Thursday, October 02, 2008
with correct att.
Sorry
--
c! Ï i´ !< __________________________________
Dirk Steenmans
CRA, Biologist &
Water and Coastal Management
http://www.ualg.pt/EUMScWCM/
Universidad de Cadiz, Spain
+41794437690
--
c! Ï i´ !< __________________________________
Dirk Steenmans
CRA, Biologist &
Water and Coastal Management
http://www.ualg.pt/EUMScWCM/
Universidad de Cadiz, Spain
+41794437690
Hello EVERYONE,
The last months I listen a lot Rose tatoo is good music!
I guess it means don't think to much, go out there.
Enjoy the lecture (funny soft science)!
--
c! Ï i´ !< __________________________________
Dirk Steenmans
CRA, Biologist &
Water and Coastal Management
http://www.ualg.pt/EUMScWCM/
Universidad de Cadiz, Spain
+41794437690
Sunday, December 24, 2006
The ending of a year which is not really the ending of the year - over here!
Hey people,
We hope that you all may organize a great party, may it be christmas, newyear, winter dumpling festival (22 december - china), spring festival (date depending on lunar month), or another occasion like a barbecue and family dinners. That you are surrounded by people you love and enjoy the higher levels that can be reached together, and that you feel the warmth of it!
We just came back from the christmas party (although christmas is not the tradition here) at the institute.. it didnt last too long - from 18.30 to 21.00 - but people were enjoying it so hard, and many small things were made special. The bravest went to sing a song, and others had romantic moments participating in some funny games like a guy and girl trying to explode the balloon attached to the others waist first without using their hands. Its beautiful and modest, no decadence, but still very special to the people. Haha and of course Dirk performed his guitar act what did you think!
Oh and as a present we want to spoil you with more bride pictures!
Enjoy people!
Koen and Dirk
We hope that you all may organize a great party, may it be christmas, newyear, winter dumpling festival (22 december - china), spring festival (date depending on lunar month), or another occasion like a barbecue and family dinners. That you are surrounded by people you love and enjoy the higher levels that can be reached together, and that you feel the warmth of it!
We just came back from the christmas party (although christmas is not the tradition here) at the institute.. it didnt last too long - from 18.30 to 21.00 - but people were enjoying it so hard, and many small things were made special. The bravest went to sing a song, and others had romantic moments participating in some funny games like a guy and girl trying to explode the balloon attached to the others waist first without using their hands. Its beautiful and modest, no decadence, but still very special to the people. Haha and of course Dirk performed his guitar act what did you think!
Oh and as a present we want to spoil you with more bride pictures!
Enjoy people!
Koen and Dirk
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Quite sedentary life.
whhuuuuuhaaa
Yes were still eating rice.
Its getting really cold in Qingdao but we fixed the electricity in the house and so the heating works from time to time.
When it rains there is no need to put the shower on so full 'in nature' feeling.
There are a lot of people in Qingdao that stroll aroud in full 'yes I do' outfits in the Wedding-Picture Park (I tell you its really called like that) and there about during the weekends which to us seemed quite strange. Well not anymore, now that we got some valuable info, we even understand it! Next year in the Chinese calendar is the year of the pig and not just a pig (pig is symbol of good luck aroud here) the GOLDEN pig, yeah. So its get married fast and have 1 child in the luckiest year of them all to have a lucky kid. So basically most of the girls are now married in Qingdao, fodes!!
At UNI its crazy, like the rest but the cafetaria, man, thats something else. So we got a Golden Dragon card and Moon Cloud (Sciencia, who helped us so much) got us up to date on campus life. There is like 2 bilion people who come to eat during the 1 hour lunch time, the place is really full. Of course being on the Cadiz and Portugal eating rhythm, we arrived first got cold food and when we wanted to start eating, we were alone again in the cantina. Really something to see, this stream of people, all thinking, all hungry, some with a cat waiting at home, some sad, some happy, some that know anotherone some allone, so many people with 1 mission.
We made some friends at uni too: Clever, Beautifull Red Bird, Moon Cloud, Bright...
Koen has changed his name to Couragous Advice and myself to Ocean Wrinkle to blend in.
