Monday, January 22, 2007

An Inconvenient Truth

I have seen Al Gore's documentary about global warming. I felt like reading the manual how to use and maintain a newly purchased gadget only, this time, it was about the Earth. Many users, instructions not written in all the languages, not everybody is interested in maintaining it, not everybody is interested in claiming ownership ... where are we all going?

Sometimes I wonder if the Earth would give us the melting surprise of Ice Age even if we didn't invent cars, factories and various touches that make the atmosphere go "Urgh!" Either way, I do what I can to help next generation live its eternity and hope that 2012 is just another myth (like millenium bug). On the other side, if 2012 was the end of Earth as we know it (Mayan calendar states so), what would I do if I had another 5 years to live....

Thursday, January 18, 2007

China Days

Good China days
  • when clear skies open up the view and air is easy to breathe
  • joyful taxi rides when drivers know where they are going, are quiet or sing and car is clean
  • when I realise that systems have improved: new highways, less cues in banks, easy access to internet :D
  • weekend hikes
  • esoteric chats with friends
  • clean restaurants and great service
  • new discoveries about chinese ways of thinking which makes life so much easier
Bad China days
  • polution beyond acceptable
  • new taxi drivers whose cars smell and they can't stop talking about their assumptions of where I come from, who I am and what I think
  • feeling trapped in Beijing traffic
  • friends leaving China and feeling of loneliness
  • MSG in food
  • facing Chinese ways of dealing with reality that makes me assume Chinese people are ignorant and so not interested to work together on solving problems