All over the place

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

Stunning view from the Purple Mountain in Nanjing

It’s been quite a while since I last wrote. And no, there are no apologies for not writing, other than that I have just been to busy living. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of events, trips and just busy times, and I simply didn’t have the energy to write. The story I had to write became longer and longer, and more of a burden to write.

However, you have to get back on the horse someday. So I will tell you the whole story. Though this time I won’t use words, but pictures.

Thursday 16 May – doing registrationmy first event after CSITF (HR event)

My wonderful new coffee place “The Coffee Cuppers Cafe”

Dress shopping at the fabric market

Going to Nanjing with Lea, 18-19 May

The high-speed train from Shanghai to Nanjing

In the train

Fantastic and cheap sushi place!:)

Our breakfast: Starbucks & Sushi

Lea at Starbucks

Cute little building thingy (we didn’t go to this Starbucks by the way)

This little park was filled with bird cages – I think they sold them?

One of the birds

Our room at the hostel

“Time Hostel” courtyard

Lea was excited;)

At the most depressing museum ever: the Nanjing Massacre Museum

Cute and delicious street food

Escargots Asian style

Our lunch/dinner

Lea and the snails (they were reeaally spicy!)

Me having some kind of soup dumpling (very good, though HOT)

The food stalls

Time for a coffee break!

Lea next to a sleeping guy at the coffee place

Lady making wooden heads near the Confuscius Temple

With Lea at the square… suuucky photographer!

Me with a German guy we met there, Daniel

Lea at the little canal/lake in the town center

Funny budda in this fancy-looking store

The first of many Chinese people to take a picture with us

Dinner with noodles

Lea and Daniel

Love this!!

The Morning After

Really cool handicapped street artists – they were quite good!

Entrance to the Mausoleum at the Purple Mountain

Lea at the Purple Mountain

Soooo many steps!

He was so adorable 🙂

Ahhh cute baby!!

These Chinese girls were wearing ‘Céline’ dresses!!

I could stay up there forever…

A lovely refreshment

Lunch at the Purple Mountain

Little souvenir

Xuanwwu Lake

Sunset over the lake

Just being touristic

Kite-flying

Fishing?

Chinese students photographing Lea and her wish

I wish I could understand what he was writing, although the mystery probably makes it so beautiful

We loved their dresses 🙂

After the weekend Nanjing it was back to work. We had a VERY busy day, because that Thursday (May 23rd) was BenCham Shanghai’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). Basically this is where the Board presents the latest update on BenCham – how we’re doing financially, whether we’re growing, how many member’s we have, which goals we have reached this year, etc. Then, the old Board gets dismissed and a new one is chosen.

As you might understand the AGM meat a LOT of work. It started Monday when Mariska had the financial audit. Half of the week I was calling our members to make sure that they would be present at the meeting. In the end we had about 60 attendees, which was very nice.

The event itself was Thursday night and we still had many last-minute things (presentations, banners, flyers, etc.) to prepare. All-in-all it was a very busy week. But the AGM went great, which was really nice!:)

The Friday after, Mariska gave us both the morning off and a free lunch. In the morning I went to the Clothing/Tailor Market to pick up the suit and dress I had made and after I went to the office. We had a very nice and easy day, which was great after the AGM. We started easy and then went out for lunch to Wagas (great for more western food if you get tired of rice for lunch). It was sunny and gorgeous weather and we really took it more relaxed that day. Really something we needed! 🙂

Registration at the AGM

Voting for the new Board

After this busy and hectic week, I went back to the Netherlands for one week. This is because my father got his PhD on the 28th of May!!
I left Shanghai on Saturday and arrive in the Netherlands late Saturday evening. After a quiet Sunday and a Monday being busy catching up with many people, we had the official PhD ceremony on Tuesday afternoon at the Universiteit Utrecht.

Welcoming apple pie from my mom!

In the Netherlands, getting your PhD still has a whole official ceremony in which the ‘defendant’ (guy who almost gets his PhD) has to defend his/her thesis against a jury. The defendant has 2 assistants called “paranimfen” who are there to help him/her. For my dad, my brother and I were the paranimfen.
Usually the ceremony really is just a ceremony and you can’t do much wrong, so of course my dad got his PhD!!:)

So I just want to make a little mention of how proud I am of him! I experienced a little of the process of getting to this point (when we were on holiday in Vietnam last year he was finishing the thesis) and I am really incredibly proud!!:)

Here are some impressions of the day:

Before the ceremony with Dagmar – my dad’s girlfriend

My brother, dad and me before the ceremony.

In front of the University building in Utrecht with my family

Getting dressed

Father-daughter moment 🙂

Time for the ceremony!

Break during the ceremony

My brother Jesper

Dad receiving his PhD

With Dr. AJG Silvius

With the family

With dad

My grandma

Out for dinner

The rest of the week was just very nice, being back home for a little while. Again I met up with many friends and was actually very busy. On Thursday I spent a day with Dagmar in Amsterdam, which was also very good. We went to the Pijp, which is a very nice district centering around the Albert Cuyp Market. We walked there from the Central Station, which was actually quite a long walk, but the weather was luckily very nice. De Pijp is a district with very nice and cute shops and cafes and also the Albert Cuyp market which is very nice.

One of the places we went for lunch was a cafe called ‘De Taart van M’n Tante’ (My Aunties Pie/Cake). It’s owned by a very good baker who has a TV show for children called ‘de Taarten van Abel’ (Abel’s Pies/Cakes), which was one of my favorite shows when I was young. So it was actually really nice to sit there in this quaint, cute little shop and have some delicious pie and hot chocolate. (check their website here: http://www.detaart.nl/nl/home.htm)

Great café in de Pijp, Amsterdam, they have amazing cakes!

After a great and fun week in the Netherlands I went back to Shanghai. And coming back there was wonderful, I was really happy to be back in the vibrant, energetic and independent atmosphere here. Just to be back on my own in my little apartment and at work, was really nice.

Getting back to work it was a week filled with goodbyes. Wynanda, Carmen, Anne and Lin were all leaving, which was kind of sad. Monday evening we had a goodbye dinner in Pasha (nice Turkish restaurant) with the office. It was really a lot of fun and a good ending.

Goodbye dinner of Carmen, Lin, Wynanda & Anne

During the week I was working a lot with Lin, because I took over her project: the Best of BenCham Award Ceremony Dinner. This needs to be organized for November and I’m very busy with that. However, now Lin has left and the office the past week has been quite empty. We have a new interim colleague for Wynanda – called Justine – however she will also only be here for a short while.

Last weekend I had a nice weekend. On Friday we went to Perry’s (the new one) with people from 2-Shanghai which is always a lot of fun. From Monday to Wednesday it was a Chinese National Holiday (the Dragon Boat Festival), so many people of the group were going on nice trips, to Hongong, Xiamen, Changzhou, Beijing and more.

Saturday I got up really late and had a very relaxed day. I went for lunch with a Dutch friend, Jelle, near People’s Square. Just off the square is a little road with very Chinese food. We went to get some Shanghainese (fried) dumplings with soup. They were very delicious, but impossible to eat without splashing soup all over my face!

After this I went on a little shopping trip on Nanjing Road. I know it sounds very culturally retarded, but here in China I mostly shop at stores like H&M and Forever 21. However, it is really just impossible to get nice clothes in the right size from Chinese stores – because Chinese women usually are a much smaller size than my Northern European 38/40.