We've got a mission too finally, we got a project that we can finish and finish the master with. We will have to put price tags on the environment Koen on fishes and Dirk on services, ha, and who sayed nothing cant be bought. Its crazy that every thing, through the eyes of economy, has a price, you pay you get it.
This in contrast to when we went to this mountain called Laoshan, well infact we went to a Taoist monastery at the foot of it. And like in the streets where we life there are a lot of trees but they are strange. Its like as if they are waching you, they have characters and look like more alive than trees in Europe i guess. There were some MAGNIFICENT trees there even i took 2 flowers from one 880 year old tree that blooms in the winter, its called Red Snow. That's just amazing because all other trees i think bloom in the summer. And there were some old giants one even was older than Jezus. A tree that was planted 2200 years ago, it was so intense to hugg that tree. 2200 years, man that a long time (and such a short time in the same time). I wonder what is the value of that tree its by all just a tree.. BUT it has outlived the vikings the romans, Hitler, The Mongols, The Japanese invaders, the great Chinese emperors, Bill Clinton and will definatly outlive Pinochet Michael Jackson and myself, so??? I really liked that tree, it was so full of something.
The other night I was attacked by a giant 2 meter 120 kg chineze kung foo master who asked me if i wanted to die, I replied no but before i could finish my glasses were gone and the 6 h walk back home was interesting definatly since the house was 30 minutes from the place. Well I had drunk a beer or 2. And talking about beer we found the cheapest one. The tradition here is that the people buy the beer from the tap in 4L plastic bags, its so cool. You can even take your freshly bought item to a food stuff place (even chique restaurants).
I'm getting to the point where the nomad is waking up again and I want to leave but in fact everything is a travel, if you go tomorrow to the park or you cross the street to see a friend or you go to take a piss, thats also a travel, its all in the head. because around you it doesnt change that much. All trees all people all cars and all buildings. There is greater difference between the people who live in your community and those of a neigbouring one, then (when seen through your eyes) between all the other communities in the world, i guess. It's funny this ball racing round a star racing round a black hole full of so many good things and full of money and guns.
--
Yes were still eating rice.
Its getting really cold in Qingdao but we fixed the electricity in the house and so the heating works from time to time.
When it rains there is no need to put the shower on so full 'in nature' feeling.
There are a lot of people in Qingdao that stroll aroud in full 'yes I do' outfits in the Wedding-Picture Park (I tell you its really called like that) and there about during the weekends which to us seemed quite strange. Well not anymore, now that we got some valuable info, we even understand it! Next year in the Chinese calendar is the year of the pig and not just a pig (pig is symbol of good luck aroud here) the GOLDEN pig, yeah. So its get married fast and have 1 child in the luckiest year of them all to have a lucky kid. So basically most of the girls are now married in Qingdao, fodes!!
At UNI its crazy, like the rest but the cafetaria, man, thats something else. So we got a Golden Dragon card and Moon Cloud (Sciencia, who helped us so much) got us up to date on campus life. There is like 2 bilion people who come to eat during the 1 hour lunch time, the place is really full. Of course being on the Cadiz and Portugal eating rhythm, we arrived first got cold food and when we wanted to start eating, we were alone again in the cantina. Really something to see, this stream of people, all thinking, all hungry, some with a cat waiting at home, some sad, some happy, some that know anotherone some allone, so many people with 1 mission.
We made some friends at uni too: Clever, Beautifull Red Bird, Moon Cloud, Bright...
Koen has changed his name to Couragous Advice and myself to Ocean Wrinkle to blend in.
We've got a mission too finally, we got a project that we can finish and finish the master with. We will have to put price tags on the environment Koen on fishes and Dirk on services, ha, and who sayed nothing cant be bought. Its crazy that every thing, through the eyes of economy, has a price, you pay you get it.
This in contrast to when we went to this mountain called Laoshan, well infact we went to a Taoist monastery at the foot of it. And like in the streets where we life there are a lot of trees but they are strange. Its like as if they are waching you, they have characters and look like more alive than trees in Europe i guess. There were some MAGNIFICENT trees there even i took 2 flowers from one 880 year old tree that blooms in the winter, its called Red Snow. That's just amazing because all other trees i think bloom in the summer. And there were some old giants one even was older than Jezus. A tree that was planted 2200 years ago, it was so intense to hugg that tree. 2200 years, man that a long time (and such a short time in the same time). I wonder what is the value of that tree its by all just a tree.. BUT it has outlived the vikings the romans, Hitler, The Mongols, The Japanese invaders, the great Chinese emperors, Bill Clinton and will definatly outlive Pinochet Michael Jackson and myself, so??? I really liked that tree, it was so full of something.
