Friday before holiday

7:00 am – woke up

8:15 am – took the "23" bus to the library

9:00 – 11:00 am – was teaching Arthur

11:15 am – went to the bank to pay for the samples from Rose

11:50 am – was looking for a fax machine, bacuse Rose’s boss didn’t trust I really paid

12:30 pm – came back home to prepare the topic for English corner

1:30 pm – talked to Marek, the manager from Poland

2:15 pm – took the "23" bus to Jiahua Center (there is Web)

3:00 – 4:00 pm – English corner #1 – about water

5:30 pm – ate dinner with Kevin

6:00 pm – prepared the topic for English corner

7:00 – 8:00 pm – English corner #2 – about quarrels

 

… tired.

 

west lake and naked professor

Small talks:
– Have you been to West Lake recently?
– No…
– The viewsight is so beautiful. And the climate suits for tourism.
– I don’t want to go there alone.
– Why don’t you ask me?
– You’re busy now and I’m busy in the evenings.
– Maybe weekend is available.
(…)

– I live in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
– Hangzhou is a beautiful city in China. People always say Hangzhou is like a heaven.
(…)

*****
A Chinese culture ministry official has
denounced a university professor who stripped naked in front of
students and teachers during an art class, a Chinese newspaper
reported on Tuesday.
Mo Xiaoxin, a 56-year-old assistant professor at a
university in Changzhou, in eastern Jiangsu province, shocked
students by stripping during a lecture on "body art" to
emphasise the "power" of the body and to "challenge taboos",
the Beijing News said.
"There are no taboos in the field of research, but to do
this directly in the course of teaching is obviously not
appropriate," the paper quoted Tian Junting, a culture ministry
official, as saying.
The lecture was part of a course within a newly established
"human body art and culture" research institute – China’s
first – at Jiangsu Teachers University of Technology, the
paper said.
Mo arranged for four other models, including a man and
woman in their seventies or eighties, and a younger couple, to
strip naked in front of the class while he lectured, the paper
said.
During the nearly hour-long class, Mo also invited students
to take their clothes off.
"Professor Mo appeared emotionally excited at the time,"
the paper quoted a student as saying. "As he was talking, he
undid his belt and took off his pants, and stood naked in the
middle of the lecture podium."
The naked lecture made many of the 30 or so students feel
"uneasy", the paper said. "Some kept their eyes trained on the
ceiling, some awkwardly bowed their heads and stared at the
ground".
Tian, the culture ministry official, said the course was
still in a "research phase" and it wasn’t yet known whether it
had produced "positive or negative effects".

[Reuters]

movies

I bought some movies for lonely evenings. Not all evenings are lonely, but sometimes they happen. And after I finish talking to my parents, my manager in Poland, my students, my friends.. I watch movies. You can buy cheap DVDs in China – for 5 or 10 yuan. Of course they are not original but nobody expects it for this price. Therefore there is always possibility that the DVD will not work…

I decided to buy one of my favourite movies of all times: "Forrest Gump" directed by Robert Zemeckis. The movie is based on the novel by Winston Groom – I have read it many times and it always made my mood good. The same is with the movie… I love it, although sometimes the disc blocked itself and I couldn’t watch it very smoothly.

The next movie I bought is "Flight 93"; I guess it hasn’t been released as DVD yet – but in China everything is possible!  It tells the story about 2001-September-11th tragedy in USA – about one of the four hijacked planes. The movie is good and very easy to understand, even when you don’t speak English fluently. Of course it is without happy-end… I think everybody knows what happened on that day.

I’m also reading; this time I have Dan Brown’s "The Da Vinci Code". I haven’t seen a movie yet, I’ll watch it after I finish reading. I like to compare the books with the motion pictures.

It looks like I become a businessman. I want to help my Polish company seriously since I have more free time nowadays. I never wanted to be a teacher for whole my life, I think now it’s a good moment to start doing something else, maybe more challenging. I’ll still be teaching, though. I don’t want to resign completely from this great feeling I have everytime I talk to my students. This is so memorable! And so far teaching gave me so much experience in interpersonal contacts, self-confidence, ability to express my thoughts, to talk on various topics… Yes, this is creativity, something my university teachers couldn’t teach me. Maybe you can’t learn it? Maybe you have to find it in yourself?

