Continuing: I've shacked myself and thought he is not here and you need to do something for you here and of course he will also get the benefits of it.
He had a car and I could drive with my Brazilian drive license for 6 months so I got the car and started to drive around. Most jobs for me as non Dutch speaker just English speaker are in Amsterdam, mainly all them are down south Netherlands.
It was a good feeling of freedom! Especially to drive in another country, Netherlands, basically I was crossing the country by car! :)
Also as everything by this time, took me a while to get used to drive in Netherlands, but I loved specially cross the dyke from Harlingen to the next province . As I already said I was living in Friesland up north Netherlands.
The dyke crossing was between Harlingen, Friesland to Hoorn, Noord Holland, another province. It was a very good kick for me to cross it to then drive to Amsterdam, listening good music and drive, I can say always was a magic moment for me, a very very beginning of a day. :) Always I was listening my good morning music of Orbital, Halcyon, just writing now reminding these moments, I missed it a lot:)
Monday 15 November 2010
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Adapting to the new life
How was the process? I was still living in UK, my British visa was just about to expire, all my stuff still in UK and suddenly I received this propose to move to Holland to live with him, so I didn't think twice, move from UK to Netherlands. oh didn't go back to Brazil first, no I wasn't miss Brazil, I was hungry for a new life and I was in love in a way I never felt in my life before.
Then start my surprises about my new life there, I thought my ex boy should be living in a small city, but no, it is a village, Harlingen by the time just had 10.000 people living there.
Another surprise, it is not all Dutch that speak good English, most of them can understand and speak, but depends of their educational level, mainly around the big cities, all them can speak and understand, but in Friesland, the province I've moved to live, not many people could speak and understand and I didn't speak any Dutch. Friesland is not the most developed province in Nederlands and they speak another language there, some told me it is a language, some told me it is just a dialet, it called Friesen.
OK, at least doesn't sound so different and strange like Mandarin, but still a language I couldn't speak and understand. Bit in case I got my partnership visa to be there and the government basically obliged you to go to a Dutch course to learn the language and their culture habits, what I found quite good for the people that lives there and for the immigrates to adapt to the country.
Ah, I must tell you one thing I forgot to tell, my ex boy was a maritime engineer of the biggest container shipping line in the world, so 2 weeks at home and 3 months in the sea. First time he told me, I didn't think was so bad as I could feel I wasn't so in love anymore and a lot of time alone and I love to be on my own.
But the first trip was a really bad experience; first: I was in a different world for me, second: the language issue, I still waiting for the Dutch course of the government, third: it was a simple thing, I was missing him a lot, as I was very fragile and I couldn't go somewhere to meet him for one day.
Then start my surprises about my new life there, I thought my ex boy should be living in a small city, but no, it is a village, Harlingen by the time just had 10.000 people living there.
Another surprise, it is not all Dutch that speak good English, most of them can understand and speak, but depends of their educational level, mainly around the big cities, all them can speak and understand, but in Friesland, the province I've moved to live, not many people could speak and understand and I didn't speak any Dutch. Friesland is not the most developed province in Nederlands and they speak another language there, some told me it is a language, some told me it is just a dialet, it called Friesen.
OK, at least doesn't sound so different and strange like Mandarin, but still a language I couldn't speak and understand. Bit in case I got my partnership visa to be there and the government basically obliged you to go to a Dutch course to learn the language and their culture habits, what I found quite good for the people that lives there and for the immigrates to adapt to the country.
Ah, I must tell you one thing I forgot to tell, my ex boy was a maritime engineer of the biggest container shipping line in the world, so 2 weeks at home and 3 months in the sea. First time he told me, I didn't think was so bad as I could feel I wasn't so in love anymore and a lot of time alone and I love to be on my own.
But the first trip was a really bad experience; first: I was in a different world for me, second: the language issue, I still waiting for the Dutch course of the government, third: it was a simple thing, I was missing him a lot, as I was very fragile and I couldn't go somewhere to meet him for one day.
Monday 1 November 2010
Get out Asia, goes to Europe - Netherlands
Well lets change our route to the past - 2003 to 2006 - Netherlands, some people called Holland.
I've lived there for 3 years and I know the respectable, right way to speak the country's name is Netherlands, proper Dutch way, Holland is just part of the name of 2 provinces of Netherlands, Zuid Holland and Noord Holland. And I've learned you must respect the culture of any country and in case in Netherlands they are restricted to it.
Well, my beginning of life in Netherlands, I moved there mainly because I met my Dutch ex-boyfriend in my last moments in UK, and we got madly in love and he suggested me to move there to live with him and I was so in love, I thought 'why not?'.
