Thanks a lot!! Really a pleasure meeting you! And.. hey.. don't use computer software to do the translation next time. I won't do a more accurate translation of that card because future employers might run a search on this site.
The guilty bunch.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
A happy trip
The day I left Belgium the American gals living in the house wrote me a good-bye note wishing me a 'happy trip'.
Thanks a lot!! Really a pleasure meeting you! And.. hey.. don't use computer software to do the translation next time. I won't do a more accurate translation of that card because future employers might run a search on this site.
The guilty bunch.
Thanks a lot!! Really a pleasure meeting you! And.. hey.. don't use computer software to do the translation next time. I won't do a more accurate translation of that card because future employers might run a search on this site.
The guilty bunch.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Spring and blooming tree
Spring coming to Leuven, maybe it is even possible to go back to Sweden now without freezing my ass off?
Cultural export: Snus!
Cooking dinner together at the house. ZhangJun has been cooking in restaurants for a long time and immediately took charge. Not content with our utensils and available ingredients, he still managed to fry together a great meal!
As a Swedish nationalist and cultural imperialist I imposed one of the exotic products of Sweden on to the to be cultivated crowd, the SNUS.
ZhangJun with a 'prilla'.
Potential advertisement material
With a market potential of 1.3 billion snus consumers, someone ought to pay me a big bag of money. In the future a Chinese model worker will definitely have to use snus.
(Note. Yours sincerely is not a real man and can't take it. I really ought to be criticized and re-educated)
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Cycled home
Tempting, but I think I will still take a plane.
Two cyclists have arrived in London after riding 10,000 miles (16090km) from China for charity.
The pair left China last JulyAndy Clapperton of Bunbury, Cheshire, and Jon Smith of Great Shelford, Cambs, have raised over £6,500 for Diabetes UK since starting out in July last year.
[]
I studied together with Andy in Beijing and he sure is a cool guy. You can read about their amazing trip on their site Cycle Home.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Thursday, April 13, 2006
New Topic For My Thesis?
When I stayed in Göteborg, I shared room with Xie Ding for a while. Yeah, one of the guys that went with me to my parents home. He wrote following on his blog:
(I apologize to anyone who doesn't read Chinese, but I won't translate this.)
两个小笑话So... maybe this is what I should write my thesis about...
上周跟导师喝咖啡，他跟我说了一个关于咖啡的笑话，如果你笑了的话...小子，你学坏了！
在西班牙，人们非常喜欢喝Espresso（一种超浓超苦的咖啡），而且一定要非常烫的喝，才能够品出Espresso的美味。正宗的Espresso 是非常浓的，一般也就喝那么几滴而已，所以西班牙有一种专门喝Espresso的小杯子（类似国内喝白酒的那种），塑料的，很薄。
于是，当你拿起这杯滚烫的Espresso，手就烫伤了。一口喝完这小杯咖啡，舌头也烫伤了。Then, you loose your sexual ability.
第二个是临时室友Johan讲得，属于原创笑话。
Johan喜欢趴在床上睡觉，也就是身体的前面贴床。我跟他说，这样睡对身体不好，特别对男孩子。他马上哈哈笑起来，说他在中国的时候别人也这么说过他。我告诉他我从小就被教育小男孩不要趴着睡觉。他说瑞典没这一说。过了一会儿，Johan突然得出一个结论：
终于知道为什么瑞典人口少，中国人那么多了！
我顿时无语。得，这一重大问题的根源就这么被发现了，是否足够写一篇Master Thesis了呢？
(I apologize to anyone who doesn't read Chinese, but I won't translate this.)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
CHTV - China Public Television
CHTV - China Public Television
No, not CCTV, CHTV! The Swedish version!
This ought to be one of the more bizarre TV programs I have ever seen. It is a parody of a CCTV (China Central TV) style newsprogram praising the Swedish Social-Democratic party. The thing is, they actually do speak in correct putonghua about current Swedish events, and interview folks in China about them. Must be a pretty small clique that can appreciate that! Check it out if you know Chinese, or are slightly interested in Sweden. Just do it anyway. Crazy to see old people in some park in Beijing praise the fitness of Per Nuder.
Check out the shows!
CHTV Home Page
The games are put under the not so culturally sensitive name "Den lilla Kinesen", The little Chinese.
No, not CCTV, CHTV! The Swedish version!