It may seem that I’m having a happy time. Yes, generally it is… only those lonely evenings make me feel scared that deep inside I’m hopeless and pitiful shy boy that nobody cares about.

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get".

bike

Something wrong started to happen with my bike. Suddenly the front wheel has blocked and I almost fell down on the pavement. I was in a hurry to school and I couldn’t do anything. It was quite near to my flat; I had no choice and left the bike in the gate of some unknown building… No time to wait for the bus, so of course I took a taxi. Luckily it was not a rush hour so there was no problem to catch a car. I’m so mad because of my poor bike!! I wish I could throw it away! Perhaps I’ll do it and buy another vehicle – because I want to have it. I need a bike, I like riding it, I like to feel wind in my hair – this is freedom!

My manager from Poland (Marek) has bought a microphone recently. He bought it just to communicate with me, he said that typing is too time-consuming.  Today I heard his voice for the first time in 6 months! Wow, the feeling is so strange, I can say that I missed the sound of Polish language… The microphone in my family is broken and there’s no-one who remembers to buy the new one.

Monday, beautiful day. The weather is so calm and still warm. Autumn is my favourite season; I think I’m a melancholic person and autumn is just melancholic. I’m waiting for the leaves to start to change from green into yellow, red and brown… Is Chinese autumn the same like Polish one? In my country we say "golden Polish autumn".. because of the amazing colours seen everywhere.

in the morning

In the morning you know you won’t remember a thing. In the morning you know it’s gonna be alright.

 

Hitlist #290

September 25th, 2006

1. 1 (4) Jay Chou (周杰倫), Qi Li Xiang (七里香)
2. 4 (6) Razorlight, In The Morning
3. 2 (8) Muse, Starlight
4. 7 (5) The Kooks, Naive
5. 3 (7) David Gray, Alibi
6. 12 (7) Christina Aguilera, Ain’t No Other Man
7. 16 (2) Jason Mraz, Plane
8. 15 (3) Robbie Williams, Rudebox
9. 19 (2) Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars
10. 14 (9) Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland, Promiscuous
11. 18 (2) Scissor Sisters, Don’t Feel Like Dancing
12. 5 (4) David Gilmour, On An Island
13. 20 (3) Justin Timberlake, Sexy Back
14. – (3) The Killers, When You Were Young
15. 6 (17) Jason Mraz, Life Is Wonderful
16. 17 (3) Keane, Crystal Ball
17. 8 (6) James Morrison, You Give Me Something
18. 9 (5) Thom Yorke, Harrowdown Hill
19. 11 (10) Eskimo Joe, New York
20. – (1) Fergie, London Bridge

chasing a starlight

I just recalled myself about twinkling stars. When I was in Poland (earlier this year) I talked to Joyce and told her I missed her very much. Then she said I should look at the sky and see the stars… and then think about her. She would do the same.
Tonight I’ll be chasing a starlight, for all those whom I left far away, in Poland…

Far away

The ship is taking me far away

Far away from the memories

Of the people who care if I live or die


Starlight

I will be chasing a starlight

Until the end of my life

I don’t know if it’s worth it anymore


And hold you in my arms

I just wanted to hold you in my arms


My life

You electrify my life

Let’s conspire to re-ignite

All the souls that would die just to feel alive


But I’ll never let you go

If you promise not to fade away

Never fade away


Our hopes and expectations

Black holes and revelations

[Muse, Starlight, Black Holes And Revelations, 2006]

Wind

I was in the park yesterday. Finally I met Wind, my dear friend who helps me a lot during my staying in Hangzhou. Our talk was so nice! And suddenly I noticed that many other people started to surround us and listen. I was trying to speak my poor Chinese and people seemed to be delighted! I felt wonderful! It was enough to say Zhongguo hao! (China is good) and they smiled and answered Ta xihuan Zhongguo! (He likes China!)  Oh yes, in the moment like that I like this country so much. And I want to learn Chinese immediately. I try to learn everyday; only if I have time and I’m not too sleepy.

