back in Europe 回来了欧洲

It's been almost a year in China already. It sounds crazy to say and to think about it but it is very true. What happened in all this time?　What did I manage TO DO?
- learned a new language, at least basic situations
- extended my friends network by adding Asian friends and other expats living and working in China
- studied at a Chinese University
- worked full time for 2 months and part time for another 2
- eat a lot of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Thai food
- learned a few expressions in a few Asian languages
- accustomed to drink a lot of tea and learned about the Chinese teas
- ride the bike a lot
- got used to see millions of people all around me
- visited a few cities in China, including Shanghai and Hong Kong
- find a good internship for next year in Beijing (still pending the official answer)
- realized that there are a lot of opportunities in China by itself and also in cooperation with other countries
- realized that China is not what most of the people think of it, just a poor country with cheap labor
- realized that there is no Christmas and winter celebrations that at home
- blended very well with the Chinese culture, the mix between indirect and direct communication
- worked with a bunch of classmates from the US, over the Internet, to put a project together for our University
- realized that Beijing would be a good alternative for a well paid job in the future (hm?!)

What I DID NOT DO:
- not study as hard as I should've and such, my language skills are not as high as they could've
- didn't understand the basic of import/export mechanisms and procedures
- didn't do a lot of individual research to find a job
- didn't volunteer for the Olympics Games
- didn't realized when and what I really want to do with my life
- didn't visit any other Asian countries
- didn't understand completely the Chinese point of view

This is just a quick list of what happened and what could've happen in this past year. Overall, it was a great year.

Romanian National Day: eat Korean! 吃家里做的韩国菜

On December 1st, as part of our Romanian tradition, we had a few guests at our house to eat and learn how to cook a few Korean dishes. Haha...

It was a very different December 1st with a lot of Asian culture involved and very little Romanian language being used. Everyone got to wear a Romanian pin as a sign of respect though. Here are some pictures:

Good Korean food!

Stephanie, Su Jing, Adrian, Sarah

Our little Korean chef

Please observe the Romanian pin

Magic Korean ketchup that is not ketchup

La Multi Ani "Romania" (罗马尼亚的节日）

Just because I didn't keep up with my blogs, it doesn't mean that the life here in Beijing ever stops bringing new experiences.

Yesterday, it was Romania's National Day and here in Beijing, it was celebrated with style. The Romanian embassy put together a luncheon at The Beijing Hilton where Romanians, Chinese and other nationalities toasted for our country. There were a lot of Chinese officials, mostly military and party members. This was a sign that the Chinese-Romanian relationships are still very strong, but are based mostly on tradition and not on strong economic primacies yet.

Before this event, I didn't know any Romanians that live here in Beijing, so it was a great opportunity to meet people and find out about their reasons of being here. Moreover, I meet our ambassador, Mr. Viorel Isticioai, who is a great Chinese Language connoisseur, a well respected in the diplomatic community here.

I asked him how come the economic relationships are not as good as the traditional relationships between our two countries. He told me that now, every month there are over 1000 Chinese people that go to Romania, mostly for business, but there are not even close to this number of people that reciprocate the visit to China.
Why?, I asked... He frankly said that Romanian people have not opened their eyes to see the Chinese opportunity as vivid as the other countries see it already. Romanians still think that China is some sort of North Korea, with a communist government where the advantages are cheap labor and crappy products.
Well, it is not like that... one can only think about the news that are related to China nowadays. Think about it...

Well, Happy Birthday LuoMaNiYa!