5 stages

Este post roubei ao Sr. Presidente Alves. O meu obrigado e desculpas pelo plagio.

As fases porque passamos, segundo o autor, quando nos encontramos a viver na China:

Stage One: The Honeymoon Stage - Everything is just plain weird and wonderful. Taxis come in various colours: some have three wheels (em Shanghai não). Men in beige suits are carrying purses and have extremely long fingernails (mas mesmo grandes), and some girls are holding hands. Everything is covered in neon. People stare (a lot). Women have umbrellas in the sun. Cheese is a luxury product.

Stage Two: The Irritation Stage - Taxi drivers always choose the longest queue at traffic lights. A simple banking operation takes half a day. It's impossible to buy a return train ticket. It feels like everybody is trying to cheat you. The so-called Caesar salad you ordered is made with spam (ainda não me aconteceu). Nobody holds the elevator door open. Everyone smokes, even in the hospital.

Stage Three: The Rejection Stage - Give up trying to communicate with Chinese people who don't speak English (except your taxi driver). Give up learning Chinese. Only shop in Carrefour. Live in a suburban compound. Complain non-stop about the traffic, pollution, bad manners, noisy neighbours, Chinese TV and poor quality products. Get BBC, CNN and a couple of humidifiers.

Stage Four: The Integration Stage - Buy a bycicle. Start to learn Chinese and practice with the taxi driver. Say hello to Chinese people who say hello to you, even when you have a hangover. Develop a level of patience that Mother Theresa would be proud of. Start shopping in the local fruit market and cooking Chinese food.

Stage Five: The Re-Entry Stage - Go back home and realize how tedious "developed" life can be. Become homesick for China and make plans to return.

Ja passei pela fase 1 sinto que estou a passar pelas fase 2,3 e um pouco de 4 ao mesmo tempo. Depende da disposicao que normalmente e* influenciada pelas horas de sono da noite anterior.

Continuo a queixar me do transito, da poluicao, da falta de civismo mas acima de tudo das noites mal dormidas. Em relacao *a paciencia, peco desculpa Madre Teresa mas ja teve melhores dias. Numa fase inicial cheguei a pensar cadidatar me a santo mas agora acho que ja nao tenho hipoteses. Tenho perdido um pouco a cabeca com a falta de educacao, dificuldades de comunicacao e com os problemas que surgem cada vez que se quer fazer algo na China. Nunca sai como queremos e o acto de desenbaraco ainda nao chegou *a China. Se nao esta no livro do Mao...temos problemas.