This ought to be one of the more bizarre TV programs I have ever seen. It is a parody of a CCTV (China Central TV) style newsprogram praising the Swedish Social-Democratic party. The thing is, they actually do speak in correct putonghua about current Swedish events, and interview folks in China about them. Must be a pretty small clique that can appreciate that! Check it out if you know Chinese, or are slightly interested in Sweden. Just do it anyway. Crazy to see old people in some park in Beijing praise the fitness of Per Nuder.Check out the shows!
CHTV Home Page
The games are put under the not so culturally sensitive name "Den lilla Kinesen", The little Chinese.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Barcelona: Sunshine!
From rain to sunshine! :)
When chatting about me going to Leuven I suggested that we meet elsewhere to celebrate her birthday. A quick visit to Ryanair's site revealed that we both could take cheap flights down to Barcelona from Stockholm resp. Brussels. A few minutes later it was set, and flights were booked. Turned out to be a beautiful sunny week, particularly since it was cold and raining in Sweden when I left.
I took a night-bus up to Nykoping, and Allan and Ding went with me to the station. Thx guys, I really appreciated that! Wen stayed over night at the Charleroi airport.
Wen's plane arrived first, but when I got out of the arrivals, there was no one there. I send a quick SMS, and she said she WAS there. It took a while to sort out the confusion. Thing was, she hadn't noticed her flight had been rerouted to the international airport and we weren't at all at the same place!
After a couple of more SMS and some trips with local transport we finally met at the Arc D'Triomf.
Since we hadn't basically prepared at all and had no guidebook with us, I think we were quite lucky about the place, St. Anna Hostel, where we stayed the whole week. It is a small place, just off Las Ramblas, run by an old woman and her family, for 40 Euros a night. We checked out a couple of other places first, and then just walked by this place, and they had a room free for us. We didn't find a better option for us during the rest of the week, so we stayed.
Funny thing was that, pretty much every day we bumped into new animals in the apartment! It was really like a little zoo, with all kinds of cute.. and not so cute.. little animals. I think our final count came up to 2 dogs, 4 cats, 2 kinds of the animal she has in her lap in the pictures, and numerous laud birds! At noon a old guy, who I suppose was the husband of the lady, took the dogs for a walk. The man really moved like in slow-motion, and when he talking he only uttered some incomprehensible whispers.
Most of our very relaxing week was spent strolling around on the streets and hanging out on the beach.
And we celebrated Wen's birthday in the harbor, trying to eat a whole cake by ourselves.
We did actually manage to see some of the main sights...
.. but I guess we were too distracted of just enjoying the weather and the city.
Central Barcelona is really a circus of tourists, beggars, street artists, thieves, freaks, old locals, and people living on the street. Very entertaining, but also quite nasty.
When chatting about me going to Leuven I suggested that we meet elsewhere to celebrate her birthday. A quick visit to Ryanair's site revealed that we both could take cheap flights down to Barcelona from Stockholm resp. Brussels. A few minutes later it was set, and flights were booked. Turned out to be a beautiful sunny week, particularly since it was cold and raining in Sweden when I left.
I took a night-bus up to Nykoping, and Allan and Ding went with me to the station. Thx guys, I really appreciated that! Wen stayed over night at the Charleroi airport.
Wen's plane arrived first, but when I got out of the arrivals, there was no one there. I send a quick SMS, and she said she WAS there. It took a while to sort out the confusion. Thing was, she hadn't noticed her flight had been rerouted to the international airport and we weren't at all at the same place!
After a couple of more SMS and some trips with local transport we finally met at the Arc D'Triomf.
Since we hadn't basically prepared at all and had no guidebook with us, I think we were quite lucky about the place, St. Anna Hostel, where we stayed the whole week. It is a small place, just off Las Ramblas, run by an old woman and her family, for 40 Euros a night. We checked out a couple of other places first, and then just walked by this place, and they had a room free for us. We didn't find a better option for us during the rest of the week, so we stayed.
Funny thing was that, pretty much every day we bumped into new animals in the apartment! It was really like a little zoo, with all kinds of cute.. and not so cute.. little animals. I think our final count came up to 2 dogs, 4 cats, 2 kinds of the animal she has in her lap in the pictures, and numerous laud birds! At noon a old guy, who I suppose was the husband of the lady, took the dogs for a walk. The man really moved like in slow-motion, and when he talking he only uttered some incomprehensible whispers.
Most of our very relaxing week was spent strolling around on the streets and hanging out on the beach.
And we celebrated Wen's birthday in the harbor, trying to eat a whole cake by ourselves.
We did actually manage to see some of the main sights...
