The Disaster

My passport has just been sent back to Sweden via mail. I am so fucked.

No Chinese today, I refuse it.

Change is Good

As some of you might have noticed, I have bought myself two wigs (vaguely sick of sticking out by now) and in lack of anything else to distract me from Korea I had myself a little photoshoot. Here, they are for your viewing pleasure - Dark Brown and Reddish Brown, my new best friends.

Let's start with Dark Brown, the more Chinese of the two:






I like to play with colours. Now - here is Reddish Brown (with curls!):





I have been looking for a Red one but it doesn't want to be found. The quest continues! I like fake hair.

Chinese of the Day:
假发
Wig

One for Korea

Et Voilá, the system wins again. I lose, of course, it's automatic by now, and I have to leave the country. I will be back - I couldn't live anywhere else - I just have to deal with the shit that has been dumped upon me first. It seems to be the best way, to go Korea and sit there and get my Visa going while I do some sight-seeing all by my lonesome. I am trying to look upon this as a vacation but it's difficult, what with Stress holding my throat.

... I don't want to know what happens if my visa doesn't get through.

My ticket has been booked and I have to run off now to pay for it. I have a strong feeling that I better marry Jay or I'll be eating crumbs and dust upon my return, I am so poor. Nonetheless! It is going to be a great opportunity to speak Korean and to take Theodore out for a walk. I am not going to let this ruin anything. This is a Vacation, if Forced and Too Expensive. I can have fun in Korea.

I just wish someone would come with me, it's always more fun if you're two.

Chinese of the Day:
你笑一笑，没有过不去的事情
Just smile your way through it

My Visa Problems, Part II

I can honestly say that I do not quite understand this whole paper-turning business and obsession with dates. I thought my papers were in order, I really did - but as it turns out, no, someone just had to fuck with me. I went to pay my tuition in order to get my last papers and they said no, you cannot, you have to wait until the eight of September. I admit, I was astounded.

"But my visa expires in seven days - why can I not pay my tuition now?"
"Because you are not an old student."
"Why does it matter?"
"It just does."
"But why?"
"It just does."
"Then can you make an exception because of circumstances and unforeseen events that was caused, in fact, by the university and not me personally?"
"No."

Sometimes. Oh, sometimes I wonder. What am I doing here again?

If this doesn't work itself out within two days I will have to book a flight to Korea. Don't get me wrong, I would love to go to Korea, just not right now. I speak only "I love you" in Korean and quite frankly, I cannot afford to go. Sweden is not even an alternative and Hong Kong is Money away. I wish I had chosen another university - I never had these kind of issues in Sichuan.

I miss Home, I miss Chengdu. 사랑해!

Chinese of the day:
"太烦人了"
How annoying

Tornado

爱情来的太快就像龙卷风

离不开暴风圈来不及逃
我不能再想
我不能再想
我不 我不 我不能

爱情走的太快就像龙卷风
不能承受我已无处可躲
我不要再想
我不要再想
我不 我不 我不要再想你

Inventions

Everybody loves karaoke. We love it so much, in fact, that we'd rather sing than drink and dance (KTV is offically the best invention since birth control and chocolate ice cream). Kathy, Korean Boy and I forgot completely about our plans to go clubbing - but I can't say I mind.

Favourites of the evening:
I love Rock and Roll
Complicated (Why do I know this song again?)
That Korean song that goes "Baby, I love you so much, forever you and I, I love you, oh, I love you so much, forever you and I"
Kiss Me (Admittedly I had never heard this song before but Korean Boy was adorable and I got to make kissy noises in the background)
黑色幽默 (IT'S MY SONG)
Julia
My way


In other news, Theodore got jealous of Ming so I have decided to write him a story to keep him quiet, but we have not yet discussed the issue of a Happy Ending. I think it's a bit mcuh of him to ask, but he keeps insisting. I love him, but really - someone has to be realistic.

