It has been a while because of company management crisis, visa arrangement for Olympics, the giant earthquake in Wenchuan and the final decision to return to Belgium, which involved a lot of packing and sending. And the latter inconvenience was even worse than normal because of these bloody Olympics.
Although the earthquake left us physically unhurt, Deborah for instance had a severe trauma because of the sudden commotion during the event. When we where but for a week in Xi’an to send our last possession to Belgium and Shenzhen, we were struck by angry Mother Earth. From the 13th floor in our apartment we started to run down the stairs when our flat began to rock and swing like a palm tree in a typhoon, while the standing air conditioner and our TV set were dancing the twist. Deborah yelled “Earthquake!”, while I feared the foundations of our building were starting to collapse. I prayed for an earthquake, because if it would have been our flat, then it would be worse for us.
After a mentally hellish trip down the narrow stairwell, while begging the building to wait just a few minutes longer for us to escape, we saw a huge crowd outside. We stood on the street, far and safely enough to anticipate our building to crumble. Happily it never happened. Deborah forgot her shoes and stood there in her socks, but she did take her laptop bag. It is weird how the human brain makes priorities in such situations.
No one knew what had happened. The mobile phone service and the radios were off. Later Deborah gained connection via GPRS with her mother on MSN and she told us the news about an earthquake in Sichuan has spread already to Europe.
Deborah had to be treated the next time we were in Xi’an, because of her experience there. Her heart rate went up so high at times and she kept on feeling the tremor even if there is none.
At Xi’an hospital blood test, cardiogram etc. made us understand that she was physically fine, but mentally she created a phobia which is only triggered in Xi’an or in a Chinese plane.
Besides our packing and moving headache, we found rest after our decision to stop working and return home. The visa regulations at the moment in China became so absurd that it destroys a lot of businesses in Southern China. Before it was possible to get a business visa for 6 months with multiple entries for a decent price of 600 RMB, but now multiple entries are not available anymore and is only valid for a maximum of 3 months with double entry.
But the worst is the fact that every 30 days, you need to leave China once. If you do the math, it means that in fact you can only remain 2 months in China with double entry (one to enter China the first time, the second to re-enter China after 30 days). And the finale of absurdity is the price for this new arrangement: 1000 RMB. Sure, there are less expensive possibilities, like a tourist visa, but than you are not aloud to work in China. And even the regulations for tourists are disgracefully altered. It is inconvenient and expensive to get a visa in China, but at least it is to be granted one, because you are there already. Many Europeans have been refused a visa in the last couple of months. The joke goes that the Chinese want to keep the foreign teams outside of the country, so the Chinese team can win all the Olympic medals.
After our decision to return home, we also made trips to Foshan, Jun An and Hong Kong. At a certain point I couldn’t train my Wing Chun twice a week, thanks to the Olympic insanity, that would take place months later and nearly 2000 km far away from Shenzhen! Instead, we stay for a week or two in Hong Kong after every 30 days visa rule and get an intensive training then.
Meanwhile we wasted two plane trips to Xi’an, due to 30 day rule and the earthquake that postponed many tasks to do.
Afterward we made nice trips to Foshan, to visit Wong Feihong’s hous, Yip Man’s museum, Leung Jan’s House in Gulou and Bruce Lee’s ancestral house and his new theme park in Jun An.
The trip from Hong Kong to London had a good Cathay Pacific service, but Heathrow was hell to walk around. A real maze and in the process we arrived at 20H when no flights to Brussels were available anymore. The next flight would be at 7H in the morning for 260 ponds a ticket! In addition, a flight was cancelled, causing the local hotels to be fully booked, except for Hilton hotel of course. Out of exhaustion and without any other option we were obligated to pay for a poor service for a price of 365 ponds for one night! And this, after we had to drag our luggage to a underground train and walk for 20 minutes in the Heathrow Maze to a poor version of Hilton. The phone, the internet connection and breakfast was not included, but optional for an additional fortune.
The next morning we found a ticket at British Airways for 135 ponds.
What seemed impossible happened at last: we landed in Brussels. We arrived in our own country after so long and while it bared the rumour of failing to form an official government for so many months, the endless fights between the Flemish and the Walloon politicians, is what we didn’t miss at all in China. Now, it seemed to have worsened.
In the car home we heard that a colleague of ours from the past had past away. Even that was not enough to make our return more miserable, because the next day Deborah had to stay at the hospital for three days because of an infection in her intestines. The day after she was released from the hospital, we paid our respects at the funeral of a buddy.