However, the Saturday was nice. I also had dinner with Jelle at a nice place and we watched a movie at night. (Great movie ‘the last boy scout’. Really fun, kickass action and nice in an 80s/90s setting.)

Sunday I had a big ‘spring clean’, doing all my laundry, tidying my room etc. etc. This is because I would go to Beijing for 3 days and after that my mom would come to stay with me! Plus, after almost 2 months it’s not too bad to tidy up my messy room.

On Monday morning (EARLY…) I took the train from Shanghai Hongqiao station to Beijing. The train ride was 5.5 hours, which was pretty long. However it was over soon – thanks to the season 2 episodes of Game of Thrones, which I had downloaded to my computer before I left.

In Beijing I met up with my dad, who was there for business. I stayed with him in the hotel from Monday to Wednesday, which was really fun. We didn’t do much touristic things, just walking around and shopping a little at the Silk Market. Or actually, we shopped a lot. In total we have bought 6 pairs of Converse Allstars, reading glasses for my dad (he always buys them here and is now just stocking up) and glasses for me (I have a cilinder, so also a prescription). You won’t believe how easy and how cheap it is to make glasses with a prescription here. They just take a look at your current glasses and copy the lenses from that. So for about 600 RMB (80 euros) I had 1 pair of sunglasses and 2 pairs of regular glasses made. Incredible!

On Tuesday in Beijing we went to the football/soccer match between the Netherlands and China. This was really fun. We were all in orange and seated in the Orange section. Unbelievable how many Dutch people were there! Although there were also many Chinese people in orange, which was really funny. Outside the station they sold tons of orange football shirts, though only with the names of Robben and van Persie.

Final score, 2-0!

The game was really just fun to watch and it was good time hanging out with my dad. Of course we won (2-0), so that required a nice party at Hooters (I know right?) afterwards.

With dad at the China-NL soccer match

Wednesday we didn’t do anything special, just walking around, going to Wangfujing and having a fun time. I left again by train at 5 and arrived late in Shanghai.

Thursday I was back at work and my mom arrived by plane around 10:30 AM. She came to my office (by metro – which takes forever, seriously, take the Maglev!) and I brought her home from there. I showed her the room and we had some nice lunch after which I went back to work. After work we walked around the neighborhood a little and went for dinner at Ajisen Ramen – a nice, not too expensive Japanese restaurant.

Of course after her long flight and my busy days we went to bed early.

With my mom in Shanghai

The weekend dad was also in Shanghai and together with both my parents I really had a fun and touristic weekend. But I’ll post about that later this week, to give you a break 😉

Again, my apologies for the super-late update, but I hope you liked it:)

Until next time!

With love,
Xx Cee

Girl Power!

“I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” – Madonna

Dinner with some of the BenCham girls on Saturday May 11th 2013.
(L to R : Jing, Stefanie, Mariska, Mathilde & me)

Hello again, after a long week of working at the China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair (CSITF). And what a week it was! I can tell you now, it was incredibly hard work (especially the start) and we got a lot of setbacks. But together with the awesome girls from BenCham (because  we worked on this project with mostly girls), we pulled it off and kicked ass!!

It all started on Monday very, very early. We had to send all the fair badges (which were like entrance tickets for the exhibitors) to our participants. After this, my colleague and friend Jing and I took a taxi to the Shanghai Mart – where the fair was held.

With Jing at CSITF at the Shanghai Mart building

Shanghai Mart is a huge exposition building, and the fair took up about half of the Shanghai Mart and half of the adjourning Intex building.
When we arrived at our stand, it was all still very empty. Actually, it was just a concrete floor with a basic booth/pavilion stand (iron poles).

The empty BenCham Pavilion on Monday May 6th 2013

However, our sponsors had let us know that they would all arrive with the carpet, furniture, etc. around noon. Which was quite well. While getting to know the place a little bit, we met the (incredibly kind!) fair organizer, Rick. He was a really nice guy and actually gave us coupons for free lunch that day!

Because we expected the furniture etc. at noon, Jing and I decided to have some lunch. We went to the cafeteria in the building and had some nice rice, veggies and some meat/egg thing. Which tasted quite good!

After lunch, our colleagues Mathilde and Timothy arrived from the office, to come and help us out. The problem was, there was nothing to help with yet! .

By now it was 2pm, and we had neither seen nor heard from our sponsors yet. We started calling and it seemed that all 3 of our sponsors were delayed. Granted, it was pouring with rain outside (which makes the traffic in Shanghai even busier – simply awful), but it was not really nice to have to wait that long. Especially because we couldn’t do anything else but wait. It was really a ‘Welcome to China’ moment.

After some time, one of our sponsors arrived with cube chairs. Which was nice – we unloaded them and then started cleaning them (because they were very dirty). A little later (around 5 pm) our big furniture supplier (Gispen and Avarte) finally arrived with their furniture. This included 2 giant (2mx2m) SDKs (Sliding Door Cabinets), 6 desks for booths, tons of chairs, some high tables and of course the wonderful sheep statues.

After a lot of hauling and help from the lovely people from the CSITF organization, we ended up with a big pile of furniture next to our booth.

Our furniture – still packed

And, of course, the carpet was still not there. After many phone calls, we found out that – for some reason – while the carpet had gone through customs clearance early in the morning, it had not been immediately been transported to us. Instead, it had been stored in a warehouse all day!

Because we still had to wait for a long time for the carpet to arrive, Mathilde, Timothy, Jing and I decided to go out for dinner. It was by now, around 6 PM. We ended up at a Burger King near to the Shanghai Mart, where we had a fun dinner.

After dinner we returned to our (still empty) pavilion and waited some more. At this point, Timothy went home. It was actually quite late already.
Well, to keep it short, after a very long time of waiting, the carpet finally arrived at a quarter past 9. After this, it was actually really easy to get it in (with some professional help). We were done quite quickly and were finished by the time the guards kicked us out at 10 PM.

Finally putting in the carpet!

After an exhausting first day, I came home, showered and fell straight into bed.

The next morning was an early one (again) and I actually woke up still quite tired. This day, I took the metro to the fair. Or, at least, that’s what I intended. However, I got a little lost on my way from the metro station and had to call Rick from the fair organization to help me get there. In the end, I hauled a cab and had Rick explain the cab driver where I had to go. A great start of the day, as you might understand. 😉

Now that the carpet was in and the furniture was already there, I had quite an optimistic feeling and start of the day. Even though Jing wasn’t there yet, my colleague Lin was and she was a great help.

In the morning, we basically build the BenCham pavilion with all the furniture. Again, there were some very nice (and strong!) workers from the fair organization there to help us. I was so glad for this! Because the 2 SDK cabinets were 150 kg each… I honestly don’t know how we would have moved them without all this help.

After we had put in the furniture, the people from Exotic Plant arrived with our plants. And yes, they were very exotic – and extremely beautiful! They delivered many beautiful plants, some very huge ones, but also some cute small ones, which we could put on the ‘booths’ and near our sheep statues, to create a little green ‘meadow area’.

Our beautifully carpeted, furnished and green BenCham Pavilion

The Sheep Meadow

While our Pavilion was looking gorgeous and was almost done, we were still waiting, and waiting and waiting… for our LCD screens. I had already tried to call our sponsor company several times to ask where they were, however I received no answer. At last I got through and the man (reacting very kindly to my crankiness) immediately called his transport company.

