hohhot…
Trip to Mongolia July 2009
Located at the center part of northern China, it was inhabited by Eeduosi people 20,000 years ago. With a long history, it was called Inner-Mongolia for the first time in the Qing Dynasty.
Beautiful and abundant in resources, Inner-Mongolia is a province w
ith the wildest longitudes in China and its special location dictates the abundance and variety of its tourism resources. With grassland scenes and folk custom as its two major tourism resources, Inner-Mongolia has such natural scenes as vast grasslands, deserts, forests, and lakes.
Beautiful and abundant in resources, Inner-Mongolia is a province w
ith the wildest longitudes in China and its special location dictates the abundance and variety of its tourism resources. With grassland scenes and folk custom as its two major tourism resources, Inner-Mongolia has such natural scenes as vast grasslands, deserts, forests, and lakes.After staying in Beijing for a week then we got our first class train ticket to Mongolia,lets correct it inner mongolia,which the capital is hohhot.......
Our hostel was nice but the impression from the city was terrible as the train station was so dirty and filty better to say...after 22 hours on the train our guide from hostel took us to our hostel and we rested the first day and hang around the area and we found out quite few nice muslem restaurants with Kababa dishes.
This pagoda is quite unique in Mongolia. The style is from Indian Buddhism. Although it is called the "1000-Buddha Pagoda", there are actually some 1563 carvings of Buddha on its exterior walls. Inside the Pagoda there is, sadly, nothing at all - it was all stripped-out and destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. However, the empty interior has been used to display an ancient stone-carved Mongolian Map of the Cosmos - on Buddhist principles. Another copy of it is outside, set in the walls of the Pagoda grounds.
Inner Mongolia's dairy products include cheese, milk curd, salty milk tea, and fermented horse milk, all of which are acquired tastes. Those who visit yurts (Mongolian tents) in the grassland (see last paragraph) will probably be offered fermented horse milk, which is supposed to drive away cold and invigorate circulation, although it has been known to bring on headaches in a few people!
Then what we did on the first day was visiting five temple pagoda which is located on the East side of the city.This pagoda is quite unique in Mongolia. The style is from Indian Buddhism. Although it is called the "1000-Buddha Pagoda", there are actually some 1563 carvings of Buddha on its exterior walls. Inside the Pagoda there is, sadly, nothing at all - it was all stripped-out and destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
However,
However,
the empty interior has been used to display an ancient stone-carved Mongolian Map of the Cosmos - on Buddhist principles. Another copy of it is outside, set in the walls of the Pagoda grounds.
basically Hohhot is like other cities in China with cleaner and fresher air infact.
We decided to get 2 tours to got to grassland and sleep there overnight and another tour to desert,Gobi desert and stay in oasis for one night and practic our camel and horse riding which was a great experience in fact.
Friday, August 7, 2009
the last 2 days in Holland
These are last few days left in Holland and I am a bit sad.
Well describing the feeling is hard ,Wijbren's parents are really nice and we are both having great time here,but always whenver you are happy you have to leave soon.This is life ,can't stop the good or bad time.
Me and Wijb both had great summer we had so much tension before what to do ,what is the best ,getting visa for Europe ,thinking about Marriage,other things for future..
we passed from Xian and visiting some nice places around Xian and then Beijing 2 times and especially for Wijbren was great to be in Beijing before leaving China and seeing bBeijing after Olympic 2009 ,and all changes was a great choice and then Mongolia as Wijbren never been to Tibet and was not so suitbale because of tension go there and I spent 1 month there .
so we were happy but the time pass all good memories stay in mind which is the good part of travelling and being in Holland and Germany and changes in matter of atmosphere,people,food was a great all together.
But now we need to focus on our unfinshed plans and back to our city in China and possibly back to Beijing to sort out and finish hopefully our business with embassies.\
I can't say after5 years I miss China or I fee
l home but anyhow everyplace has its good and bad things.
l home but anyhow everyplace has its good and bad things.I hope we can manage to come back and one day live in Europe which in so many ways have less tension and streesand it is good for my future art and our both jobs.
Anyhow we planed the last day of week go to Giethorn which is located in the
borader of Friseland and other Dutch provinces in Holland.