The other night I was attacked by a giant 2 meter 120 kg chineze kung foo master who asked me if i wanted to die, I replied no but before i could finish my glasses were gone and the 6 h walk back home was interesting definatly since the house was 30 minutes from the place. Well I had drunk a beer or 2. And talking about beer we found the cheapest one. The tradition here is that the people buy the beer from the tap in 4L plastic bags, its so cool. You can even take your freshly bought item to a food stuff place (even chique restaurants).
I'm getting to the point where the nomad is waking up again and I want to leave but in fact everything is a travel, if you go tomorrow to the park or you cross the street to see a friend or you go to take a piss, thats also a travel, its all in the head. because around you it doesnt change that much. All trees all people all cars and all buildings. There is greater difference between the people who live in your community and those of a neigbouring one, then (when seen through your eyes) between all the other communities in the world, i guess. It's funny this ball racing round a star racing round a black hole full of so many good things and full of money and guns.
--
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
PEOPLE ATTENTION
WE UPDATED ALL POSTS SINCE SIBERIA WITH PICTURES
SO SCROLL DOWN AND BACK TO OCTOBER
ENJOY OUR BARBARIAN LOOKS!!!
d&k
Monday, November 13, 2006
The bats are tying up their electric windows - also
Hello dear friends!
After a long silence, we send out another sign of life! This time, probably more boring. Since two weeks or so - we dont even remember - we r in Qingdao, but still blocked in the process of arriving. We moved from our - to our norms - decadent two star hotel where we cooked alot of noodles in the old part of the city, to the house of fayfay, a chinese emancipated artist girl hospitality club girl. She took us straight to the thai boxing class. We decided to quit it after the first lesson though, as this sports is meant to kill and we are way to strong and too peaceful so we shouldnt practice these kind of movements. The new part of city looks a bit like new york, and herewe finally found the legendary bars! Being mostly boring expat bars and discos, we only had to go two times to get enough of them - the second time dirk got some problems with a kungfu killer, and his newly learned thai box skills were not yet impressive enough. Also a friend of fayfay tequi helped us really alot to find our appartment - right on the beach - OF COURSE - and in front of the sailing club. Its only 700 euro for 3 months and has 2 rooms, all the stuff and a barbecue garden. But we can only enter on wednesday.
So wen are spending our days waiting (a skill we are consciently training and enjoying). Wednesday we will also know if we really have a project in China or not, we hope.
Oh yes and three days ago our hc host took us to a family spa centre slash brothel! For 4 euro u can stay 24 hours and enjoy showers, sauna, baths, obligatory pyjama !!! , great free food 4 times a day, internet, karaoke and there is also a cinema with violent chinese movies with luxury electric sleep seats where u can spend the night between snoring businessman who are getting massages from very young girls in cheerleader uniform (the last part is paying and we didnt try). And then we heard there were also "special" rooms. It all has a really weird baby pampering feeling, There r no windows to the outer world and one hypnotical chinese song is constantly playing while you stand in line together with whole chinese families in pyjama for the food and satisfaction, and these short skirted girls running around from one businessman to another. Is this part of a certain brainwashing program??? But ok for 4 euro u get really clean and ur stomach full...
We got adidasses to run around the big bays, dirk got a new guitar so now just a barbecue and a bucket for the sangria and a sailing boat and we are set! The waves for surfing are a bit too small, but we started excercising our surfing skills by standing without holding fast in the city bus...
very soon pictures we promise!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Becoming black in China and arriving at a Pacific beach
Hi all!!!
First we want to thank you all for following and motivating us on our trip so intensively, it really makes our little hearts melt HAHAHA
no really its always stimulating to read your comments. Just a pity our Chinese friends cannot read the website...