How did I meet him? I was in a pub with my Finnish friend Kat there and suddenly I saw this incredible good looking man coming in! I never saw such a handsome man in my life, he couldn't stop to look at me and I couldn't stop to look at him.
I've just published a picture of us in Harligen, the village we lived in Friesland, one of the provinces up north of Netherlands. This picture is a moment we were happy, because later on...
Many people told me that was a insane thing move to Netherlands to live with him, but when you are so in love is very difficult to think straight, now I think about and it was a damn insane thing to do, but I did; in a few months I was there living with him. A new life, a new country, new everything.
I need to say that is not being easy to write about these years in Netherlands, not because Netherlands, but because the relationship with this ex boyfriend.
Saturday 23 October 2010
Continuing telling my travel stories in Asia
Yeah, continuing my travel stories in China. Honestly I do have that much, in Asia I already had been in Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, all great trips. Why didn't I travel more in Asia? No interest. I was already live in China, it was enough for me.
And me and this ex-boyfriend Ronan loved to go to different towns in China, to explore as Changzhou was for us by the time quite a boring town, nothing to do. He could drive and had a company car, so why not? I really like this adventure spirit that he had by this time, maybe still have.
I was living in Jiangsu province, with a few interesting town to visit like the first capital of China, Nanjing. Nanjing is quite close of Changzhou about 100 km far, and you go there you can feel how China is a old country. Around the city has a stone mur, like a small version of the Great Wall, to protect the city from the invasions, of course it was a long time ago, like it was in Beijing, but for the Chineses, Nanjing is well know by the Japanese attack during the second world war and they don't have good memories about it, one of the reasons still now as days they don't like much Japaneses.
Nanjing after Shanghai it is the biggest town down northeast. I need to explain that has a business route in this region after China opened up your economy; it is Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzou and Nanjing, the cities points that produce a lot of main products and export them.
My next step around it was Suzhou. In Suzhou had one the main fabrics of Apple Computers, I never had been there, but I would like to, most of the Apple Computers and accessories are fabricate there and exported to US to sell.
Apart from it what can I say about Suzou? It is China he he he. But has not much to say about the town, for me it is a smaller version of Shanghai, I think maybe soon both cities will be one city as they are very close to each other.
Suzhou has Chinese temples, what have in most Chinese towns, it is impressive how Chinese temples are the main attraction for western tourists, well, they can be attractive but you have much more there about Chinese culture and they don't bother themselves to investigate.
Well I've been in these 2 towns Nanjing and Suzhou more Nangtong and another ones all in Jiangsu province. Ah another that I found a great major city of China was Beijing, the capital of China.
Its a big city and for myself there you can be in contact with the old China. It is funny because when I arrived there I felt so comfortable in the city without a particular reason, after I though " it is the capital of China, maybe the reason I feel so good here can be because I'm from the capital of Brazil?!"
I did a small research about it later and the architect of Brasilia Niemeyer was communist by the time of the construction of Brasilia and he had been in Beijing during this time and maybe had be inspired by a few features of Beijing to Brasilia?
The Tiananmen Square is an amazing place in the center of Beijing when I first came there straight away remind me the a place in Brasilia, a Praca dos 3 poderes, also in the center of Brasilia.
Another thing that really remind me Brasilia, it is the sense of space, very similar to Brasilia. I was missing so much this sense of space in Changzhou and specially in the big Shanghai.
So naturally I loved Beijing!
And me and this ex-boyfriend Ronan loved to go to different towns in China, to explore as Changzhou was for us by the time quite a boring town, nothing to do. He could drive and had a company car, so why not? I really like this adventure spirit that he had by this time, maybe still have.
I was living in Jiangsu province, with a few interesting town to visit like the first capital of China, Nanjing. Nanjing is quite close of Changzhou about 100 km far, and you go there you can feel how China is a old country. Around the city has a stone mur, like a small version of the Great Wall, to protect the city from the invasions, of course it was a long time ago, like it was in Beijing, but for the Chineses, Nanjing is well know by the Japanese attack during the second world war and they don't have good memories about it, one of the reasons still now as days they don't like much Japaneses.
Nanjing after Shanghai it is the biggest town down northeast. I need to explain that has a business route in this region after China opened up your economy; it is Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzou and Nanjing, the cities points that produce a lot of main products and export them.
My next step around it was Suzhou. In Suzhou had one the main fabrics of Apple Computers, I never had been there, but I would like to, most of the Apple Computers and accessories are fabricate there and exported to US to sell.
