Life in China | Dominik Mayer – Products, Asia, Productivity

I thought I’d get a student (X) visa but this is a business (F) one. So I don’t have to apply for a residence permit and can avoid the health check. But, and I hope that won’t be a problem, I have to get re-entry visas when I visit other countries. And I have to extend in order to do an internship.

My calendar shows the next four weeks. That’s the time left, here in Germany:

It’s so beautiful outside, the sky, the air, the temperature. I can’t help, I have to post another shot:

That’s the weather in Shanghai, three weeks before my arrival:

I hope it’ll get a bit warmer until then.

Finally, the last vaccination. Against Japanese Encephalitis, at the Munich Tropical Institute. The doctor asked me to cough. She said it would suppress the pain stimulus. Never heard of that before.

One exam next Thursday, two more the Friday after next, then two days to clear out the apartment and I’ll be gone. Is there any time for a farewell party?

Inspired by Tetravex…

When will facebook finally disable the possibility to “invite” others to use applications, to obtrude your (still) friends with total rubish. Today, a friend talked me into installing “What Color Are You?”. As usual, I didn’t let it put anything in profile, menu, etc. and nope, I do not want to invite up to 20 friends per day (!).

Next page, nine multiple choice questions. Yes I would like to live in a New York Penthouse and I have no idea what I would do if I saw a friend of mine cheating on his or her boy- or girlfriend. As you see, talking is not an option:

• Walk away and pretend it never happened
• Stop it right away and tell their boyfriend/girlfriend
• Stop it right away and forget about it
• Blackmail them for life
• Join in the fun!

Eagerly, I clicked on the “What color are you?” button. But: No color. More friends:

I don’t know why there is a “Skip” button. In fact it doesn’t fulfill any function. You cannot be a color without spamming anyone. I rather be colorless. Application removed.

Because Postbank doesn’t manage to send me the information I need, I have to call them over and over giving me the opportunity to find out the best way to convince a telephone computer to connect you with a human. Just go on pressing one button. The voice of the machine isn’t as friendly as before but it does the job. :-)

The website of Hongkou District knows:

The school name Tongji means “people are on the same boat and help each other” in Chinese.

No idea how they get that whole expression in only two signs… According to dict.cn the first one (同) means like, similar, with, together, same, alike, the second one (济) aid, ferry, frugal. Hm.

And with the boat in mind even the Tongji logo makes sense:

Magdalena pointed me to a fan guide for the upcoming European Football Championship. It provides German and English translations of common Viennese expressions. Very funny.

Go to the page and click on “Zur Download-Seite” to download the pdf and/or mp3s or just listen by clicking on “Henkel Fan Guide anhören”.

Angela Merkel shows us the Bundeskanzleramt. It’s a real pitty that there’s no English version.

Thanks to Frontal21 for digging this up. They also have links to other politician’s videos on their site.