Our stomaks fully charged with the last Swedish porridge, we left Beijing and started the struggle to get out of the huge city maze. Of course, we got lost and found ourselves driving through the favelas of Beijing, you should have seen the heads of people! But they helped us out, and after the fixing of first breakdowns which are usual for a chinese bike (koen chain broken and dirk pedals broken) we got on the road 104. But the night was falling, and being still in half city we went toask in a farm if we could put up our tent safely there. As people are really friendly here it was of course no problem. After listening some Fito music and 1 hour of sleep, bright light and people around the tent. POLICE
So we wake up the guy ask us a lot of stuff we dont understand so we show the pasports try to explain that we are on private property (a thing that later was explained as not existing in China) and that we explained with our little dictionaries to the *landlords* that we just need to sleep after driving 90 km on small breakingdown pimp mobiles. A guard stayed with us and than a guy arrived who spoke english.
We had to go...
So pach the tent and the stuff, 2 guys took tha bikes to the police station and we were driven there. Finaly, after 2 hours interrogation most profoundly about some dancing styles here, I cannot write the name, the guy drove us to small hotel and we slept there. A thing we notice in general here is that people are of good will even if they say no.
The next day we continued the journey from repair shop to repair shop haha. The road during this part was just hell. Truck racing is the national sport here followen closely by dumping waste. Again, I'm sure that if the government would provide a waste collection service the people would do it but allas this does not exist outside of the huge cities. Due to the many cars, like many many, and the sufficating exhoust fumes we arrived brokendown and 80 years old at a place where after some dictionarying a super guy helped us. Our faces were black!
The family that helped us was just great, food warm sleeping and social company, fantastic.
The next day some more sufficatig and repair shops and so finaly we desided that we maybe should take the train as we were making abour 60 km daily and had 650 more to go...
We pulled over in a small town to go and try to sell the hotrods, my chain broke another 2 times before reaching the station and arriving at the station my tire sayed pffffff.
At the station we were the atraction of the year i think. 50 peoples arrived in 5 seconds to stare. at the next repair shop the guy offered us 65% of what we payed so we made the deal and took train, what a defeat...
After a night without sleep we arrived at qingdao and my god what an emotion, 1 month and 1 day on the road and than all of a sudden your there, you have arrived, you are sedentary. We arrived at 5:30 and saw the sun come up over the Pacific a great moment.
So after taking some sleep we went to see what is the night life here
THERE IS NONE, we asked people for bars or cafes anything with people. One guy working in a hotel with good english sayed *here in Qingdao there are no bars, but we have a bar street*. Our hearts gathered courage and we set off. This legendary street seems unfindable and the few, 5, people we met in the street they did not know. So now we have some stress.
hahaha
No really all is fine and we bought clean pants.
Take care friends
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Last transect : Beijing - Pacific Ocean (Qingdao) on a TRICYCLE
Hello all!
our stomachs are stuffed with the last bit of porridge we had left from our reserves we bought in Sweden, and we are ready for our last but super exciting part of our trip!
the last days in beijing were great, we wandered between the stage (huge avenues with huge buildings and huge lights) and the back stage (the hutongs are really fantastic old little streets where life is still real and with little street restaurants we can only dream of in europe), by foot and by bike that we rented. We ate the beijing duck in the restaurant of Ting Hong One, the fantastic woman we had met in the train. We also had the privilege to enter the once Forbidden city, and watch its splendour ourselves amongst hordes of other barbarians of chinese culture like ourselves. The Lama temple and the temple of heaven were magic.
We think that people here put extreme importance to the health of the body and mind, they eat fantastic healthy food and sing and do excercises in the parcs. European people could learn alot from them, especially because peopel work amazingly long hours here but never complain or are never stressed.
So when we biked among the thousands of other bikes, we fell in love with the ubiquitous tricycle peopel use here. It seemed to us the perfect travel bike (we need to put a picture it has three wheels and a big box in the bac where u can store huge amounts of stuffs, some people or build a tent on). Only with the help of our new friends Moon Fang and Matchja we were able to find the perfect ones we needed, and yesterday evening on our first test ride in the city we were crazy with our new machines! Even the cops said we had to slow down!
OK now we will try to leave this huge maze and find the smaller roads. To Qingdao!!
koen and Dirk
