Hello I am back... Hehe.
Sitting in my hotel at China, my last night at China before leaving.
This trip has been really good. And even better than what I expected relationship wise. But I think I will start off this story by writing the last few days events to make things exciting haha.
So 2 days ago, there was this family dinner where about 30 people came, we had 5 tables reserved in a restaurant. Of course I was asked if I want to drink beer or white wine. I thought that I can drink well, and I had drank the white wine many times before already as well. So I chose I can drink beer and white wine.
My girlfriend said 1 glass is enough. But then I asked if I should drink with everybody as well instead of just my table. And she agreed that it was a good idea. And my table only had 1 man in it, rest women/children hehe. So I could not drink really.
But off I went, to drink some white wine with each table. The first table had all the men in it. girlfriends father, fathers brothers etc. So I had my 2nd glass of white wine there.
Then off I go again, to the next table, it has some younger people in it, my girlfriends brothers also who I've drank before with also. So they pour my glass so full that its dripping to the ground. And we drink some more...
Then the next table where my girlfriends mothers and the mothers relatives are at. Maybe half a glass only there.
The wine was something like 60% I have no idea now afterwards.
Well after the dinner was over. We the youngsters proceeded into KTV. Sing some, my singing voice is like 10 cats being executed all by different methods. Anyway we drank more beer there.
And POOF. My memory ends there. But I was told I behaved semi-well. Considering I was extremely drunk which is really really bad. I wanted to speak so much, but my Chinese only being beginner/basic level Chinese and the fact I probably could not speak even my own language Finnish at that point either.
So they thought that I am a bit crazy in a funny way apparently. Talking talking talking... Not being understood or anything but not caring about that either.
Then I wake up from the sofa of my girlfriends parents house. And notice that the clock is really late. That my plane leaves in 1½hours. So I try to hurry to the airport. Get my ticket to Beijing where my transfer flight to Finland is at. But when I get to the Chengdu airplane. I realize the ticket counter gave me a wrong ticket. And that I can't catch my flight to Finland anymore...
So I go to the ticket office, get a new ticket because it was the airlines fault. The new ticket was scheduled to leave 4 days later, because the next flight to Finland is then and no flights earlier than that.
So I agree to take that ticket. With no return or change possibilities. Called my boss, explained that what has happened and that I can't work until I get back. She was not happy but understood the situation. And I will explain better when I arrive to work.
I thought that I will have a good 4 days at Beijing to see all the tourist places, big shopping centers etc.
Oh how wrong I was.
Then I thought, I should check my visa, it is 30 days. When does the 30 days end... It ends 2 days before my scheduled flight.
And my ticket is not changeable.
I can not get a new visa, if I apply for a visa it will take 5-7 days time to process it. Which is too long anyway.
I can not change my ticket.
Only option is to buy a totally new ticket to and through countries where I don't need a Visa as a Finnish person. So I see the prices to Estonia, Sweden, Norway. But no cheap flights before the 12th day, which is too late.
So I have to go to Vienna, from Vienna to Germany. Then buy a new ticket from Germany to Finland...
My bag weights 30kg. So I will have to pay quite a lot of money to get it in to the plane. At Beijing and again at Germany.
At the time I realized that I can't catch my flight to Helsinki the first time. I had about 600 euros and 3000 yuan left. And my salary would come the 15th day. So I was kind of screwed. Had to borrow money from my mother...
Then I bought a Chinese telephone card. To call my GF and explain everything that had happened. She was terrified but glad to hear that things had worked out even though I have to pay probably 800-1000 euros my self to get back to home...
I had reserved 3000 euros maximum for this 28 days trip. I will explain later why so much hehe. But its all gone and at least that 800 euros extra too...
Yesterday I was so stressed out about the plane changes, visa problem etc. everything. Went straight to bed after getting to hotel.
Today I did some sightseeing at tiananmen square, saw the Mao picture on the wall. Saw that emperors home place. I have walked so much yesterday and today that my legs hurt.