One thing I’ve learned, is not to count on the Chinese to be punctual (no offense!!!). We waited for a long while and it was around 6 PM when actually Jing got back from her uni in Hangzhou. She then joined us in waiting for the screens.

At 8 PM the screens finally arrived. However, something had gone wrong in the communication. In our agreement, we had agreed on 4 stand alone LCD screens to be delivered to the fair. However, the sponsoring company and I had different ideas on what stand alone meant. Therefore, we received some beautiful screens, but, they could not actually stand on their own.

Since we hadn’t received any stands from the company, this was a big problem. By now, it was around 8:30 and I was very tired. This, combined with silly problems like with the screens, really brings out the cold, hard, business side in me.

Therefore, I got on the phone with the man from our sponsor and told him that he needed to fix this problem. I told him that we had no walls and we needed to be able to put stand alone screens on the tables.

After lots of hassle and bitchiness (from my side), we agreed that replacement screens would be delivered the following morning before 10 AM.

Actually true to the timing, the replacement screens were there in time the following morning. However, by now it was Wednesday the 8th, which meant it was the opening of the fair.

Luckily for us, the fair actually started with an opening forum which lasted from 9 AM til noon. Therefore, the fair was still quiet in the morning. In the end, it all worked out with the screens – thank God!!

While we had been waiting that morning for the screens, there was actually a lot of other things to be done. We had to set up the booths, with flyers, books, banners and food.

Our food was sponsored by the wonderful, amazing Bastiaan Bakery. It’s a Dutch bakery which is located in Shanghai (they have several venues) and they have really great food.
Each morning of the fair, Bastiaan’s would deliver several (or actually, MANY) boxes with delicious bread, pastries, cookies and chocolates to us.

Croissants from Bastiaan Bakery Co. Ltd.

Amazing delicious and gorgeous petit fours from Bastiaan Bakery Co. Ltd.

Delicious danish (my favorites) from Bastiaan Bakery Co. Ltd. – yumm!!

This was the moment when it all came together. Carpet, furniture, flowers, screens, food, banners and of course, our participants. The start of our Pavilion was already a success and the atmosphere was great! Cozy, fun and generally the best at the whole fair! (If I say so myself.)

Just to share an impression with you, here are some pictures:

Mariska with BenCham’s Chairman Philippe Snel and Ms. Cathy Buggenhout the Consul General of the Kingdom of Belgium in Shanghai

Jing with Ms. Lys Pan of the Consulate of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Shanghai and Mr. Kirvan Pierson of TomTom China

An-Sophie, Philip’s colleague. She helped us out a lot!

Me with Mr. Pierson & Ms. Buggenhout

Jelle from Livecom

Me, Jing & the Sheep!

My colleague Lin with Maxim from Flanders Investment & Trade and Augustin from Mio Espresso (delicious coffee!!)

Me with artist Ronald A. Westerhuis (from my previous blogs) after the seminar he gave at our Pavilion, which I arranged. That was just so cool to do!!

Jing & Me again ^^

The Desso seminar

With colleagues Mathilde and Lin… and of course our lovely sheep statues again 😉

Mathilde & Lin with the F.I.T. guys

The Chinese side of our BenCham team: Teresa & Jing!

With Teresa in front of our fair banner

This boy was just SOOOOO CUTE!!!

Some of the many Chinese university students who ‘attacked’ our food on the last day

Jing showing around the national Minister of Commerce

Mr. Pierson handing out chocolates (we had SO MUCH chocolate!)

The guards were also very interested in our Pavilion

A visit from Curaçao!! Me with Billy Jonckheer & Arthur Adams from the Curaçao Chamber of Commerce

As you can see, the fair was tons of fun and a great success. However, it was a LOT of work. At 3pm on Saturday we were finally able to clear up our Pavilion and finish up the fair. We received a lot of help from the organization again, and also from our participants, which really helped. Compared to the buildup, the breakdown went very smoothly. We were packed, shipped and out of the building by 6pm (miracle!!).

Packed in the car with 5 ladies (Jing, Mathilde, Stefanie, Mariska & me), Mariska took us out for dinner at the Hong Mei Lu pedestrian street.
Hong Mei Lu is a very cozy and packed street which is filled with ‘foreign’ restaurants. You can find every kind of food here, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Thai, etc. The street also houses one of the venues of Bastiaan Bakery, to which we also paid a little visit.

We had a very, very lovely dinner at the Belgian Brasserie. With some cocktails we enjoyed really wonderful Belgian/French/Flemish food, such as asparagus, tuna & apricot, Belgian fries, Flemish stew, mussles and of course a lovely dessert, which consiste of a Belgian waffle, crème brulée and chocolate fondue. All in all, it was a perfect dinner and reaaaally nice after-event girl time.

Jing at Hong Mei Lu pedestrian street (it looks like a train!)

Stefany cuddling with a supercute puppy

Walking along the Hong Mei Lu

More impressions from the Hong Mei Lu

Bastiaan’s Bakery!!

With the girls at the Belgian Brasserie!!

Mussles/Muscles from Brussels!

After a little while, Mariska had to unfortunately leave us to go home. However, she still had a wonderful surprise for us: she gave us the perfect ending to our little girls’ night… MASSAGES!!

At the Bamboo 7 (or something) we got a full-body oil massage of 1 hour and also a 1 hour foot massage (which was a combo-deal). After the 2 hours, we came out completely relaxed and feeling wonderful! After the long and busy week this was just what I needed and it was incredibly sweet of Mariska to give it to us!!
After the wonderful girls’ night we all took a cab home. Once there, I rolled in my bed for some well-needed sleep.

Sunday I woke up to sunshine and a beautiful, 30 degrees (C) day.
I met up with Stefanie and Mathilde, and together we spent the day at Bund Beach, near the Cool Docks. The ‘beach’ is basically one big sandbox with some beach beds, parasols, volleyball nets, a bar and music. There’s also a tiny pool, but unfortunately this was empty.
It was a really nice and relaxing afternoon, I just chilled out with Mathilde and Stefanie, enjoying the lovely sunshine (and unfortunately getting a little sunburn).

After relaxing at the beach, Mathilde and I decided to go bikini shopping, because we wanted new bikini’s. We said goodbye to Stef, who had to go boxing, and went to the mall near the Yuyuan gardens.

It was a fun afternoon, just shopping around a little. However, they had NO bikini’s… which was a bit sad. Though I did find some wonderful suede boots at the Marks & Spencer’s sale, so I wasn’t complaining. We had some early dinner then, at a really nice Japanese place (fried rice!), after which I went home. Even though we did very little that day, I was still exhausted.

The next morning I went back to work. I was at first supposed to have the day off, however during the week of the fair Jing got ordered back to her university in Hangzhou. Which, in China, really means you have no choice. So you can imagine, it was very, very sad, when Monday and Tuesday (morning) she was here for the last time. We said goodbye to her Tuesday early afternoon and you can really notice that we’re a mostly female office, because everyone had tears in their eyes. We gave Jing a cute little flower and box of Lysé chocolates and a card as thank you gift. It was really a bit of a sad day…

However, we got cheered up after work, when Stefanie, Mathilde and I went on bikini scout Take 2!
This time we went to Nanjing Shi Lu (West), to the H&M. Here we found TONS and TONS of bikini’s!! So that was a lot of fun. We tried on many of them. However, one weird thing is that here in China you are not allowed to try on the bikini bottoms! Not even over your pants or something.. so that was really weird (and bad business for the H&M bikini’s, I personally think).

