Porto - New York - Shanghai

…1998 was the happiest year in my life; it’s true that it had a sad start… but it become a year that I will never forget…Not for the same motives but I have a feeling…that this is definitely going to be a great year and who knows maybe overcome 98…ok! I cannot be sure, however I never was so optimistic about my future…I’m a smart guy [please, let me live believing that this is true], and I will be working in a country that as a word that stands for “threat” and “opportunity” at the same time…and I learned that in business if we come across a threat we are not good enough if we don’t change it to an opportunity…so lets see what I capable of…

…some people call Shanghai the “New York of Asia”, I few years ago it was known as “Paris of Asia”, maybe it still is a little of both [I will tell you after 15th February]…I already know Paris [I went there in 97] however I still haven’t been in New York…so that’s why in a few hours I will be leaving to US…as you can imagine I couldn’t be more excited...me in New York…and 15 days later in Shanghai…am I dreaming?

…in my next post I will have lost of amazing stories to tell you…I sure hope!

January 2005…already a “piece of China”

The other day I went to a Chinese grocery…I believe it’s the only one of its kind in Porto…it was hard to find, but after a wile and questioning everyone who passed on Rua de Alegria…no, I didn’t ask to any “lady” [for who doesn’t know this can be quite a tricky street to ask for something] I finally found it…but the difficult part was still to come…the owner [a very nice old lady] couldn’t say a word in Portuguese, and I’m not that close to be an expert in mandarin…so as you can imagine I had some problems expressing my self…and irony of ironies I was looking for a dictionary…however by the end [not far from starting to get insane] I was helped by her grandson who knew some Spanish…

…this episode allowed me to get a tiny view of what I will experience in my everyday life this year…so for “safety reasons” it’s better to take some pictures and avoid some misunderstandings…blessed mobiles with cameras…that will help…where am I going to start?

By the way I already know some words in mandarin and if you remember I promise to give you some lessons…so this is my small contribution for now…

Portuguese / English / Mandarin [Romanized]
Olá /Hi / Nĭ hăo
Como estás? / How are you? / Nĭ hăo ma?
Muito bem. E tu? / Fine. And you? / Wŏ hĕn hăo. Nĭ na?
Eu também estou muito bem! / I’m also fine! / Wŏ yĕ hĕn hăo.
Obrigado / Thank you / Xié xié!
Adeus / Bye / Zài jián

Next Monday I will go to Lisbon…to handle the visa… I’m only leaving next 15th February however I have to get my passport…in my next post you will understand why…