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Som molts, cada dia som més i estem indignats

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:23:13 -0700

Aquest dilluns començo els exàmens finals. Ganes d'estudiar n'hi ha poques, però tinc una bona excusa per deixar-ho per a més tard i perdre el temps a Internet. Fa poc més d'un mes que la societat espanyola va despertar i el seguiment de les protestes és tan emocionant com esperançador.

És interessant veure com la societat, igual que les persones, aprèn i desenvolupa els seus pensaments. Fa uns anys pensàvem que "L'esquerra ens salvarà de la dreta", i ara sabem que els dos son la mateixa merda. Fa uns anys pensàvem que "Espanya va bé" i ara ningú nega la irresponsabilitat i nefastes conseqüències de la bombolla immobiliària. Pensàvem que els mitjans eren objectius ja que "ho han dit a la tele" i ara sabem que el seu únic rol és defendre a la oligarquia política i financera. Els dogmes un a un van caient i la nostra intel·ligència col·lectiva es torna més sofisticada, independent, i difícil de manipular.

Tot i que el malestar és general, proporcionalment encara és poca la gent que ha saltat al carrer a expressar la seva indignació. És possible que alguns amb quatre duros al banc, altres amb feina estable o una bona jubilació pensin que la cosa no va amb ells. Però la bola de merda està allà i si no ho evitem ens arrossegarà a tots. A mode il·lustratiu, el futur d'Espanya a 5 anys vista és la Grècia de 2011. Allà, desenes de milers es manifesten diàriament davant el parlament d'Atenes i expressen la seva ràbia i frustració entre pintades, pedrades, i baralles amb la policia. Els Grecs ja han comprès que la veritable violència és la que exerceix la classe política.

Per sort, a Espanya no hem arribat al punt de no retorn dels nostres veïns Hel·lènics. A aquestes alçades no podem evitar ajustos en el pressupost, retallades socials i un empobriment generalitzat. Però podem exigir, a canvi, regeneració del sistema, càstig dels culpables i mesures que ens ajudin tant a recuperar-nos com evitar aquests problemes en el futur. I si tot això sona abstracte només cal mirar l'exemple d'Islàndia, on han depurat responsabilitats i empresonat als seus banquers: http://tinyurl.com/43bn3xm

De moment els indignats hem arribat a algunes propostes tangibles. Personalment em sento bastant còmode amb el consens de mínims del 25 de Maig: http://tinyurl.com/3oc5kmx Però hi ha quelcom més important que aquestes propostes específiques, i és la demostració de força d'una societat que ha despertat i vigila d'aprop a "La Casta".

Per motius evidents, el diumenge no hi seré a la manifestació de Barcelona. Però m'agradaria pensar que amb aquest text he convençut a algú que demà cridarà, alçarà les mans i s'indignarà de part meva. Si ets tu, recorda: posa't guapo, somriu a la càmera i no facis enrenou.

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Mysterious lands

Sun, 15 May 2011 08:09:38 -0700

May 15th 2011

When I'm at home, I like the TV to be set at CCTV9 which is China's documentary channel. The phrasing is articulated and clear, and lately there's a series about famous ancient explorers. Today is Marco Polo and his travels to Asia. With grandiloquent symphonic music as a background, I like to envision myself as another explorer venturing into mysterious lands. But the truth is today is a lazy Sunday and I'm here sitting in the sofa, wearing my sleepers and flipping through endless series of Chinese character flashcards. Does this sound exciting?

It is to me; the adventure happens inside of my twisted mind. In accordance to obscure mnemonic techniques I create stories for each hanzi. Each new card that I remember helps weaving new mythologies that live in my head. Let me introduce you today one of my old favorites: 土, the man who jumps. It's here in all his glory, stretching his legs, arms wide open, reaching new horizons. The man who jumps it's been in hundreds of adventures such as: 告 "The man who jumps a fence while holding a hot dog" or: 老 "It's forbidden for the man who jumps to get a slingshot" or the amazing: 境 "The man who jumps and the Silver Surfer against a giant piñata".

Most of the hanzi have their own story featuring different characters and objects such as "the Triforce", "the reptilians" or "the portrait of Britney Spears"… it even gets more bizarre and embarrassing so I should probably stop here...

And it's in the way to the stars how one loses his sanity :D

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Bamboo Road #89

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:55:31 -0700

April 5th 2001

I thought that this year I'd have enough time to take care of a blog. …the problem is that now I also have more time to do other stuff I like better! So in the end, the activities you engage in have more to do with your priorities than your space-time limitations. Anyway, here goes a post to calm a little bit the guilt monster. The one that appears to haunt me me every time somebody says "you should blog more!".

For those who wonder, yes I do have a chinese name now. "夏飞" Xia Fei is meant to be a rough transliteration of my western name "Xavier". But it also has very nice connotations as it means "夏"summer (light, sun, warm…) and "飞" flight (dream, expand, move…). Thanks to Yang for the proposal and to my cute friday's teacher for choosing it among a list.