I thought that I am smart and will not get scammed easily. But I took one of those electric bikes for about 10 minutes duration trip from hotel to tiananmen square. I said 20 yuan. And the driver accepted. When we arrived to some back alley. He said 300 yuan... And that the 20 yuan was a 20yuan/1 minute price... He had a friend there as well welcoming me. I said thats not what we agreed. Luckily my Chinese is enough to tell them in a angry voice "not possible you said 20 yuan, I can give you 30" "bu xing ni shuo 20 kuai. wo ke yi gei ni 30" we argued for about 5 minutes there. Then I took some distance. Pick my telephone, tell them "wait I will make a call, ni deng wo da dianhua" I was about to call my gf im sure she could do something to help hehe. But they realized im about to call someone. They say 50 yuan. I agree because I just want to get the hell away from these cheaters and alone in an alley...
I took a total of 4 bike rides at Beijing and one was a cheater... The other 3 were very friendly and talked with me. Which was nice so I got to practice my limited Chinese. And they were also interested about me being a foreigner.
And now I'm sitting in my hotel writing here about my 2nd trip hehe. Tomorrow away from China, back to Europe where I will have my human rights again hehe. And no need for a visa.
I know that some/many of the Chinese will take away your money if you let them (as in cheat you). They will pass you in a waiting line if you let them. Etc. Its their nature/culture.
But after all this, I think I do not want to return to Beijing in a long time. Maybe after I am married with my girl. And we are together or I can speak decent Chinese. So I will avoid all the trouble.
But now I think I shall start from the beginning.
A short recap about my previous trip this summer. I met a girl through QQ. I went to meet her to Sichuan. It did not work out. But I met another girl. My current girl and the girl I love and like as well. We talked the past 4 months on telephone and on QQ. Me calling her almost every day through Skype and we would talk for hours sometimes. I have skype on my cellphone with a good and cheap Internet... So I would call her every time things got boring at work also hehe.
But we talked for 4 months. I said from the beginning that I will come to visit her again this Christmas. And I did.
I arrived 12th of December. She was at the airport to welcome me of course. The first few minutes were really awkward haha. We had one awkward hug and then rushed to the car she had borrowed from her parents to pick me up.
The next day I go get a haircut, she and her family think my hair is awfull haha...
Some days later. Massage for both of us. She wanted to die during it haha. Tickled her too much.
Go see the "Flowers of War"-Chinese movie. I think it was the best movie I saw during 2011. Tells a story about an laowai at China during the war between China and Japan.
I saw her family and friends quite many times also during those days.
We went to play Mahjong, the Chinese Sichuan version hehe. Everyone were joking that I would loose all my money playing with my girlfriend and her two sisters, one yuan a game... It was a lot of fun. And they were surprized I ended up going about +-0 yuan. While my GF lost around a 100 yuan haha... Which is a lot thinking that it was 1 yuan starting stakes.
After that we headed to Hainan for a 5 days trip/travel. Because Chengdu is very cold. Have to wear thick clothes from morning to until I go sleep. The home inside temperature is the same as outside...
Hainan is a warm place, like 25-30 celcius during the days. And maybe 15 during the nights.
We went to Hainan because we wanted to spend some time away from her family. We both lived there rest of the time.
And she had always wanted to visit Hainan. Apparently all the rich people own an apartment there. For the cold winters in their home city, they will go to Hainan until its warmer in their home cities.
She was extremely excited. She had never ever travelled outside Sichuan or by airplane. She was totally clueless about how to get the flight tickets, what to do, where to go hehe. I only know the international flight stuffs which is very strict. The Chinese domestic flights are so loose. You can take like almost anything in to the planes and no weight limits that you can take as carry on package and no weight limit on the stuff that goes as cargo in the plane. Or it felt like that. Some guy brought 5 cases of huge fruits with him without having to pay any extra. about 20kg each box.
We visited the Hainan beach, went scuba diving to see the ocean and the reefs, diving was quite expensive, think the cheapest option was 500 yuan each, the best option was 900 yuan each. But because everyone else in our travel group (we had a group trip with a guide for the whole duration etc. But no one spoke English hehe, so I could not understand a thing most of the time. So I just enjoyed the views, the warmth, being together with my girl. And of course many places had English texts so I could read those.