Apart from it what can I say about Suzou? It is China he he he. But has not much to say about the town, for me it is a smaller version of Shanghai, I think maybe soon both cities will be one city as they are very close to each other.
Suzhou has Chinese temples, what have in most Chinese towns, it is impressive how Chinese temples are the main attraction for western tourists, well, they can be attractive but you have much more there about Chinese culture and they don't bother themselves to investigate.
Well I've been in these 2 towns Nanjing and Suzhou more Nangtong and another ones all in Jiangsu province. Ah another that I found a great major city of China was Beijing, the capital of China.
Its a big city and for myself there you can be in contact with the old China. It is funny because when I arrived there I felt so comfortable in the city without a particular reason, after I though " it is the capital of China, maybe the reason I feel so good here can be because I'm from the capital of Brazil?!"
I did a small research about it later and the architect of Brasilia Niemeyer was communist by the time of the construction of Brasilia and he had been in Beijing during this time and maybe had be inspired by a few features of Beijing to Brasilia?
The Tiananmen Square is an amazing place in the center of Beijing when I first came there straight away remind me the a place in Brasilia, a Praca dos 3 poderes, also in the center of Brasilia.
Another thing that really remind me Brasilia, it is the sense of space, very similar to Brasilia. I was missing so much this sense of space in Changzhou and specially in the big Shanghai.
So naturally I loved Beijing!
Friday 15 October 2010
Talk a bit about music then back to my trips
As I said in the last post, I guess I have it because since I know myself as Raquel, my life has a strong connection with music.
If you've checked my link that I've posted in my last post, you got in touch with the music style I produce; has many experimental electronic musicians that work on this style, experimental electronic music, for instance the one that I love (errerrhh can't say it, remember?!) I like a lot
HIS MUSIC
Amon Tobin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon_Tobin
And has many more that are in this record label Ninja Tunes
http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/artists.php
And has another one Warp Records
http://warp.net/
These 2 record labels are the best ones to find out more about experimental electronic music and of course check out Amon Tobin, by the way, he is from Ninja Tunes record label and ah he is Brazilian!
I would like to show a bit of my music here, but my music is interconnect with some moments of my life and would like to post it in amother post to be able to explain why the music is so strange maybe, different maybe.
Funny enough, I compose music for my pleasure, not to earn money (if it comes, very good!); as many call, is it a hobby!?
So I would like to explain and discuss with you my hobby - music :)
If you've checked my link that I've posted in my last post, you got in touch with the music style I produce; has many experimental electronic musicians that work on this style, experimental electronic music, for instance the one that I love (errerrhh can't say it, remember?!) I like a lot
HIS MUSIC
Amon Tobin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon_Tobin
And has many more that are in this record label Ninja Tunes
http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/artists.php
And has another one Warp Records
http://warp.net/
These 2 record labels are the best ones to find out more about experimental electronic music and of course check out Amon Tobin, by the way, he is from Ninja Tunes record label and ah he is Brazilian!
I would like to show a bit of my music here, but my music is interconnect with some moments of my life and would like to post it in amother post to be able to explain why the music is so strange maybe, different maybe.
Funny enough, I compose music for my pleasure, not to earn money (if it comes, very good!); as many call, is it a hobby!?
So I would like to explain and discuss with you my hobby - music :)
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Back to China - Shanghai
As I was telling you after Philippinas I came back to China - Changzhou, as my relationship was in the end and Changzhou is a small chinese town and not many foreigners, not much there, I was already felling bad there and why not move somewhere else as the college. I was working has 9 schools in China, in different towns and also colleges in other countries.
I thought about Mumbai - India, I did a research about and I found out if I was feeling bad in China at this moment, go to India shouldn't be the right choice, then I thought what you mainly complain about Changzhou, it is a small chinese town, why not go to bigger one? I decided to ask to transfer to Shanghai, has a bigger college and it is a bigger city than Changzhou.
And yes, it was a relieve to be in Shanghai, basically you could find anything you want there. The school there also was great, I was working with 20 foreigner teachers just in my department - Visual Communication, all them specialized in interactive media and graphic design and I was working with other 2 Brazilians there, could speak a bit of Portuguese sometimes.
Always is great to move to a different environment, you feel yourself like a discoverying this new world around you. Funny enough even if all those foreigns and Chineses around me, I was feeling pretty lonely. But I discovered many things like the only Chinese girl friend I made there Elena, truly a good friend in the sense of the word friend. Well but we got on so well I believe because she lived in Europe for almost 10 years, it helps alot to interactive with someone from the western culture.