This city calls "venice of the North" and all is because of having so many canals and houses built on the water.
But you could see bangalows or 2 floors houses not more and with small yard full of flowers and nice decorations,which were really eye-catching.
something which is obvious in Holland is bicycle. Many of 15 million Dutch own a bicycle.In small,flat country without any far distances,the bicycle is the ideal form of transport.
Windmills:
Since the 13th century windmills were used in the Netherlands,around the 17th century there were more than 10,000 windmills.
in any towns and small or big cities you still can find some wooden nice windmills,but mostly these types are left behind and new wind power energy they used is with modern wind mills which are like skyckrapers.
Anyhow that small town had its own special beuty with canals and woden boats all over,full of tourists hanging around the cafes' and we were walking all around the town and got a tour boat for almost an hour passing though the canals ,and reached to a handmade lake which was just 80 centimeters deep and safe enough for everybody to swim there.
In fact we saw so many kid's and couples playing in the water ,sun bathing,boating,fishing, and even one floating restaurant which was a brainy idea to sell some drink and ice creams in the middle of lake.
It was a great experience to be there and sit on the boat floting in the water....
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Trip to Amsterdam,
Yesterday the whole family decided to have a day trip to Amsterdam.
When we arrived there was almost 12.30 p.m and after having a drink in a cafe ,me and Wijbren and parents got seperated .
We walked about an hour around the center of city and found a tourist information and got our day boat ticket around the Amsterdam.
As Amsterdam is so famous for its canals,it was a great idea in fact.Amsterdam is the capital of the city and its a meeting point of cultures.
Legends say Amsterdam was founded by two fisherman after they landedon the banks of the Amstel river.
Towards the end of 16th century merchants from Antwerp moved to Amsterdam and its became ofr a short period the biggest and one of the richest town.
Noth sea canal was dug in 1876 and connects the port of Amsterdam with North sea.this canal gave the dutch economy a big boost.
in the center of city we saw the Dam which is really the heart of the city.is the place where celebration,festivals and mourns happend.and there you can find national monument which was erected in 1956 to commemorate the people who died in World War 2.
there is another place you pass by boat tour which is central station was designed in 1889 by architect Cuypers,the same person who designed the Rijksmuseum.Both building are significant resemblance.
the city is famous for its canalsand it calls as Venice of the north because of 90 cannals and more than 1000 bridges.
Visitors can see so many magnificents houses built by the side of canals,which the their prices are enormousely high.
There are couple of nice Musums to see ,as State museum ,Van Gogh museum,Maritime Museum and Historical museum.
The state museum which we went in yesterday was 4 floors and full of master piees from Van Gogh,Rambrandt,Johannes Vermeer,Jan steen.
The Rijksmuseum(national) is one of the reasons that I visit Amsterdam frequently. Currently the gallery is undergoing restoration so only a small taster of the collection is on display.
They were renovating the mseum,and we had to stand on a long line ,but the entrace ticket and all standing worth it!.
You could see the master piece from the most famous Dutch artists.There is a art with Dollhouses which was amazing how to make and creat the whole Doll houses with all equipments.
City of flowers, is anoher name ofr Amsterdam.There is a seasonal festival from April till May ,a place close by Amsterdam which calls Aalsmeer,where youc an see different flowers flourishing.
At the beginning of singel you encounter the catboat.there are 80 cats living on this boat,which is amazing.
The Stopera is abuilding you will find on Waterloo Square.It houses both the town hall and the music theatre,and was built in 1986.
Opposite of central station,on the conrner of Geldersekade and prins hendrikkade stands the old Schreierstroen. The tower dates back to the Middle ages.The tower is known for the tower of tears. as this was the place where old days the wives and sweethearts of the sailors used to wave goodbye to thier loved ones.
When we arrived there was almost 12.30 p.m and after having a drink in a cafe ,me and Wijbren and parents got seperated .
We walked about an hour around the center of city and found a tourist information and got our day boat ticket around the Amsterdam.
As Amsterdam is so famous for its canals,it was a great idea in fact.Amsterdam is the capital of the city and its a meeting point of cultures.