I did score a gorgeous bikini though (and the pants fit, I’ve tried them on at  home) so I was happy again. 😉
After this, we went to a really cute burger place, which is similar to an American Diner (so McDonalds but then muuuuch nicer). Where we had some gorgeous burgers and delicious fries! All in all, a lot of fun girltime this week.

Yesterday was quite a boring day at the office. I spent most of the day calling people to invite them to some events. Pffft..!

When I finished work, the evening became somewhat nicer tough, when I met up with Lea and her friend (from Chinese class) Harim (from Korea). We went to the Railway Station where we got train tickets to Nanjing!!
So this weekend we will go on a little trip there, from Saturday morning (very early) to Sunday evening. I am really excited and hope that the weather will be nice. Though I’m sure it’ll be a great weekend anyway. I can’t wait!!

After getting the train tickets, I went with Lea to her place, just talking. Which was really nice again, since I hadn’t seen her for ages. So it was very good to catch up! Afterwards I went home… and got completely lost!! It was raining and dark, and I was by bike. For some reason, I just took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up.. I don’t even know where. Believe me, being lost in the dark and rain in Shanghai is not very nice. All in all, it took me over an hour to get home again. After this I was just so wet, cold and tired that I took a shower and immediately fell into my bed.

Today it’s just a regular (bit boring) day at the office. Tonight I’m helping out at an event (HR seminar), which should be fun!:) Tomorrow I can catch up on my weekend, because I have the day off (yaaay!). So it will be a very nice and relaxing day, just enjoying some sleep and a book I think, and packing for Nanjing!

So, sorry for the very long absence and now the very long update! But I hope you all like the bit of news. 🙂

After Nanjing I’ll probably have lots of nice new stories to tell, so I will keep you posted!

With love,
Xx Cee

Opportunities of a Lifetime

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison

Queensday 2013, my favorite moment

Queensday in Shanghai was an experience. You really experience it differently here than back home in the Netherlands. First of all, it was just a regular workday for us, at BenCham. Although the Chinese actually had a holiday, so it was a nice and more quiet workday. During the day I received tons of pictures from my mum via WhatsApp. She had taken pictures of the ceremony on TV. It looked very nice, the abdication, coronation and balcony scene with the whole family.

The Balcony Scene on our last Queensday

So this way, I also got the chance to experience the coronation of our new king a little.

After work I quickly went home ate something and got ready to party. My colleague Timothy and his roommates had organized a Queensday party. The only other realy party was the one at the Consulate. This one was not really for a student-y public and was also quite expensive. Timothy’s party – called ‘Kroning van de Koning’ (Coronation of the King) – was only 50 quai (about 5/6 euro) and was held in the Belgian tap house Kaiba’s.

I arrived there with Lea, Frank and Frank’s sister Sanne (who is here on vacation this week) around 9:30. The party had started at 9 PM and half an hour later it was already insanely crowded. Everything was orange, the beer was free and the music was Dutch. It was actually really nice and a bit nostalgic, such a typical rowdy Dutch party. We were at the party with almost the whole 2-Shanghai group and it was tons of fun.

I sang along to most of the music and actually lost my voice the day after.
In short, a great party. I hope it will return next year, for everyone who is here then! 😉

Kroning van de Koning party with Lea, Frank & Sanne

The next day was Labor Day. We actually never celebrate this day in the Netherlands  and I believe this is due to the many other national holidays we have around this time (Queensday (30^th of April, though from next year on it will be the 27^th), Memorial day (May 4^th) and Liberation day (May 5^th).

However, in China it is celebrated and so we had off from work. Which was pretty nice after the party the night before. Since last weekend the weather here has really turned to spring (or on Dutch terms summer) weather. Outside it is sunny and very warm. So, after sleeping for a good while to get rid of my hangover, I ventured out.

My first mission was to buy a new pair of pants – since I have torn one pair when I took a tumble on the street last week. I ventured out and tried to think of where to shop. I have to be honest, I tried a few Chinese stores, but they are just not suited to my tastes or my size. Chinese fashion is mostly very girly; it’s frilly, with lots of lace, collars, bows and sweet-as-candy colors. It looks very nice on the Chinese girls, but it is really not my style. Also, I am a little too curvy for Chinese clothing, so the items I did actually like looked horrible on me.

Therefore, I ended up at H&M. Say whatever you want, but my 2 favorite stores here are H&M and Forever21, because I can always depend on finding what I need there… and loving it too, of course!

At H&M I actually found some very nice things. To replace my torn pants, I found a really nice pair of chinos with a very cute pattern, in white and lightblue. Aside from replacing my pants, I also found one of the most beautiful skirts I have ever seen. I fell in love with it immediately and of course I bought it, together with a matching top. See my new awesome skirt here:

My new outfit:)

The skirt is actually from the new H&M line which is designed by Beyoncé. Most of the clothing is more casual and for the beach, but this skirt is just beautiful and perfect for in the office. The new line has lots of rich colours – like this skirt – so I can definitely recommend it!

The rest of the day I spent alternately at home – Skyping with half of my family, which was very nice – and in the part around the block, Changshou Park. Here I just enjoyed the sun, looking at people and reading my book. (The biography of my hero, Dutch musical producer Joop van den Ende. If you are Dutch – because I don’t think it’s written in English or anything – you should definitely read it!!)
After being so busy for the past weeks, it was heaven to relax with my book in the park.

Reading and relaxing at Changshou Park

Yesterday it was back to work with a vengeance! The fair is now drawing incredibly near and there is still so much which needs to be done! The details, schedules, everything needs to be done now. So there is a ton of work to do and lots of stress to go with it. The internet here in China is very slow, which can be incredibly frustrating when you have to send out many emails very quickly.

Also, my voice was still not recovered and I had to make a lot of phone calls! I can tell you that calling with a hoarse voice is not very nice. My boss found it very funny though, she said I had a very sexy voice. Granted, if I’d sing ‘Fever’ or something in that area now, it sounds fabulous. It just doesn’t sounds so nice on the phone.

At the end of the day, we actually had a big crisis at work. I won’t bore you with the details, but in the end we really needed to fix it. Therefore, I stayed very late and was only done with work at 7:30 PM. Which was really a shame. I had actually agreed to meet a friend from 2-Shanghai (Ilka) for dinner. Afterwards we had wanted to try out a gym, which has some very nice kickboxing lessons. However, I had run so late that I had to cancel it.

Today and next week are probably going to be just as crazy (hence why I am blogging now). Monday and Tuesday we build the Pavilion from scratch (starting with the carpet), and Wednesday to Saturday is the actual fair. I need to be there all days for the full day; from 8:30 AM to 6 PM. The last day, Saturday, concludes with breaking down the pavilion, which will last until very, very late. Luckily, my boss has given me Monday and (maybe) Tuesday off, so at least after this I can relax.

I am very excited for such a big opportunity and great experience, though I think I will be very glad when it is over. Simply because it’s already a lot of stress and costs a lot of energy. But well, it is definitely worth it!