And found out again my deeply interested in music.
My brief story with music: I studied music when I was kid, classical music; when I was 18 years I was in a rock band in Brasilia (my hometown), pretty much experimental rock called Animais dos Espelhos.
Well everything about my own music production started when I lived in UK, I will talk more about it when I tell you about my story when I lived in Europe. Now lets centralized in my story with music in Shanghai.
As I said before Im living moving around the world now for 10 years, and I always wanted to produce music as I did before in Brasilia, but because my life style I needed to adapt what I want to do to the moment. As I'm a multimedia lecturer, I thought, you can do music by yourself now asday and I had a got in touch with many people doing it in UK, yes, electronic music as I already love it from my time in UK.
I bought some equipment to do it in China and I started to do it there as I was very lonely and not much interested in China anymore. Basically quite a few weekends I stayed at home producing music. In the college I was working has a Fashion course and I met a lecturer half Brazilian half Chinese that did 2 fashion shows and invited me to do the music for the show, experimental music, and wow it was a great chance for me to produce more seriously my music.
The link of a bit of these musics
http://www.icompositions.com/artists/Snevols
Each music had a concept based on the design of the clothes, was a amazing experience, as I needed to direct the sound of the composition to the idea of the clothes, it is just design, clothes+sounds and for me it was a very rich experience and apartt from working in the college, I was working with something that I love as much as interactive media, the subject I was teaching. Through the network websites, well not Facebook, Twitter, they are blocked in China, but a local one, I met quite a few people, mainly guys and I met a Malaysian one, sound designer.
We got on quite well, he loves experimental music as much as me, and we shared our experience composing music and... I thought I was in love for this guy because our such similar musical taste and I was...wrong!
Music is a connection, but it is very different from feelings like love.
Even attraction, you can have but is more attraction for the music.
Well I always had this dream that one day I would find a guy that like to produce music with very similar musical taste as mine. But yes it is a dream, but why be so fix on it? After this experience that I just told you, I detached more of this dream or illusion?
I guess I have it because since I know myself as Raquel, my life has a strong connection with music.
I thought about Mumbai - India, I did a research about and I found out if I was feeling bad in China at this moment, go to India shouldn't be the right choice, then I thought what you mainly complain about Changzhou, it is a small chinese town, why not go to bigger one? I decided to ask to transfer to Shanghai, has a bigger college and it is a bigger city than Changzhou.
And yes, it was a relieve to be in Shanghai, basically you could find anything you want there. The school there also was great, I was working with 20 foreigner teachers just in my department - Visual Communication, all them specialized in interactive media and graphic design and I was working with other 2 Brazilians there, could speak a bit of Portuguese sometimes.
Always is great to move to a different environment, you feel yourself like a discoverying this new world around you. Funny enough even if all those foreigns and Chineses around me, I was feeling pretty lonely. But I discovered many things like the only Chinese girl friend I made there Elena, truly a good friend in the sense of the word friend. Well but we got on so well I believe because she lived in Europe for almost 10 years, it helps alot to interactive with someone from the western culture.
And found out again my deeply interested in music.
My brief story with music: I studied music when I was kid, classical music; when I was 18 years I was in a rock band in Brasilia (my hometown), pretty much experimental rock called Animais dos Espelhos.
Well everything about my own music production started when I lived in UK, I will talk more about it when I tell you about my story when I lived in Europe. Now lets centralized in my story with music in Shanghai.
As I said before Im living moving around the world now for 10 years, and I always wanted to produce music as I did before in Brasilia, but because my life style I needed to adapt what I want to do to the moment. As I'm a multimedia lecturer, I thought, you can do music by yourself now asday and I had a got in touch with many people doing it in UK, yes, electronic music as I already love it from my time in UK.
I bought some equipment to do it in China and I started to do it there as I was very lonely and not much interested in China anymore. Basically quite a few weekends I stayed at home producing music. In the college I was working has a Fashion course and I met a lecturer half Brazilian half Chinese that did 2 fashion shows and invited me to do the music for the show, experimental music, and wow it was a great chance for me to produce more seriously my music.
The link of a bit of these musics
http://www.icompositions.com/artists/Snevols
Each music had a concept based on the design of the clothes, was a amazing experience, as I needed to direct the sound of the composition to the idea of the clothes, it is just design, clothes+sounds and for me it was a very rich experience and apartt from working in the college, I was working with something that I love as much as interactive media, the subject I was teaching. Through the network websites, well not Facebook, Twitter, they are blocked in China, but a local one, I met quite a few people, mainly guys and I met a Malaysian one, sound designer.