Chinese of the day:
男人不坏，女人不爱
If a man is not bad, women won't love him

Absolutely and Completely

I am convinced that the best feeling in the world is that of Relief, at least for now. My visa problems have worked out with a bit of kicking and screaming and I just want to throw myself into someone's arms and scream it out: I'm so Happy!


Tracy helped me with a list on how to get an Asian boy to stay with you:
1. do not have sex with him (... admittedly, I don't quite understand this rule)
2. do not eat (one needs to be skinny. It's understandable, I suppose)
3. don't tell him you like him (where is the logic, here?)
I feel fucked in advance, and not in the good way. But the sun is smiling at me - it's not so grey today and I have bought some things to eat. I'm going to sit out on the balcony and smile back at the skies. I love my new home. I love Beijing.

... To be fair, I could add to the list, but let's not get embarrassed.

Chinese of the day:
"我快发疯了！"
"I am going insane!"

We do what we can to Forget

The complications around my visa keep adding up and I wouldn't have managed another day if it hadn't been for Kathy dragging me out to the clubs. Admittedly, we did not have much to drink (don't get me wrong, we drank bottles in plural, but they contained so little) but we most certainly ruled the dancefloor. Kathy and I and Hong Yan on the podium, Korean Boy and I on the podium, the four of us around the pole - I am finally surrounded by people who knows how to work it! I almost collapsed dancing and would have taken pictures if my camera had not been stuffed into a locker - today's pictures are posted with the courtesy of Kathy.



We played the tissue game, rescued Korean Boy from a Very Enthusiastic American girl and kissed around ice cubes - I can honestly say that I didn't think about my visa once.








The small of my back, my thighs, my stomach and my neck - I am so terribly hurt today and I couldn't be happier. We slept at five or six after walking down by the water, empty streets and soft lights... I could not help but feel a little romantic. Not everyone was, though. We met people who had just finished swimming around 后海 just for the sake of Fun and I was almost jealous.

Korean Boy is sweet, terribly so, but he speaks very little Chinese and almost no English (though he understands some) and since I only know one word in Korean ("neh", which, amazingly enough, means "yes") we have to rely on my skills as a Chinese teacher to get our points across. We try our best and it's fun - I can honestly say that I don't mind.

There's still fun to have, and there has to be a way to fix this visa thing - I just haven't found it yet.

Chinese of the day:
"对不起，我不是故意的吻你!"
I'm so sorry, I didn't kiss you on purpose!

Bye Bye Baby?

China has a funny way of turning papers. My university promised me tree weeks tops before I could have my papers in hand - this has now, because of the Olympics, turned into something limitless that could mean five, six or even seven weeks. It means, of course, that my Visa suffers. I need a new Visa before the 25th of this month or I will be sent home. It's an awful thing, of course, plus I cannot rent the apartment I was looking at because the school won't grant me any papers proving that I am a student. They are, in short, terrible people and very unwilling to help.

I have been in contact with the Swedish Embassy, I do hope that they can help. If not, I am in trouble.

I hate the Olympics. I don't want to go home.

Shop 'til you drop - and then push a little harder when they force you

I have become so spoiled. Not with money, of course (for I have none) but with housing, friendship and scenery. Kathy and I are working our way around the shopping districts, the bars, the boys - I have to say, staying with her family is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I feel so Chinese! I should fix my eyes to prove it.


Her friends are my friends, and I have never felt so welcome. The search for a Home of my own continues, but for now, I don't worry - one should just take it as it comes. I do like to have things planned, it's true, but I can be better. Marie always told me I need to be more spontaneous.


So I try. The Chinese girls are good at it, they are brilliant teachers. Best of all, I am not allowed any English, though Kathy is perfectly fluent. I am getting used to the Beijing accent, but some still laugh at my unconscious attempts at Taiwanese...


To be fair, I don't know what I was thinking when I said I was reluctant to go.

Chinese of the day:
缘分
Fate (when you find someone who fits you so well and you just know what it was meant to be)