And with that, I end this blog and start another busy yet exciting workday at BenCham!

With love,
Xx Cee

Goodbye Beatrix

“Zonder uw hartverwarmende en bemoedigende tekenen van genegenheid, zouden de lasten – waarvan zeker ook sprake is geweest – wel heel zwaar hebben gewogen.” – Koningin Beatrix

(“Without your heartwarming and encouraging signs of affection, the burdens which I had to carry – which have been present – would have been heavy indeed.” – Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands)

An evening walk through my Shanghai neighbourhood

 

Happy Queensday to you all!

Yes, even here in China we celebrate Queensday (the birthdayparty of the Dutch queen), for one last time. And this is indeed a very special queensday, because today our king will be crowned! 

So, as is tradition with the Dutch, I am going to the office in orange today… Hope my boss doesn’t mind;)

Speaking of which, let me catch you up with Shanghai life!

The last week was my first official workweek here, and boy was it busy! At the moment I am part of a team who is responsible for arranging the BenCham Pavilion at the China Shanghai International Technology Fair next week. I can’t believe it’s so close, because there is so much to do!

At the same time while we are arranging that, the Dutch consulate had arranged many events for the Dutch Days in Shanghai. Of course, they all lead up to today, the big Queensday party. This, however, meant that, as Benelux Chamber of Commerce in China, we had to be present!

Therefore, I have been to several drinks, banquets and other socializing events, in order to score business cards and potential members. However, I don’t really have my own business card yet, so this was a bit difficult. Networking turned out to be a lot of fun though!! I am excited for any next event which I have to attend!

The week was incredibly busy, because we really had to work very hard and do a lot to get our Pavilion up. We started out with an empty pavilion, with only 2 participants and a pavilion space actually shrinking in size. It seemed, though, that luck was on our side!

We have ended up – so far – with a 72 sqm, fully furnished and equipped, Pavillion, which will be (hopefully) loaded with participants and sponsors. We also have food and drinks, and hopefully even a demonstration of how to make Belgian truffles! We will also be hosting a drink and our own little opening ceremony. What more could you want?

The furniture is provided to us by the Dutch furniture company Gispen, who is working together in Shanghai with the Danish furniture (though mostly chairs) company Avarte.
My colleague Mathilde and I were the lucky ones who were allowed to visit the showroom and seal the deal. It was a lot of fun!

The showroom was beautiful and both companies have a lot of very nice furniture. We met the Sales Managers of Avarte and Gispen, and also the GM of Gispen here in Shanghai. He was incredibly friendly and practically threw furniture at us to showcase at the fair. So now, thanks to his kindness, we will be fully equipped with booths, meeting rooms, cabinets (called “SchuifDeurKabinet” (eng: SlidingDoorCabinet) and conveniently shortened to SDK, haha!), and even our own relaxing ‘sheep meadow’. 

We have created a sheep meadow because Gispen has these really nice statues (sort of) of sheep. You can see them in the picture here.

Gispen sheep in the Shanghai showroom

We will create a very lovely sort of lounging place with these sheep, some little white cubic chair/tables and Avarte’s Tattooed chairs. Believe me, it will be great!

If you are interested in Gispen or Avarte, I can heartily recommend you their websites. Especially Gispen, since they also have a consumer (non-office) line. They currently have a store in The Hague and are working on a webstore.

You can visit Gispen and Avarte at:
http://www.gispen.com/
http://avarte-cn.com/w_en/index.asp

On Friday we had sealed the deal with the furniture, carpet, bakery and many more sponsors, so it was time for a little celebration. Our GM Mariska, at least, thought so, so she bought us a delicious pie!

(L to R) Jing, Teresa & Mathilde enjoying our gift pie

Which was of course a very nice ending of a very long workweek.

After a very busy week, I had a quiet and relaxing weekend. In short, I didn’t do much other than do my laundry, hang out at the park and going shopping with my friend Lea.

Lea and I went to the fake market at the Shanghai University station (Metro line 2). It reminded me of the Silk Market in Beijing, only less crowded and this one is actually in the metro station!

Of course, in the fake market, bargaining is the deal. Lea was looking for a bag and made a capital mistake in the first store. Therefore, watch and learn! She saw a bag she liked, though she wasn’t sure that she wanted to buy it yet. As we westerners often do, Lea asked for the price, to take this into account in her decision whether to buy the bag or not. However, asking for the price at the fake market means that you begin the bargain. Lea ended up bargaining for the price, but actually she wanted to go and look around some more. This ended up with the ladies in the store becoming quite mad at us and calling us ‘bad students’. It was pretty funny, although not very nice to the ladies.

So people, be warned, ONLY START BARGAINING (or ask for the price) WHEN YOU WANT TO BUY!!

Just to warn you. 😉

The rest of the shopping was very nice. We were just doing silly girls stuff, looking at purses, shoes and the beautiful gowns the fake market offered. One of these days, I am definetely having a dress made by a tailor there!

At some point we had a lot of fun trying on wigs – in a chinese haircut style with very very long hair. It was so much fun, trying on all these silly hairstyles. And yes, of course, we ended up buying one wig each. 🙂

Lea trying on a wig at the fake market

If you want to go shopping in Shanghai and want something cheap, you should definetely check out one of the fake markets. There is the one I went to, at Shanghai University, but there is also one at the famous Nanjing Road. So if you are in Shanghai, go check it out!:)

And now here we are, after a relaxing weekend and a busy Monday (not much special), back to Tuesday 30 April 2013, Queensday in Shanghai.
Yesterday they had already organised a Queensnight pub crawl, however, due to the fact that I have to work today, I skipped. However, tonight my colleague Timothy has organized an awesome party (de Kroning van de Koning) at the Kaiba Tap House. So all our young colleagues and my 2Shanghai friends will get orange’d up and get ready to party in Shanghai!

Queensday Party Shanghai!

Wishing you a very nice Queensday and hope to write to you soon.

With love,
Xx Cee

 

A Sophisticated Start

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo Da Vinci

‘Circle’ by Ronald A. Westerhuis

Already one week in Shanghai, I can’t believe how time flies! Since I last wrote, I have met so many people and have been on so many adventures! Life here still feels as vacation – filled with freedom and yet  very unrealistic.

Last Thursday was my introduction day at BenCham. The company is situated in a big building with lots of offices. The office itself is not very large, but it’s nice, because this gives it a more personal atmosphere (it is also typically Chinese). The staff is mixed and consists of Dutch, Belgian and Chinese colleagues. Most, however are Dutch, and funnily, most are also interns. My boss (the general manager) is Mariska. She is very warm and nice and is great at networking. However she is not one you want to make mad, because she also works hard and lets nothing get in her way. Already after a few days of working with her, I really look up to her. I think she can teach me a great deal!

My other colleagues are also very nice. From the first moment on they were very welcoming and I felt very much at home. I didn’t know, but actually they had just expected me to be ‘introduced’ on Thursday and just start working on Monday. However, I was much too excited for this, and so I actually already started doing work on Thursday. This was nice, because Thursday and Friday I could really get to know the drill of BenCham. Right now we are working on our own Pavillion at the China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair, which is in 2 weeks. Thursday and Friday I have been working on contracts of our in kind sponsors, which is really fun.