We got on quite well, he loves experimental music as much as me, and we shared our experience composing music and... I thought I was in love for this guy because our such similar musical taste and I was...wrong!
Music is a connection, but it is very different from feelings like love.
Even attraction, you can have but is more attraction for the music.
Well I always had this dream that one day I would find a guy that like to produce music with very similar musical taste as mine. But yes it is a dream, but why be so fix on it? After this experience that I just told you, I detached more of this dream or illusion?
I guess I have it because since I know myself as Raquel, my life has a strong connection with music.
Sunday 10 October 2010
Asia Holidays - Philippinas
Here I go now for the best holiday place in Asia, Philippinas!!
I loved completely the place, the people, it is paradise!!
Do you know what means for them Phillipinas (has another name in their language, but I don't remember it now) , it is the land of one thousand islands and it is true!
I never will forget when I arrived in Phillipinas by plane, god! You have a view from a God, the water very blue and transparent and yes many islands quite a few very small, when I saw it I believed completed I found the right option for my holidays.
And I was really impressed, I've been there for holidays twice, both times I've been in Cebu Island. Cebu is a big town for Philipinas, it is a island, industrialized, so for me a city girl was the right option and of course paradise place, but you need to look for it, it is not just in front of you when you arrive there, you have many islands there that are paradise just in front of you. Depends what you want, and I do like to explore places, for me be away a bit from the paradise places was better to explore, find them around.
I recognize a bit the Latin culture,their Spanish side, they were colonized first by Spain and after US went there, they still very strong influences of both countries in their culture. The Spanish language some of them, old generation can speak a bit, all them speak English, but they have their own language, it is a mix of Spanish with some other language if even them don't know the origins.
But they have their Asiatic influences? I didn't think they have much, almost no Chinese culture there, a few Chinese living there, but they are so bloody differents from the Chinese from the China mainland, where I was living there.
And the people so sexy, men and women! I was missing it so much living in China!
I didn't have any love affair there, they are sexy, but don't attract me, but I saw and heard about many men that go there because the filipinas, and women too looking for the filipinos. Doesn't surprise me, Brazil is like that, it is the sex industry, but it is not only Phillipinas and Brazil all the countries around the world they have this industry. In case I'm just talking about the ones where I saw it.
And it makes sense as they are very sexy people! In China for instance doesn't make sense for me.
But I wasn't there for this reason as I already was with my French boyfriend Ronan in China, so no need to look for people in general for this sexy reason.
You should be asking yourselves why she didn't go with this boyfriend? I told you before I like to travel alone too and by this time I wanted to travel alone.
Next trip we went together to Phillipinas, but it wasn't a good situation between us by this time, I just had the miscarriage I've mentioned before in this blog and we were not exactly a happy couple by this moment.
It was a funiest holiday, we had a few arguments and he didnt enjoyed Philippenas as much as me, it sucked myself about our relationship as I was already feeling the end of it and it came just after we back to China. In this aspect it was not an unforgettable holiday in Philippinas, but it is still one of my favorites places to spend holidays!
I loved completely the place, the people, it is paradise!!
Do you know what means for them Phillipinas (has another name in their language, but I don't remember it now) , it is the land of one thousand islands and it is true!
I never will forget when I arrived in Phillipinas by plane, god! You have a view from a God, the water very blue and transparent and yes many islands quite a few very small, when I saw it I believed completed I found the right option for my holidays.
And I was really impressed, I've been there for holidays twice, both times I've been in Cebu Island. Cebu is a big town for Philipinas, it is a island, industrialized, so for me a city girl was the right option and of course paradise place, but you need to look for it, it is not just in front of you when you arrive there, you have many islands there that are paradise just in front of you. Depends what you want, and I do like to explore places, for me be away a bit from the paradise places was better to explore, find them around.
I recognize a bit the Latin culture,their Spanish side, they were colonized first by Spain and after US went there, they still very strong influences of both countries in their culture. The Spanish language some of them, old generation can speak a bit, all them speak English, but they have their own language, it is a mix of Spanish with some other language if even them don't know the origins.
But they have their Asiatic influences? I didn't think they have much, almost no Chinese culture there, a few Chinese living there, but they are so bloody differents from the Chinese from the China mainland, where I was living there.
And the people so sexy, men and women! I was missing it so much living in China!