I have never visited a "tropical" country or what do you call it. Has pineapples and all possible fruits growing there, bananas etc. And the sand beaches...
We saw many "famous" places to the Chinese people. But I had no clue about those places except one hehe. One was the shooting place for a famous Chinese love movie, I have seen that movie with subtitles before.
There were all kinds of tamed animals you could take pictures with. I took pictures with a huge snake and a tiger puppy. I really loved the tiger puppy picture, tiger is my new favorite animal now! My favorite animal used to be panda.
I bought her lots of nice stuff there. And some myself as well. So her family could see I was treating her good. And of course I wanted to buy her stuff also. Her family was angry at me spending so much during the trip. But I think what they really meant was something along the lines of "thank you for giving her a good time, save more money for bigger and better wedding later on".
I always wanted to see my girl wearing a qipao. So we bought her one hehe. I liked it a lot. But her family and friends think it is awful so she does not want to use it anymore...
After we returned from Hainan. It was Christmas a few days later. She wanted to buy some Christmas decorations to her home. So we bought a plastic Christmas tree of about 30cm tall and almost equally big star on top of it.
Then I visited her old working place city for one day. Saw her best friend and some working friends. They were extremely excited to meet this foreigner they had heard much about. I had fun with them, we went to KTV haha and I was "forced" to sing once again.
Rest of the time, we were a bit lazy. Doing small stuff every day. Shopping, normal life. Seeing friends, family, eating, ktv etc.
All together. I now know her much better than before. And now I am sure that I can choose her, even though her personality can be quite tough for me sometimes haha. If I don't obey she gets angry. So I try to listen to her as long as its reasonable. But I know I've seen the real her and her family.
Before my 2nd arrival to China. Her father was always angry at me and even if someone talked about me or things related to me.
As in I am not accepted/welcome.
But after I arrived. I believe he accepted me. Mostly because the fathers older brothers and other close family liked me a lot and accepted me, so he was also forced to haha. And The last week in his home. We got along decently even though we could barely speak. But we watched some TV together, some war series where the Chinese always slaughtered the Japanese haha! I did not understand what they spoke in the series, but after watching it every night I got the hang of what was going.
Her mother always accepted me. But was always really worried that I will make her daughters life very difficult. Because of the cultural differences, language barrier. And the fact that she would most likely come to Finland with me for a long time.
After I agreed that we can buy a home at China. She felt more relaxed. So I will have to work hard later on. To be able to afford the home payments. Probably 1000-3000 yuan a month.
We have also agreed that when we are old. We will retire to China and live in this home which will be together paid for in ~5years of time.
We have talked about marriage, children etc "normal" things. And agree that we can have 1-2 children once the situation is clear. As in she lives at Finland and has a job. Or in worst case I live at China with a good job (she does not really want to stay at China but a backup choice).
We will probably get married next year if things go smooth. Or the end of this year. But nothings set in stone. Just some rough schedules for now.
I have never cried for someone as much as for her. When I left her home yesterday. And lets just say, in my fathers, grandmothers, grandfather etc. close relative funerals I barely cried if not at all. It was a surprise to me as well. Experiencing this.
I have known her for hmm 7 months now. Of which we have spent over 2 months together. And I feel she is my only one. My right one.
I noticed one thing. Before I would look at all the girls and thinking if they are pretty. And dreaming about having one as well. Now that I have my girl. I can look at the girls, but not feeling attracted to them anymore.
I can attach a few pictures now. That this is quite certain and serious. Before I was cautious hehe.
First picture is from Chengdu in some shopping mall. During Christmas, so I found Santa and his helpers there.
Second picture is a pair of hearts we drew on the sand at the beach. A few seconds later water had washed the hearts away.
The third and 4th pictures are from the Hainan beach.
I have hundreds of pictures, but I think that most of the pictures are only valuable for me and my girl, for memories. Nothing too special. But I guess if people want I got some more. Altough we don't have many pictures together. Always me taking her picture and she taking mine.
Wow what a long story. I think it took me a few hours or more to think and write all this. And do a few other things meanwhile as well.