It would be much more convenient to teach and do business if I knew Chinese. For example this week I teach a businessman who is a beginner in English. I have to speak a little Chinese to him, how else can I teach him English? So… my poor Chinese is better than no Chinese, haha. And his poor English improves quickly.

Together with Oliver I’m going to Hong Kong in October. I’m excited by this trip. We will spend 5 days in this city, we already booked a hotel room. In 2 weeks time I’ll see Hong Kong again.

Useful expression if you want to take the bus and you don’t have coins: Huan wu kuai chen! (Change five yuan!)… I didn’t know it previously, I had to use my body language, I showed banknote and some small coins – the lady in the shop understood what I meant. Learning Chinese is not so difficult; anyway, is timeconsuming.

special words

Hancy is in England. I miss my little sister. It’s she who wrote special words for me on paper cups when we had lesson together. I wonder when we could see each other next time… not soon, I’m afraid.

Time flies… time flows like Qiantang River in Hangzhou – I didn’t realize how wide it is!

七里香

It was easy to predict that Jay will have his #1 hit. I’m impressed by his music and voice. Just great and pure!

 

Hitlist #289

September 18th, 2006

1. 2 (3) Jay Chou (周杰倫), Qi Li Xiang (七里香)
2. 1 (7) Muse, Starlight
3. 5 (6) David Gray, Alibi
4. 4 (5) Razorlight, In The Morning
5. 7 (3) David Gilmour, On An Island
6. 3 (16) Jason Mraz, Life Is Wonderful
7. 11 (4) The Kooks, Naive
8. 10 (5) James Morrison, You Give Me Something
9. 6 (4) Thom Yorke, Harrowdown Hill
10. 13 (17) Archive, Fold
11. 9 (9) Eskimo Joe, New York
12. 14 (6) Christina Aguilera, Ain’t No Other Man
13. 12 (16) Muse, Super Massive Black Hole
14. 8 (8) Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland, Promiscuous
15. 20 (2) Robbie Williams, Rudebox
16. – (1) Jason Mraz, Plane
17. 18 (2) Keane, Crystal Ball
18. – (1) Scissor Sisters, Don’t Feel Like Dancing
19. – (1) Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars
20. 17 (2) Justin Timberlake, Sexy Back

 

busy Saturday

Busy Saturday. I had many lessons today. First in the library, then in Web where I had English corner for 2 hours. I noticed that recently my legs hurt after teaching. Usually I stand in front of students so my legs hurt the most… the same like voice. Anyway, the voice doesn’t bring any problems.

I was talking about little dragon. Haha, it was quite interesting because nobody knew why I wanted to talk about it for 2 hours. And little dragon is just "xiao long" in Chinese – and it is a nickname of Bruce Lee, famous Chinese movie star. I like to surprise the students.

I’m going to Hong Kong again! This time I’ll go with Oliver – on October 4th. I can’t wait! I like Hong Kong, I want to show it to Oliver.

I had a dinner with Freda, one of the students in my business class. Wow, so sweet! And the food was mmm… hao chi! delicious! She told me not to mention it but it was a lovely evening. Thank you, Freda. Looking forward for next meetings!

 

The song of the day is "Słabość chwilowa" ("Momentary weakness") by Polish alternative band Pustki (Emptinesses). It’s terrific!!

 

Męczę się (…)
Kiedy zaczynam (…)
To słabość chwilowa, zaczynam od nowa,
nie mogę wytrzymać, kiedy męczysz mnie
męczysz się
to samo od nowa, to słabość chwilowa
kolejny raz dzisiaj tobą męczę się

Dopadam (…)
Kiedy to minie (…)
Kiedy męczę się (…)
To słabosć chwilowa, zaczynam od nowa,
nie mogę wytrzymać, kiedy męczysz mnie
męczysz się
to samo od nowa, to słabosć chwilowa
kolejny raz dzisiaj toba męczę sie

 

Basically it’s about that I’m getting tired and you’re getting, too. When will it pass? It’s only a momentary weakness, the following time I’m getting tired by you. Just fantastic and fresh. Polish only!