I didn't have any love affair there, they are sexy, but don't attract me, but I saw and heard about many men that go there because the filipinas, and women too looking for the filipinos. Doesn't surprise me, Brazil is like that, it is the sex industry, but it is not only Phillipinas and Brazil all the countries around the world they have this industry. In case I'm just talking about the ones where I saw it.
And it makes sense as they are very sexy people! In China for instance doesn't make sense for me.
But I wasn't there for this reason as I already was with my French boyfriend Ronan in China, so no need to look for people in general for this sexy reason.
You should be asking yourselves why she didn't go with this boyfriend? I told you before I like to travel alone too and by this time I wanted to travel alone.
Next trip we went together to Phillipinas, but it wasn't a good situation between us by this time, I just had the miscarriage I've mentioned before in this blog and we were not exactly a happy couple by this moment.
It was a funiest holiday, we had a few arguments and he didnt enjoyed Philippenas as much as me, it sucked myself about our relationship as I was already feeling the end of it and it came just after we back to China. In this aspect it was not an unforgettable holiday in Philippinas, but it is still one of my favorites places to spend holidays!
Saturday 9 October 2010
Asia Holidays - Malasya
Malaysia was my first holiday place in Asia. Really good, and my proposal
myself go to somewhere different from China was filled. But difficult to find places around there completely different from China, you find them, but always you find quite a few things similar to China as China colonized almost all the countries in Asia, but still different culture, people are not so different physically as most of them are Chinese descendants, so they are not SO different, but Malaysian people are very nice and friendly.
But one thing that release me straight away was the majority of them speak English! What made feel really comfortable there.
There I stayed in Kuala Lumpur with a few friends that works for the Brazilian Embassy, their son had a girlfriend by the time that was Miss Malaysia, so top people there, was very nice these days I spent there, and I found out Malaysian is socially very divided by their country origins, they are divided by: Chinese-come from China and Chinese descendants, Indians come from India mostly are Muslims and the local ones the Malays,
It is very difficult to understand why they do segmented in these groups, but you can see it working when you walk in Kuala Lumpur and travel around the country, you have some areas that are for the Muslim, other for the Chinese , the Malays could mix better with all them.
For instance, I went to spend one week in a island in the east cost Pangkor Island and found out after arrived that most people in the island are Muslim.
I didn't think was a smart choice, but I was in holiday and I felt I must enjoy it and I did, but they couldn't believe I was there alone all the time they were asking me 'where is your husband?' after a while I started to feel uncomfortable there but this question happens also in other countries in Asia.
myself go to somewhere different from China was filled. But difficult to find places around there completely different from China, you find them, but always you find quite a few things similar to China as China colonized almost all the countries in Asia, but still different culture, people are not so different physically as most of them are Chinese descendants, so they are not SO different, but Malaysian people are very nice and friendly.
But one thing that release me straight away was the majority of them speak English! What made feel really comfortable there.
There I stayed in Kuala Lumpur with a few friends that works for the Brazilian Embassy, their son had a girlfriend by the time that was Miss Malaysia, so top people there, was very nice these days I spent there, and I found out Malaysian is socially very divided by their country origins, they are divided by: Chinese-come from China and Chinese descendants, Indians come from India mostly are Muslims and the local ones the Malays,
It is very difficult to understand why they do segmented in these groups, but you can see it working when you walk in Kuala Lumpur and travel around the country, you have some areas that are for the Muslim, other for the Chinese , the Malays could mix better with all them.
For instance, I went to spend one week in a island in the east cost Pangkor Island and found out after arrived that most people in the island are Muslim.
I didn't think was a smart choice, but I was in holiday and I felt I must enjoy it and I did, but they couldn't believe I was there alone all the time they were asking me 'where is your husband?' after a while I started to feel uncomfortable there but this question happens also in other countries in Asia.
Lost in this world
Here I'm beginning again this blog. Well it is about my life living in 3 different countries around the world.
First one - England - UK. I lived there 3 years, doing my Masters Degree in Media and Arts.
Second one - Netherlands also knowed by Holland. I lived there for 3 years, trying life.
Third one - China. Lived there for 4 years, working.
I have a flickr website that I can say it is my visual diary, it is interesting you check out when you read the blog can explain visually a lot about Im writing here.
FLICKR : http://www.flickr.com/photos/raquelrna/
These blog is to explaining for me and for you this time in my life = 10 years, outside my home country. Why I spend 10 years living outside Brazil?
Im sure for many different reasons, the first one is I'm utterly curious about this world and the variety of different cultures and different views about life.