Now it's been a little more than 3 weeks in my own apartment. Those who lived at some point with me (I can count up to 20 roommates!) know of my hermit nature and almost pathological needs of private space. So moving out of the dormitories was a natural ...move. And well, I'm also a little old to share a college room with another guy …if you know what I mean. In the end I'm really happy about how things turned out; it's incredible how well I can live in China with my modest budget :)

I should also mention "Tinkerbell" the local girl who helped me dealing with all the apartment stuff, including signing papers, getting internet and the mandatory visit to Ikea. I met her through my little network of spanish contacts in the city. She has probably become my best friend in the city and I don't know how but here I am taking care of her fish bowl while she is out of town.

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My chinese name

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:50:06 -0800

March 2nd 2011

I abandoned this blog for a few days. I guess it was really naive of me to think I'd keep this thing updated daily. But it's not that I can't post anymore, right? Actually, there's been some adventures and misadventures worth writing about. And they will be part of this blog when I find the calm and time to do it. But here's to a little update.

This week I need to find a chinese name for me. All foreigners get one, at least those who are serious about chinese culture. Moreover, I had my name mispronounced so many times these days that is almost becoming a necessity for survival. I'll compile a list with a few options that I like and friday my cute spoken language teacher will help me pick one.

I know there's a few chinese people who may read this. Do you have any suggestion for a cool inspiring meaningful name? Send it my way, I'll include it in the list and in return you'll be invited to noodles whenever we find a chance.

Unrelated picture: When the weather is good, the lovely lazy people of Chengdu drink tea and take naps.

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Settling down

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:23:25 -0800

February 25th 2011

This week I've been handling a few issues here and there. One of them was getting a new cellphone. In China you get to buy your phone number among a list of available ones. The more 8's the more expensive since 8 is a lucky number, while 4 it's the opposite because it's pronounced similar to death. As you can imagine I just got a random number because I really don't care.

But the pinnacle of my bureaucratic experience was the achievement of my "Great Wall Debit Card ™" at Bank of China. Not unexpectedly nobody there spoke english, so I still don't know how, but my bank account was open and ready to go. I just hope my recent wire transfer from the US gets in my pockets and not those of a farmer in Jiangsu.

Today at 9:00 we've been convoked to buy our books. Then I spent the morning with Mr Frankfurt, a German lawyer with existentialist questions and who takes this chinese course as an intermediate step towards who knows what. I can totally relate to that… Then we joined his wife, a Chinese girl who has already spent so much time in Germany that is considered a "Xiang Jiao" (Banana), yellow on the outside an white on the inside. They are both super nice and friendly.

We went downtown for some delicious Sichuan food. And on my way back I stood in front of Mao and I thought it's really cool that I'm here. Mao looked down and blinked an eye to me and then he went back to his vigilant position.

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Day one

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:41:24 -0800

February 22th 2011

I asked the taxi to get me to Sichuan University's East Gate. Although by then I wasn't 100% sure the taxi driver understood me. The ride to the city was a truly memorable experience and not only because of the aggressive driving style. A thick fog straight out of hell revealed little by little scenes that somehow reminded me of "Blader Runner", only a bit rural a bit Chinese.

Then I travelled back and forth from the foreign student dormitories to the foreign student office. In the midst of all this bureaucracy I met a french girl who studies in the campus. She insisted in showing me her apartment in the city and have a hot shower. That meant that I looked really desperate and tired, she wanted something else …or probably both. In the end I told her I preferred to go on my own, at least for the first day. She gave me her email/phone and left, notoriously upset.

I spent the rest of the day settling and buying the important stuff: an ethernet cable, instant noodles and an urgently needed roll of toilet paper. When I went to sleep everything felt really strange and part of a surreal dream. For a moment I even wondered what the heck I was doing there, and I smiled because that's a little bit the feeling I was looking for.

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Hello World!

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 04:21:46 -0800

February 20th 2011

It was while eating a pink glazed doughnut on the street, or maybe it was a lovely morning while tying my shoes. I can't remember the exact moment when, from all the billions of possible neuron connections, I decided that I would move to China. And that idea grew on my mind until it became a little obsession.

After all, it didn't seem a bad idea. Think of stories of mysterious hieroglyphs, toxic clouds, bicycles, romance, cheap toys, glitter dragons, bamboo and chinese punk music. That sounds like a lot of stuff worth posting about! So here comes this blog.

Now, after months crossing out the calendar cells, I can't believe the plan is falling together. Today I'm leaving and I'm both nervous and excited, and my parents even more so! You can imagine how turning the baggage preparation into a family event can quickly become a stressful activity. But now I'm good to go.

There's a small chance my plane ends up crashing in the Kazakhstan plains or the Gobi desert. That would be really inconvenient since there's no Wifi over there. Otherwise, tomorrow I'll be back posting from faraway Chengdu. YAY!

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