Please meet…

One of the problems when I’m abroad is for people to understand and say my name correctly…if you look to my sisters and brothers´ names you can translate, or at least get close to each one: Catherine or Catharine [for Catarina], Philippe or Phillips [for Filipa], Sophie or Sophia [for Sofia], Diego or James [for Diogo], Richard [for Ricardo] and Peter [for Pedro]…now for translating my name what you get closer is Gonzalo [Spanish] but it still is hard to understand…or I always can say “Speedy Gonzales”…that’s a nice way to start a conversation and “broke the ice” and if that’s not enough, and only in an emergency situation, I can also use Gonzo [one of the Muppets]…

…to write it down it’s a complete new problem…the majority of the languages don’t use “ç”…so, should I choose the “c” or the “s”? I always choose the “c”…but later on I get people calling me Gonkalo…

…so for this new adventure in Asia…I was re-baptized by my Mandarin’s teacher, Mrs. Lin, as Göng Sháo Lòng…that can means Arch (Göng) [like the ones used by Robin Hood or William Tell], Young (Sháo) and Dragon (Lòng) [my favourite…many of you can understand why…it’s the symbol of my Football Club – FC Porto and also one of symbols of my hometown…so I couldn’t be more pleased]…

…by the way, I was told that in Shanghainese…the dialect of Shanghai…it can get much closed to Gonçalo…

…so I’m pleased to present you…Göng Sháo Lòng [only the name changed (and just for I while) the “product” it’s still the same…ah!ah!]

Despite not being in China yet…I had the chance to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Portugal, it was really funny…everyone had to go with a Chinese costume…my brother lent me is rope and a hat that he bought in Thailand in is honeymoon…everyone was extremely nice and the food was great…

…I wish you an excellent Chinese New Year…this is the Rooster's year…known to be a good/lucky year…