For me make sense start my steps from the last ones to the first ones, does it make sense for you? I hope so
Last last step... I was living and work in China and I decided to have holidays, my brother was living in Australia, Melbourne and why not? Was summer, beaches, sounded so perfect to me!!
I went there to find out I have Multiple Sclerosis - MS, by the time I never heard about this disease, but the doctors at the hospital in Australia said strongly ; ' don't go back to China' and I suggested Brazil and they said 'Perfect'.
And 'Go back home' it is what I did, and here I'm now, not very happy by the way, but this is another story.
First one - England - UK. I lived there 3 years, doing my Masters Degree in Media and Arts.
Second one - Netherlands also knowed by Holland. I lived there for 3 years, trying life.
Third one - China. Lived there for 4 years, working.
I have a flickr website that I can say it is my visual diary, it is interesting you check out when you read the blog can explain visually a lot about Im writing here.
FLICKR : http://www.flickr.com/photos/raquelrna/
These blog is to explaining for me and for you this time in my life = 10 years, outside my home country. Why I spend 10 years living outside Brazil?
Im sure for many different reasons, the first one is I'm utterly curious about this world and the variety of different cultures and different views about life.
For me make sense start my steps from the last ones to the first ones, does it make sense for you? I hope so
Last last step... I was living and work in China and I decided to have holidays, my brother was living in Australia, Melbourne and why not? Was summer, beaches, sounded so perfect to me!!
I went there to find out I have Multiple Sclerosis - MS, by the time I never heard about this disease, but the doctors at the hospital in Australia said strongly ; ' don't go back to China' and I suggested Brazil and they said 'Perfect'.
And 'Go back home' it is what I did, and here I'm now, not very happy by the way, but this is another story.
Thursday 7 October 2010
How everything started
Here I'm back my hometown Brasilia and it is not being so nice, I have this disease, Multiple sclerosis, Im taking the injections that avoid you have attacks, but this the only good point to be back Brazil, I've trying to get work here and nothing, may be because I'm too specialized for Brazil, but I just tried in Brasilia, maybe I should go to bigger cities like Sao Paulo, but even there I'm not sure if I can find work.
Brazil developed a bit, it is true, but still a lot of work to be done to step up to a second world country, for me still a third world country.
Anyway without work and a life here?
I don't think I will stay longer here.
Anyway, my purpose for this blog, it is tell my story around the world
For me make sense start all from the last place I was living
CHINA!! Changzhou
China was a very interesting experience. Quite different from any culture I've ever imagine. And working teaching Interactive media for the Chinese guys was a great experience, I can say I would not go back to live there, but as a life experience was amazing, I've learned about the world and myself as person.
I've lived in 2 towns there: Changzhou and Shanghai, my first 2 years I spent living in Changzhou, teaching there for the same school - Raffles Design Institute.
Do they speak English? A little, they speak as much English as majority of the population in Brazil, almost nothing.
Did you need to learn Mandarin? No, I've always had a translator with me in the classes. All my classes always were in English.
But it was very interesting to see the interaction between me and the Chinese students, firstly they were coming to try to talk with me and of course I've answered in English and they look at me as they are understanding but NO!
But if you look their faces you think they are, this something I've learned from them; they never never can be ashamed! Its a very bad bad posture in China, I've heard about it, in all Asia, but I just perceived it in China.
Physical living conditions in Changzhou, first apartments I've lived there not very good, but after I situated myself there I found what is not too bad and cheap (it is cheap because Changzhou is a small town).
Life was not bad by this time, good apartment, good job ah I found a boyfriend, not Chinese, but French. Many foreigners going to China to work, as you get paid well and live well and for men you can have all those Chinese girls surround you. In my first year in China I completely hated all those girls, for me they were going around the foreigners, almost attacking them to have something with them, aarggghhh!!
And Im a woman, as anybody around the world, you can be alone for a while, but after a while we need to find a partner, someone to share life and in case Chinese men was not for me at all, but the foreigners were going to the Chinese girls aarrrgghh!!
Then luckily I found this French guy Ronan, he is working for a Belgium company in Changzhou.
We spent one year and a half together and it was a good relationship, I don't have complain about.
I had a few serious relationships lets say 4 or 5 ones, and this one with Ronan was a very good one, almost no arguments, we are very similar kind of people.
I can see after a few relationships that I'm stepping up in this aspect, has a evolution, you dont do the same mistakes and silly things that you did before, definitely a evolution and I can say that next relationship ( Ronan was the last one) will be better as I'm 37 years and all the time I'm learning better to deal with live, so....
Relationship, a man, a partner forever??? I sometimes miss it, but I ask myself. does it exist? I'm still checking out...