Legends say Amsterdam was founded by two fisherman after they landedon the banks of the Amstel river.
Towards the end of 16th century merchants from Antwerp moved to Amsterdam and its became ofr a short period the biggest and one of the richest town.
Noth sea canal was dug in 1876 and connects the port of Amsterdam with North sea.this canal gave the dutch economy a big boost.
in the center of city we saw the Dam which is really the heart of the city.is the place where celebration,festivals and mourns happend.and there you can find national monument which was erected in 1956 to commemorate the people who died in World War 2.
there is another place you pass by boat tour which is central station was designed in 1889 by architect Cuypers,the same person who designed the Rijksmuseum.Both building are significant resemblance.
the city is famous for its canalsand it calls as Venice of the north because of 90 cannals and more than 1000 bridges.
Visitors can see so many magnificents houses built by the side of canals,which the their prices are enormousely high.
There are couple of nice Musums to see ,as State museum ,Van Gogh museum,Maritime Museum and Historical museum.
The state museum which we went in yesterday was 4 floors and full of master piees from Van Gogh,Rambrandt,Johannes Vermeer,Jan steen.
The Rijksmuseum(national) is one of the reasons that I visit Amsterdam frequently. Currently the gallery is undergoing restoration so only a small taster of the collection is on display.
They were renovating the mseum,and we had to stand on a long line ,but the entrace ticket and all standing worth it!.
You could see the master piece from the most famous Dutch artists.There is a art with Dollhouses which was amazing how to make and creat the whole Doll houses with all equipments.
City of flowers, is anoher name ofr Amsterdam.There is a seasonal festival from April till May ,a place close by Amsterdam which calls Aalsmeer,where youc an see different flowers flourishing.
At the beginning of singel you encounter the catboat.there are 80 cats living on this boat,which is amazing.
The Stopera is abuilding you will find on Waterloo Square.It houses both the town hall and the music theatre,and was built in 1986.
Opposite of central station,on the conrner of Geldersekade and prins hendrikkade stands the old Schreierstroen. The tower dates back to the Middle ages.The tower is known for the tower of tears. as this was the place where old days the wives and sweethearts of the sailors used to wave goodbye to thier loved ones.
The light district is a well known area for tourists which shows prostitutes are waiting behind the red light for the clients. it is an international area in this city.
There are Spies which we can see the houses have mirrors which stand on the outsides of house.A person who sits in the living room can see who rings the bell.
Well after visiting all this and city hall we dropped somehwere to have some food and all the way back home with parents.It was such a good atmosphere and feeling to be one day in the capital anyhow.
Well after visiting all this and city hall we dropped somehwere to have some food and all the way back home with parents.It was such a good atmosphere and feeling to be one day in the capital anyhow.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Trip to Holland ,Forth part
Trip to Holland….Today Sunday, we decided to be active again and Wijb's Dad come up with nice idea that we can see flower festival.
In fact I had an idea that Holland should have a Flower festival someday as this country produce flower and export. Anyhow we couldn’t find the flower festival but we went by car to couple of towns and cities.
The first stop was Hoorn which is located in North of Holland in fact Hallum the place that we are located is in Friesland which has totally different language with Dutch and these people are the race of Frisians who came long time ago from Finland and Sweden to the North East part of Holland.
The Netherland has 12 provinces and leeuwarden is the capital of Friesland.
The Hoorn is in another side of lake and the country bridge connect the North east ( Friesland) to the North part of Holland and other part of the country.
We had a nice sight seeing there and then we moved toward Volendam city ,that is another costal city near the lake and sea. As you could see so many tourist hanging around souvenir shops there ,but we could find a nice fish snack shop and got to row fish sandwich one salmon and another eel- fish which were totally mouth- watering.
After staying there for a short time and sitting in a nice cafĂ©’ watching tourists and taking some photos from the ships we moved to another city Marken.
Finally we end up to our village and back home.
I think I have seen most towns and cities in 
Friseland and North part of Holland and now my adventures goes toward the capital and center of the country. I can say as we passed by train from Holland to the South East to Germany ,the whole country is full of fields and small villages and towns and in South and center turn to bigger cities.
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