.. but I guess we were too distracted of just enjoying the weather and the city.Central Barcelona is really a circus of tourists, beggars, street artists, thieves, freaks, old locals, and people living on the street. Very entertaining, but also quite nasty.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Next Stop: Kina?
Not quite, mr tram, but it is getting closer.
Next stop is actually Barcelona on the 28th, Brussels and Leuven the 4th. Maybe after that the next stop is China.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Sunday Walk and Lunch
Sunday we took a little walk in the village.
Outside the kindergarten where my mum sometimes work, we practiced our creative abilities...
.. and destructive sides.
All this to build up an appetite.
Then, when everything that can be done in the Swedish country-side had been experienced, it was time to head back to Göteborg and Chalmers.
Outside the kindergarten where my mum sometimes work, we practiced our creative abilities...
.. and destructive sides.
All this to build up an appetite.
Then, when everything that can be done in the Swedish country-side had been experienced, it was time to head back to Göteborg and Chalmers.
Ice-Fishing
Saturday was spent on the ice! This winter has been unusual cold and the ice was more than half a meter thick. Still, it was hard to convince Tina that it wasn't dangerous. I told her that it would be possible to drive a truck on that ice, but she mostly looked at me as I just had insulted her. ;)
As everybody knows, equipment is everything when fishing on the ice. I'm of course talking about coffee, hot chocolate, blueberry soup, sandwiches, a fire, and hotdogs. A wind shelter also makes life much better. Oh, and it is also handy with some fishing equipment.
Here follows my little ice-fishing guide for the uninitiated. As a matter of fact, it is probably 10 years since I fished like this. First a hole has to be dug. Since the ice was so thick that was pretty heavy work. We used this kind of spear which is pretty effective to make a little bigger holes. For smaller it is perhaps more handy with a drill.
Next to the hole we set up this little fishing device. When the fish bites, the line will jump off and sway back and forth, triggering the gunpowder cork on the site. In the end we had prepared 19 sets. It is pretty fun fishing since there is always something happening.
Allan insert the hook and little fish in the hole. During the winter we buy the little fish in a store, while during the summer we catch them with net ourselves. The fish is actually alive and will be swimming around about a meter above the sea floor. When the fish bites, there will (or will not) be a bang, one put down the coffee cup or whatever you are doing, and run over to the hole. The fish will swim away with the bate, spit it out, and then swallow it. When it has swallowed it is time to hook it and pull it back. If this is done correctly, as Allan demonstrates below, there will be lunch on the table the following day!
This is a huge one ("Gädda") !! Biggest one we have ever got on a hook! It was actually a shock when it came out of the hole. Until the last second I actually wondered if he had anything on, since there was no fight. 9,5 kg!!
And yes, slightly bigger than the one I got. Size does matter.
6 kg! This kind ("Gös") is actually much tastier. Half of this fish was enough for us 5 people to eat ourselves completely stuffed the next day!
In the evening it was getting quite cold. My dad prepared the fish on the ice, and then we pushed our sledge back and got a well-deserved rest.
As everybody knows, equipment is everything when fishing on the ice. I'm of course talking about coffee, hot chocolate, blueberry soup, sandwiches, a fire, and hotdogs. A wind shelter also makes life much better. Oh, and it is also handy with some fishing equipment.
Here follows my little ice-fishing guide for the uninitiated. As a matter of fact, it is probably 10 years since I fished like this. First a hole has to be dug. Since the ice was so thick that was pretty heavy work. We used this kind of spear which is pretty effective to make a little bigger holes. For smaller it is perhaps more handy with a drill.
Next to the hole we set up this little fishing device. When the fish bites, the line will jump off and sway back and forth, triggering the gunpowder cork on the site. In the end we had prepared 19 sets. It is pretty fun fishing since there is always something happening.
Allan insert the hook and little fish in the hole. During the winter we buy the little fish in a store, while during the summer we catch them with net ourselves. The fish is actually alive and will be swimming around about a meter above the sea floor. When the fish bites, there will (or will not) be a bang, one put down the coffee cup or whatever you are doing, and run over to the hole. The fish will swim away with the bate, spit it out, and then swallow it. When it has swallowed it is time to hook it and pull it back. If this is done correctly, as Allan demonstrates below, there will be lunch on the table the following day!
This is a huge one ("Gädda") !! Biggest one we have ever got on a hook! It was actually a shock when it came out of the hole. Until the last second I actually wondered if he had anything on, since there was no fight. 9,5 kg!!
And yes, slightly bigger than the one I got. Size does matter.