My problem is, I built up myself to be very independent, so after sometime specially after 30 years, you feel you need to settled down and stop somewhere alone?? Loneless is not nice now, it was a few years ago but now, I don't feel anymore in this way
But anyway it is just life, lets come back to my story.
I had a different experience with Ronan in Changzhou, may be just different for me; surprisingly one day going holiday with him to Hong Kong I found out I was pregnant.
I never expected this in my life but I didn't think was a bad situation, I was with a good job, good boyfriend, why not have the baby?
First thing that really scared me 'has a baby to live in China???!!!' Different culture etc...
But I didn't have time enough to think about it, I had a miscarriage in the second month of this pregnancy and then I felt really bad, that is normal and my relationship with Ronan started to go down to the hole.
I think now I should talk a bit about my holidays in Asia.
I didn't travel to all the countries in Asia just, Malaysia, Phillipinas and Thailand.
You can check the pictures in my FLICKR website, ah and in China I went to travel holiday in many towns
Brazil developed a bit, it is true, but still a lot of work to be done to step up to a second world country, for me still a third world country.
Anyway without work and a life here?
I don't think I will stay longer here.
Anyway, my purpose for this blog, it is tell my story around the world
For me make sense start all from the last place I was living
CHINA!! Changzhou
China was a very interesting experience. Quite different from any culture I've ever imagine. And working teaching Interactive media for the Chinese guys was a great experience, I can say I would not go back to live there, but as a life experience was amazing, I've learned about the world and myself as person.
I've lived in 2 towns there: Changzhou and Shanghai, my first 2 years I spent living in Changzhou, teaching there for the same school - Raffles Design Institute.
Do they speak English? A little, they speak as much English as majority of the population in Brazil, almost nothing.
Did you need to learn Mandarin? No, I've always had a translator with me in the classes. All my classes always were in English.
But it was very interesting to see the interaction between me and the Chinese students, firstly they were coming to try to talk with me and of course I've answered in English and they look at me as they are understanding but NO!
But if you look their faces you think they are, this something I've learned from them; they never never can be ashamed! Its a very bad bad posture in China, I've heard about it, in all Asia, but I just perceived it in China.
Physical living conditions in Changzhou, first apartments I've lived there not very good, but after I situated myself there I found what is not too bad and cheap (it is cheap because Changzhou is a small town).
Life was not bad by this time, good apartment, good job ah I found a boyfriend, not Chinese, but French. Many foreigners going to China to work, as you get paid well and live well and for men you can have all those Chinese girls surround you. In my first year in China I completely hated all those girls, for me they were going around the foreigners, almost attacking them to have something with them, aarggghhh!!
And Im a woman, as anybody around the world, you can be alone for a while, but after a while we need to find a partner, someone to share life and in case Chinese men was not for me at all, but the foreigners were going to the Chinese girls aarrrgghh!!
Then luckily I found this French guy Ronan, he is working for a Belgium company in Changzhou.
We spent one year and a half together and it was a good relationship, I don't have complain about.
I had a few serious relationships lets say 4 or 5 ones, and this one with Ronan was a very good one, almost no arguments, we are very similar kind of people.
I can see after a few relationships that I'm stepping up in this aspect, has a evolution, you dont do the same mistakes and silly things that you did before, definitely a evolution and I can say that next relationship ( Ronan was the last one) will be better as I'm 37 years and all the time I'm learning better to deal with live, so....
Relationship, a man, a partner forever??? I sometimes miss it, but I ask myself. does it exist? I'm still checking out...
My problem is, I built up myself to be very independent, so after sometime specially after 30 years, you feel you need to settled down and stop somewhere alone?? Loneless is not nice now, it was a few years ago but now, I don't feel anymore in this way
But anyway it is just life, lets come back to my story.
I had a different experience with Ronan in Changzhou, may be just different for me; surprisingly one day going holiday with him to Hong Kong I found out I was pregnant.
I never expected this in my life but I didn't think was a bad situation, I was with a good job, good boyfriend, why not have the baby?
First thing that really scared me 'has a baby to live in China???!!!' Different culture etc...
But I didn't have time enough to think about it, I had a miscarriage in the second month of this pregnancy and then I felt really bad, that is normal and my relationship with Ronan started to go down to the hole.
I think now I should talk a bit about my holidays in Asia.
I didn't travel to all the countries in Asia just, Malaysia, Phillipinas and Thailand.
You can check the pictures in my FLICKR website, ah and in China I went to travel holiday in many towns
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