The BenCham Office

Friday evening, I even got to go to my first event (already)! That evening was the opening of the so-called ‘Dutch Days’ here in Shanghai. It’s an initiative of the Dutch consulate to promote the Netherlands to China, and of course it is also nice for the Dutch community here – especially with Queensday. (check: http://www.dutchdays.cn)

So, on Friday we went to the opening, which was held at the ‘RAWsome – the retrospective’ art exposition of Ronald A. Westerhuis , a Dutch artist who makes iron/aluminum sculptures. (http://www.ronaldawesterhuis.com/)I personally thought they were quite beautiful, because he really played with the texture of the material. Especially with the colored lights shining on the art works, they were sometimes almost intriguing, because of the way the patterns flowed.

I do have to say, I have never felt so sophisticated as that evening. Still in my work attire (pencil skirt, blouse and high heels), enjoying a glass of wine while enjoying art… it almost felt as if I had stepped into Sex and the City!

For the rest of the evening, there were some speeches and a band. The band was quite experimental/minimalist. They started out with making music with the art sculptures, which was really very nice! However, then they just made slow, trance, electronic music, which was incredible boring. Half of the audience had left by the time they were finished, which was not very nice for them. Although I was heavily tempted to leave myself.

It was a very fun evening, where I also got my first shot at socializing. I’ve gotten a little bit of taste for it now and can’t wait to get some more! It was certainly very exciting!

RAWsome – a retrospective (Ronald A. Westerhuis)

Saturday I just walked around a bit and had a quiet day. I needed to let all the impressions from the past week sink in. In the evening, I went on a pubcrawl with the group from 2-Shanghai. It was really fun. We started out at the ‘cool docks’ which is apparently a very nice place to go out. We went to one of the bars here where we just had a few beers and got started.

The rest of the evening we traveled with the ‘pubcrawl’ bus to several other bars. It was very fun and hilarious. The people were nice, the music was good, and we just had a ton of fun! I mostly hung out with Lea, my new German friend. She lives around the corner from my compound, so that’s really nice, since we could share a cab home. It’s also nice to live close to a friend when we want to go for dinner or just hang out.

During the pubcrawl we also met this very nice and very gay guy named Kevin. He kind of reminded me of Jack in Will and Grace, only then with eyeliner and a snakeleather jacket. I think you get the picture. He was super nice though, and for most of the evening I danced with Lea and him, which was tons of fun.

I’m so glad for the taxis in China though, and the fact that they’re so cheap! Because God knows where we were in the last bar. I was very glad that the taxi driver knew where to go to get us home safe. In the end, I was home very early in the morning. Sunday I was incredibly tired. So I did the laundry for a bit, and read some nice books. Actually I read a very nice book about 3 generations of Chinese women (which I have gotten from my wonderful crazy aunt – thank you!!). The women were grandmother – mother – daughter. It’s called Wild Swans and is written by  Jung Chang. I can strongly recommend it – it is beautiful!

This morning I woke up very well rested (luckily) and started on my first ‘real’ workday. It was actually pretty stressful, but very cool! There is quite a lot of pressure in this work, especially when there are some important events coming up, and we are relying mostly on sponsors.

Today I really got to work on sponsors and asking them exactly what we would get. It took me a lot of ‘blood, sweat and tears’, but at the end of the day I got a lot of things done! We also had a meeting this afternoon with the company who will set up the booths and all. It was really pretty nice, even though at that time we weren’t really sure what we would get sponsored by the companies.

Tomorrow we have a very important meeting with our ‘big’ participant in the fair TomTom (from the navigation systems). And I actually get to go!! I am so excited!! That’s why we had to get a lot of things down and done today, because we really need to present them with something nice.

In short, it is a lot of hard work at BenCham, but I already love the people, the atmosphere and the challenge. I think I will definitely learn a lot here and get some great experience on my resume! Tonight I will first ‘stress’ over my all-important outfit for tomorrow (I mean, what do you wear to such a huge multinational to not look like an intern?) and then I will relax and enjoy the newest episode of Game of Thrones (which I can watch here, thank God!).

Tomorrow there will be another day, another adventure, and hopefully, another blog!;)

With love,
Xx Cee

Meeting the Crew

2-Shanghai Welcoming Dinner

A short blog today, since I am starting my internship in an hour!:)

After a touristy-day of walking and shopping from my street (Shaanxi North Road) to the Nanjing road and strolling along the Bund enjoying the scenery, tourists and weather, I went out to dinner with the people from 2-Shanghai, my internship agency.

The agency now has a group of 20-30 people here, and quite a lot showed up yesterday to the welcoming dinner for Tamara (who also arrived on Monday) and me. We had dinner at the Sichuan Citizen, which was quite a nice restaurant. Of all the places I have eaten so far, it was, however, the most expensive (though still very affordable) and very spicy food.

It was a very fun night though, getting to know all the people, some of whom are only here for a few weeks and some already for months, and about what they’re doing here. It’s so much fun to meet people who are kind of in the same situation! And it’s nice to have a group of friends sharing your cultural background and with whom I can speak Dutch.

I was immediately added to the whatsapp group, in which the conversation was quite busy (Spam, spam!!) already. After dinner, a few of us went out for drinks, since it was ladies night and we got 1 cocktail free. 🙂

We went to a place that was very nice and actually even more expensive than in the Netherlands probably, but since the cocktail was free, this was not really a problem. It was very nice getting to know the people a little better. We have already agreed to go out on Friday, so I’ll be introduced well and truly then to Shanghai’s nightlife. I can’t wait!

All in all, yesterday was a very fun day and I’m really looking forward to spending more time with all the people from this group.

Today I will start my internship, so as soon as I am able to, I hope I can enlighten you about living and working here in Shanghai. On Saturday I will definetely give you some nightlife tips, should you be in town sometime 😉

With love,
Xx Cee

I’m Going On An Adventure!

“I’m already late, I’m going on an adventure!” – Bilbo Baggins

View from my window on the North Shaanxi Road, Shanghai

Sunday morning, the moment was finally there. After some very stressful weeks and many goodbyes, I was finally leaving for Shanghai! After saying goodbye to my family, and going through passport control, my adventure really began. And it began quite well. I still had some time before the plane left. Luckily, around the corner from my gate was the ‘Spa Express’. This is a seriously good business initiative. It’s a little spa on Schiphol airport, where you can get things like massages, facials and mani/pedis. Because I had wanted to do my nails (it looks more professional) before I left – and I hadn’t had the chance, this actually sounded perfect. So, for €15 I got a very nice basic manicure! Really, if you’re ever at Schiphol near gate D, it’s really nice there. During the manicure you actually sit in a wonderful massage chair.

Saying Goodbye

So far, so good. Then, while boarding and going to security I got a nice surprise. My tickets were booked with Aeroflot (a Skyteam partner, so I would get my airmiles), however I was flying to Moscow in a KLM plane! And they are really much nicer. Well, that was a pleasant yet short flight, nothing special.

At Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport – a place I once dubbed Purgatory, until I found the terminal with the Burger King and other western brands – I mostly spent my time at the Burger King and coffeeplace. I wrote a very nice blog while enjoying some salmon pasta, however due to a glitch in the internet, I lost the blog…

After about 4.5 hours I got to board the Aeroflot flight to Shanghai. Which – again – pleasantly surprised me. I think because of the Olympic Games in 2014 Aeroflot updated its planes, or something. The plane was larger and we had lovely personal entertainment systems! I sat on row 12, which was the second after business class. I love this, because then you’re out of the plane very quickly, and after 8 hours flying I was jumping to get out. Unfortunately I hardly got any sleep, however they actually had the BBC show ‘the Tudors’  and I’ve watched some episodes I hadn’t seen yet during the flight. If you have never seen the Tudors – it’s a really really good series about the life and wives of Henry VIII of England. It’s basically 1 wife per season, which is fun:) So, go see it!!

We landed in Shanghai around 9:45 local time (which is 6 hours earlier than Amsterdam). Here I had to wait forever until my suitcase arrived (seriously, you start to stress when it takes that long!!). However, it did and I could finally go out. There I met Melissa, a girl from my internship agency. It was very nice to be taken care of after such a long flight.

Melissa took me to what is now my lovely apartment. Here I met my Spanish roommate Eric and his Chinese boyfriend Cody. My other roommate, a Spanish girl called Mireia, is at the moment in another city, so Iwill meet her this weekend. Eric and Cody, however, are supernice and have already shown me around the neighborhood.

After arriving and checking that the room is allright, we went to the local police station. Here, you need to register, in case of emergencies and other things. This was quite nice. On the way there I also bought some breakfast (a yoghurt), since I was quite hungry at this point. Back home I was very glad that I could finally take a shower, since I had still been dressed in very warm clothes and had of course been traveling for a very long time. Ahh, the joy of showers. I truly felt so much better and fresher after that!

Next we went for lunch at what looks like a little Chinese hole-in-the wall place. However, it was actually very, very nice. We had some rice with fried vegetables, a pork dish and some very nice tomato and egg in sweet & sour souce. It was delicious and so much!  After we had finished there was actually quite a lot of food left, which I thought was really a shame. Only, Cody and Eric explained that in China it is actually the way to go. When a dish is empty, then it is customary to order another one, even though no one eats from it again (such a shame!!). You leave things on the plate to say: ‘thank you for your generosity, it is too much!’ This is really nice and polite, though I do think it’s a shame that so much food goes to waste.

Lunch with Eric (left) & Cody (right)

Because I am really renting this room and this is not a hotel, I had no things like towels and sheets for my bed. Therefore, we went to IKEA. What an experience, IKEA in China. Actually, from inside it actually looks pretty much the same as those in the Netherlands, or pretty much everywhere else in the world I think. However in China the people are all really testing the beds and couches etc. So everywhere people are sleeping in the store! A funny sight to see.

It was a lot of fun going to IKEA with the two guys, even though we were once again squished in the subway. We arrived back home with one large blue IKEA bag filled with stuff and I immediately set to work unpacking that bag and my suitcase and turning my room into something more personal. It was also a nice way to not fall asleep, since I was so very, very tired by now. You can see the result of my efforts and a picture of our living room here:

My lovely bed

Our living room & the balcony

My bathroom

My room in Shanghai

After this, I didn’t do much else, except for go out and buy some noodles for at home. Then I Skyped with my mom (which went very well, considering the internet here is SLOWWWW) and I finally collapsed into bed around 9PM.

I woke up this morning at 12:15 PM and was very well rested:)

After waking up with a cup of tea and breakfast (a yoghurt) in bed, I arranged some handy things, like a VPN (Virtual Private Network) so I can get around the Great Firewall, and my rent and contract. Then I spent my afternoon doing groceries like food, some more candles, cleaning cloths, shampoo etc. at Tesco, the large supermarket which is very near here. I actually did so much shopping that I was short on money at the cash register. This is so embarassing, even in Holland, but here it is worse because no one speaks proper English! (or German, or Spanish or French, for all I care.)

Anyway, I ended up spending a good 15 minutes searching for an ATM and getting the cash, after which I returned to pay. Then I was carrying around 3 very heavy bags and decided to rest for a little while (and get lunch) at the Costa Coffee. Costa is like Starbucks, but then Italian, so the coffee is better. 😉

After this I pondered how to carry all this home (it’s only a 10-15 minute walk, but my bags were seriously heavy), when I remembered that I was in China. So the solution was: I would take a taxi! I looked up my address on the map and found it was there in both English and Chinese. I then asked the guy behind the counter at Costa to write down the Chinese address for me, so I could give it to the taxi driver. This is really helpful. If you’re ever in China, make sure you have the address written down in Chinese. If people don’t understand it, there is also a really nice (FREE, yay!) service where you can tell the person the address in English and they will tell this to the taxi driver. However, it’s a Chinese number, so I don’t know how this works with a foreign cellphone.

So, the taxi brought me home, which was very lovely. It only cost me 14 yuan, which is somewhat like €1,70. I wish taxis were this nice and cheap in Holland!! After I got home, I relaxed a little, listened to my wonderful CD of Elisabeth (the musical) and started to write this blog.

After a while, Eric and Cody came in and asked if I wanted to go to dinner. We went to a mall close by, which (translated) is called ‘Paris Spring Mall’. Here we ate at ‘Granny’s’ restaurant, which is a very nice and cosy place, where the food is cheap and delicious. It was really fun with the guys, just having a nice dinner and chatting. After this we looked around the mall a little bit. The mall has mostly international stores, like H&M and Zara, or Japanese and Korean brands. It was nice windowshopping.

Then we just hung out at home and enjoyed some Kinder chocolate – which I had found at Tesco’s. Yummm!:)

Now it’s already past midnight and I feel like I’m doing well with my jetlag. I should really go to sleep though, because tomorrow I want to go on a little touristic tour of Shanghai: lots of walking!

So for all of you, I hope you have a good night!

With love,
Xx Cee

Impressionism vs Expressionism

Venice, the Pink Cloud by Paul Signac

For the past few days, when I have been (shamefully) absent on this blog, I have been once again enjoying the joyous wonders of the city Vienna (Wien). This time I had a lovely Easter weekend there with my good friend Janneke. Let me introduce her to you. Janneke is one of my best friends. Together with my other best friend Anne-Mieke we form quite a Trio (my words, they will probably roll their eyes at this endearing term. \

‘Jan & Miek’ are like my very own Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte (SATC). They’re the kind of friends who you can laugh with til you cry, who understand you so well you sometimes finish each others sentences (I know, afwul, isn’t it?), who never judge and who are completely different from me. In short, wonderful and unique people.

So, Janneke and I went away for a weekend to Wien. We both love some culture, though Jan loves it probably a little bit more than me. I mean, she made me visit the Sigmund Freud  museum after all. Which turned out to be very interesting, so I can recommend it to you! (http://www.freud-museum.at/cms/index.php/en_home.html)

While we were in Wien, we visited the Albertina museum. It’s quite a nice museum which, at the moment has a very lovely exposition titled: “Monet to Picasso”. Basically, it’s a collection of impressionistic and expressionistic works. Which was quite well this way, since Janneke and I quite like those art movements. Or, to be more specific, Janneke likes expressionism, while I like impressionism. So we are complete opposites in that way.

To put down an example: I love the work on the top of this blog: Venice, the Pink Cloud by Paul Signac. It is painted with very little brush strokes, almost like snippets have been put together to make art. It is not a perfect picture. It is, actually, quite vague. But then again, that is what Impressionism is for me: a vague outline of a picture, which gives you a feeling, a memory, an emotion or just an idea. It lets you fill in the story. The picture just gives you the emotion. You should try it, see if you agree (and if you don’t then that is perfectly fine. This is, of course, just my personal interpretation). A few good impressionist artists include Monet, Renoir, Degas and Manet.

