Life and Travel in China

In the Watsons drugstore I saw a New Year's surprise - a Solidarity chocolate box. It's nice to see something Polish in a Chinese store after two years. I really haven't seen anything from Poland for two or even three years. The whole world does great business with China, and Poland cannot offer anything here. We are offended against China. Their market offers Italian mineral waters, German cakes, Russian cucumbers, French chocolates, English perfumes... there are thousands of products from all over Europe. Of course, some are famous and branded, but there are many ordinary food products that simply sell here. Seeing something MADE IN POLAND is still rare!

DID YOU KNOW THAT... most Chinese drivers would never even pass the Chinese driving test? Their exam is very easy and has nothing to do with driving around the city, obeying signs, or letting pedestrians pass - as is the case in Poland. Well, most future drivers (read: idiots) give bribes. My friend gave 1,300 RMB (about PLN 600) to make sure I passed the exam. As you can see, human life has little value. Later, such newly minted 'drivers' cause accidents, hit pedestrians and brush against cars when parking. So if you are in China and someone drives you like a madman, you can sum it up: HE DRIVES LIKE A DRIVER FOR PLN 1,300.

Today is Chinese New Year's Eve. I write it in quotation marks because they have no such concept. It is simply a festive evening before the new year, tomorrow begins the YEAR OF THE OX. As the name suggests, it will be a difficult year, a year of hard work, sacrifice... The Chinese gather in their family homes, eat ceremonial lunches and dinners, visit friends and extended family. They play with fireworks, but there are no dances or parties (maybe the exception are young people in big cities), the tradition is different, it is more of a vigil than fun. Tomorrow everyone gives each other red envelopes with money for good luck (usually PLN 50-400). So, I wish everyone a happy new year, hopefully it will not be as difficult as it seems due to the economic crisis.

I noticed that I was moving from the stage of acceptance back to the stage of rebellion and misunderstanding of China. The reason must be my month-long stay in Poland and my last short vacation in Indonesia, on the island of Bali. Well, people there are more cultured and friendly than in China. Plus, traffic is much safer. Millions of people, hundreds of thousands of scooters, but no one honks and everyone follows the rules. Here in China I am again irritated by spitting in the street, loud conversations, crowds of people and really crazy traffic. Coming back from Bali, I got angry at the border. The Chinese policeman checked my passport in an extremely rude way. It was already after midnight. And he looked through my entire passport (30 blank pages) looking for stamps from the previous border crossing. He literally crushed each page in his fingers and squeezed it like a notebook or toilet paper. I couldn't stand it and simply said that it was my document, my passport and maybe he would treat him more leniently. The guy had an extremely rude face, an ordinary communist pig - I'm sorry, but I can't describe him any other way. Of course, he didn't apologize for anything, he just quickly put his stamp on it. He also checked an Indian man in front of me and it lasted probably 10 minutes. Even another officer stood behind him and watched what he was doing. I haven't met such a mean person in a long time. My anger was later intensified by crowds of people who forcefully offer illegal taxis and almost snatch my luggage from my hands. You can get angry. I returned from an island paradise to some nightmare urban jungle. When will China become civilized?

I wonder how Poles living in England can miss their homeland so much? After all, the surroundings, customs, religion, food, weather, holidays, architecture - it's all very similar. We are Europeans and there are not that big differences throughout Europe. Moreover, in Europe, many things can be perfectly organized, there are Polish shops, restaurants, and compatriots everywhere. What am I supposed to say? China and Asia are a completely different world. You need to have enormous amounts of tolerance and you need to be open to the world, accept certain differences, understand different cultures, and sometimes you just need to remain silent, not complain, not argue. Of course, there are problems with this, but there is no one to complain to, because nothing is surprising here, everything is 'normal' for the Chinese. For me it's completely different. Of course, everyone has the right to miss their homeland, but being 2 hours away from home by plane, knowing that buses go to Poland every day, having a fridge full of Polish food, talking to Poles every day, using a Polish telephone, can we really talk about living abroad?