6 kg! This kind ("Gös") is actually much tastier. Half of this fish was enough for us 5 people to eat ourselves completely stuffed the next day!
In the evening it was getting quite cold. My dad prepared the fish on the ice, and then we pushed our sledge back and got a well-deserved rest.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Skiing in Isaberg
Allan, Tina, Ding, and yours truly. Allan "snowman" Liu, as you can see, like to ski hard.
Allan asked me where you could ski around Göteborg, so I made couple of suggestions. One place is close to where my parents live, so I suggested that we would take the train to Värnamo, and then use the car to go to Isaberg, a small ski-resort not far away. This Friday morning we headed off 6.35 from Göteborg, came to Värnamo, took the car to Isaberg, and hit the slopes at about 13.00. We didn't return home until after 22.00!
Tina in a difficult position.
For Tina it was the first time to ski. It was probably a quite tiring experience. It usually is the first time.
Ding got the hang of it very quick.
The slope, Allan, and me. Tina took this picture, and unfortunately me and Allan got in the way. She obviously thought the slope was the main attraction :)
A beautiful day with lots of sunshine, plenty of quick runs down the slope, and spectacular crashes!
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Kathy's Birthday Celebration
After playing some basketball with Allan, Rong, and David, I got invited to Kathy's birthday party.
Rong and Kathy are sitting behind Allan to the right in this picture. All in the picture are mainland Chinese studying at Chalmers.
It was really like being back in China, but still in Sweden. We ate a lot of great food, drank beer, listened to Britney Spears, made a lot of jokes, and played killer. Thx a lot Kathy and Rong for a great evening! All the best for the rest of your stay in Sweden!
Rong and Kathy are sitting behind Allan to the right in this picture. All in the picture are mainland Chinese studying at Chalmers.
It was really like being back in China, but still in Sweden. We ate a lot of great food, drank beer, listened to Britney Spears, made a lot of jokes, and played killer. Thx a lot Kathy and Rong for a great evening! All the best for the rest of your stay in Sweden!
Sunday, March 12, 2006
So What About The Thesis?
So, I'm finally come to some sort of final decision concerning what my thesis will be about. There should perhaps be an emphasis on 'sort of'. That means that I have received an invitation letter and that I have made one application for a scholarship. So no matter what, I will go to do something at Tsinghua later on this spring.
I'm really looking forward going to Beijing again, but I'm a little bit worried of what will happen after. There are a very interesting trainee program at the company SWECO that I would like to apply for, if I get an interesting Ph.D position I might go for that (really!), but after all, I wouldn't mind start working again. My hope is that I will make a couple of connections with this thesis. I've already got a couple of connections in Beijing that could be really useful. Worst case is that I would have to find a 'normal' job. Horror, such horror.
I'm really looking forward going to Beijing again, but I'm a little bit worried of what will happen after. There are a very interesting trainee program at the company SWECO that I would like to apply for, if I get an interesting Ph.D position I might go for that (really!), but after all, I wouldn't mind start working again. My hope is that I will make a couple of connections with this thesis. I've already got a couple of connections in Beijing that could be really useful. Worst case is that I would have to find a 'normal' job. Horror, such horror.
After Exam Hotpot
David, Allan, Tina, the Swedish dude, Taiwan girl, Kathy.
Yesterday I had hotpot together with a bunch of exchangers from the university. Really a good time to have hotpot, since it is freezing fucking cold outside. Well, it was warm and spicy inside! :)
Light at the end of the tunnel
So... after some 40 exams at the university it seems like I've finished off that chapter in my life. This last Friday was a real sad, when me and a couple of other sad asses were sitting in the reading room preparing for the last day in the exam period.
Soon I will have a paper that says I'm a M.Sc in Physics Engineering. Well, after have written my thesis that is. Just wonder what I will do with it. One thing is sure, it sure doesn't get one laid. If some pretty girl ever ask me what I do, I will say that I got a degree in physics. But only because I'm already in a relationship. Otherwise I would say I was a fireman.
On to new adventures.
Soon I will have a paper that says I'm a M.Sc in Physics Engineering. Well, after have written my thesis that is. Just wonder what I will do with it. One thing is sure, it sure doesn't get one laid. If some pretty girl ever ask me what I do, I will say that I got a degree in physics. But only because I'm already in a relationship. Otherwise I would say I was a fireman.
On to new adventures.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Did I Ever Leave??
A raging battle against MatLab...
One of the computer labs at the Physics Department. 10.36pm. The night is still young.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Want to listen to popular Chinese music?