So, this is what I love. An emotion. A peek inside the door. Something vague, where you can tell the story yourself. Janneke, however, is more into the story behind. A painting which she quite enjoyed was this one:

Face in a Landscape by Karel Appel

An expressionistic painting, coincidentally painted by one of the greatest Dutch painters of the last century: Karel Appel. In Janneke’s words, a painting like this just fits. The colours, the shapes, it all comes together perfectly, it feels right.

Well, I can’t really make much more of a pitch for Expressionism. Janneke is very impassioned by it, she feels that these paintings really come together. She always loves to discover the hidden meaning, the hidden picture. And she loves to figure out what was going on in the painter’s head while he painted it. So it’s more about the journey, less about the story. At least, that is what I make of it.

I truly am an Impressionism lover. I really, really don’t understand Expressionism. But that is what makes it fun, isn’t it? The fact that there is so much to choose from, and so many opinions that count.

This was just Janneke and me, different as day and night. But what do you think? What do you love? Impressionism? Expressionism? Or maybe something completely different? Like Gothic or Romanticism? I’d love to hear it!

So please comment and let me know how you feel about art? And who knows, I might be able to recommend you a good place in Vienna… 😉

With Love,
Xx Cee

PS: Oh, just something completely else – something which only has to do with art in the sense that it happened very close to the Albertina: Janneke and I were going to eat some torte at the Hotel Sacher (yes I know, very touristic). And apparently, Justin Bieber was staying there. Have you ever seen a crowd of hormonal teenage girls clustering before a hotel to catch a glimpse of a star? I’m telling you, it is hilarious. Every time someone opened a door or a window, the decibels rose higher. I think it did me some serious ear damage. But the best part was when some other guest at the hotel inched open a window a little bit every time. The screaming/squeeling/yelling (I LOVE YOU JUSTIN) swelled and dimmed, swelled and dimmed…. very hilarious. Just had to get it out here, because we had to laugh all afternoon.

And just to close with, a shot of the crowd at the Hotel Sacher in Wien. Enjoy!

Travel in Style?

Today was the first time ever when I wore heels while flying. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. Usually I laugh at those women who wear heels, dresses and a ton of makeup when flying, especially on those incredibly long flights (10 hours or more). And although i wore heels myself today, it was only a 1,5 hours flight (a ‘pussyflight’ as we sometimes call this in my family). During such a short flight, it doesn’t really matter what shoes you wear. However, when you fly long, or have a long layover, it might be nice to wear something else.

With regard to my internship in Shanghai – which is already in a few weeks! – I would like to take a bit of a closer look at the ‘ideal’ travel outfit. Especially in situations like internships or perhaps a study abroad, I would like to look put together and not too much like I have just flown for hours when I land. Because you never know who will pick you up from the airport. (What if it’s your new boss?)

Therefore I would like to give you some tips on how to be comfortable when flying and still look allright when you have landed – which is based on my own extensive flying experience… 😉

First of all: DON’T WEAR HEELS (and I mean never, ever, EVER!) when you are flying for over 3 hours. Wear shoes which are comfortable but still look presentable. For example (black) ballerinas (you can even take these off in the plane – comfort!), or simple converse shoes, or other flat, neat (black helps) shoes.

Next, don’t wear clothes you do not feel comfortable in. I usually opt for jeans, a shirt and some kind of jacket or sweater. Layers definetely help! if you need to look put together, I would advise you to pick a black or dark-wash jeans, a simple top in one colour and either a  blazer or a nice and comfy cardigan.

Even though you can’t take a lot of fluids with you, you should definetely carry the following things in your hand luggage:
– a mini deodorant
– a mini-tube of toothpaste
– a mini mascara
– a mini perfume
– a mini concealer & foundation (or you can take compact powder)
– lipbalm/gloss
– a (mini) moisturizer/facial cream (if you are able to fit it in with the rest)

The non-fluid musthaves:
– a hairbrush (preferably a foldable one)
– a toothbrush

As soon as you get out of the plane, find a bathroom (I would, however, opt for the second bathroom you find on your way to the luggage belt, since usually, this one has a shorter line) and freshen up. Splash some water in your face, slap on some basic make-up, brush your teeth and your hair and spray some serious deodorant and perfume (though not too much, obviously).

Be sure to smooth out your clothes and put on your bright smile. How’s that for a first impression?;)

Of course, these are just my own findings. I love traveling in jeans, since they are comfy but not as ridiculous as jogging or PJ pants (no offense). However, you might hate jeans and love a skirt and leggins. Or even jogging pants. This is just the way I like to travel and ‘freshen up’ best. I hope that I have been able to share some of my wisdom with you.

So for any of you going on a trip after this, good luck and enjoy!

With love,
Xx Cee

Work Out and De-Stress

“Patience and persistance are vital qualities in the ultimate success of any endeavor.” – Joseph Pilates

 

Though I am not particularly fond of sports, nor do I pay much attention to how healthy I eat – after all, as a student I can still afford myself this ‘luxury’ – I have actually committed myself to a new sport. It’s not as if I never move or anything, I dance (once a week) and cycle to school (when it’s not raining, snowing, freezing….) but with all my chocolate cravings and lush (yes, lush!) curves, a little extra muscle-toning is not a bad idea.

So I did some research. I am quite picky when it comes to sports – I am not a sporty type. My hand-eye coordination is not exactly a real coordination, nor is my hand-foot coordination, come to say of that. Just going to the gym is not my thing either – especially ALONE (shudders)…

So I tried to find my own thing. Something (almost) as nice as dancing, which I can do to music, and (taking into consideration my internship in China) which I could do practically everywhere.

That’s how I found Pilates. Though you might not think so, the sport is already over 80 years old. However, it is completely new to me. I did some digging and thouroughly read up on the goals and ways of Pilates.

Basically, Pilates is the alignment of body and mind. The philosophy of Pilates is that you don’t achieve a stable, toned and ‘perfect’ physical body by just working out. Pilates is all about control (that’s why it’s sometimes also called contrology). You control every workout very precisely – aware of the tiniest movement you make. Quality over quantity.

Well, I have to say, it sounded absolutely perfect for me. Aside for control and working out, Pilates is also a great way to relax and destress (especially with the super peaceful music I got with my Pilates box). I have only started a few days ago, but I already love coming home and releasing all my stress and tension for an hour.

I put on my sporting tank, leggins and sweater, switch on the music and burn some incense (lavender is my favorite). Being the control-freak I am, it’s just so nice to completely focus all my thoughts on the rhythm of the exercises and the music, carefully controlling exactly what I do. It is both destressing from my busy everyday life and allowing me to give my control-freak self some peace of mind.

For all of you out there who have hectic and stressful lives as I do, and who like to be a little  healthier than they are, I can certainly recommend trying some Pilates (classes, a DVD, a book, Youtube, whatever fits you!)

However, as much as I am enjoying the newfound peace of my Pilates exercises, I hope I find it nice enough to go through with. And I am curious to see (and feel) results. Whatever it will be, only time will tell.

And of course I will keep you updated;)

With love,
Xx Cee