Want to listen to popular Chinese music?
Here is a little instruction on how to download songs from Baidu, the popular Chinese search engine. If you don't know any artist or songs, you can go for the 'top 500 songs' or 'top 200 artists'.
In my instruction I will download a song of 王菲 [Wang2Fei1], a singer from HK, also known as Faye Wong.
1) Go to www.baidu.com
2) Click on 'MP3'
3) Click on "歌手TOP200".
(歌手 [ge1 shou3] means singer)
4) Find 王菲 and click on the link.
(She was ranked 18th most popular when I did this search.)
5) Choose a song to download, for example , 寓言, 将爱, 闷 or perhaps 天空.
(The size of the file should be 3-5 Mb for the quality to be alright. There are also other file formats to choose from if you want something other then MP3)
6) You know end up on a page where there is a link to the file (请点击此链接: Click on this link). Save it (by for example right click and choose "Save Link As..." or by just clicking it)
Quite often the link is not updated or the connection too slow. In that case the download will give an error or time out. If you don't succeed, just try another link. Since the connection to China is generally very slow, some patience is required. Since the songs are stored on individuals servers, there is no guarantee that the quality is good or even that it is the right song. It still works remarkably well, and I'm able to get what I want, when I want it. If I do want it, is another question.
If you are interested in learning the language it might be of interest to download the lyrics as well. Baidu is providing that service as well. Next to the song you want to download (step 5), you can find 歌词 [ge1 ci2] (lyrics). Click on it.
I think this service is a big reason that Baidu is attracting more users than Google in China. This (and all the pirated CDs) probably makes it very difficult for any artist or record company to make any money from music sales on the mainland. That might be a reason why most Chinese language artists still comes from HK, Taiwan, and Singapore.
A fun little detail is, when you get the link to the file, there's a small disclaimer underneath, for example: 百度高度重视知识产权保护. "Baidu is in a very high degree respecting the protection of intellectual property". Yeah right. But hey, who am I to complain? :)
I don't think anyone mind if a white dude use them as study material and to improve my 卡拉OK功夫. I don't think those artists count on a big sale here anyway. I wonder how long Baidu will get away with thits if they try to make a presens abroad, as they hope.
Any suggestions of Chinese songs or artists are appreciated!
Here is a little instruction on how to download songs from Baidu, the popular Chinese search engine. If you don't know any artist or songs, you can go for the 'top 500 songs' or 'top 200 artists'.
In my instruction I will download a song of 王菲 [Wang2Fei1], a singer from HK, also known as Faye Wong.
1) Go to www.baidu.com
2) Click on 'MP3'
3) Click on "歌手TOP200".
(歌手 [ge1 shou3] means singer)
4) Find 王菲 and click on the link.
(She was ranked 18th most popular when I did this search.)
5) Choose a song to download, for example , 寓言, 将爱, 闷 or perhaps 天空.
(The size of the file should be 3-5 Mb for the quality to be alright. There are also other file formats to choose from if you want something other then MP3)
6) You know end up on a page where there is a link to the file (请点击此链接: Click on this link). Save it (by for example right click and choose "Save Link As..." or by just clicking it)
Quite often the link is not updated or the connection too slow. In that case the download will give an error or time out. If you don't succeed, just try another link. Since the connection to China is generally very slow, some patience is required. Since the songs are stored on individuals servers, there is no guarantee that the quality is good or even that it is the right song. It still works remarkably well, and I'm able to get what I want, when I want it. If I do want it, is another question.
If you are interested in learning the language it might be of interest to download the lyrics as well. Baidu is providing that service as well. Next to the song you want to download (step 5), you can find 歌词 [ge1 ci2] (lyrics). Click on it.
I think this service is a big reason that Baidu is attracting more users than Google in China. This (and all the pirated CDs) probably makes it very difficult for any artist or record company to make any money from music sales on the mainland. That might be a reason why most Chinese language artists still comes from HK, Taiwan, and Singapore.
A fun little detail is, when you get the link to the file, there's a small disclaimer underneath, for example: 百度高度重视知识产权保护. "Baidu is in a very high degree respecting the protection of intellectual property". Yeah right. But hey, who am I to complain? :)
I don't think anyone mind if a white dude use them as study material and to improve my 卡拉OK功夫. I don't think those artists count on a big sale here anyway. I wonder how long Baidu will get away with thits if they try to make a presens abroad, as they hope.
Any suggestions of Chinese songs or artists are appreciated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
