I just read an article in a Dutch newspaper (http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/54233631/Chinezen_leren_glimlachen_voor_zomerspelen.html?p=6,2) which commented that the Chinese volunteers are getting lessons in smiling.
During my last visit to Beijing I could recall quite a lot of smiling faces. However, the bosses have decided an people are going on smile training. Interesting to know is that the majority of volunteers are university students, which are brushing up their english big time.
Walking around as foreigner will definitely get you some attention of people that want to practice their english. Lets see the results in 2 years :)
Saturday, 25 November 2006
Monday, 20 November 2006
Bye YogaLimbs Vincent, via 3hr class!!
Sunday was an interesting day. My yoga activities have been a bit lower recently, way below the twice a week I try to stick to. Depending on the class you can get a good workout (power yoga) or a good stretch which is nice if you are sitting all day. It does benefit my other sporty activities as well by having a bit more flexibility.
Anyway, this sunday a 3hr class was organized to "celebrate" Vincent Hewitt his departure to Shanghai. Vincent is one of the main teachers at Yogalimbs in Hong Kong. Yogalimbs is opening up a studio in Shanghai in cooperation with a new welness spa center called " The Living Room". Vincent will go there and get the operations started and will be spending some time as lead teacher I believe. An exciting new step for YogaLimbs and VIncent of course.
The 3hr class was jampacked and was a good workout for the quads this time :) A good extension of regular 90 minute classes without draining you out completely.
After the yogaclass there was a little farewell party, with some good...indeed indian food. Always interesting to talk a little more with people outside the yogaclass. Surprising to hear new stories behind the faces you always see. In this case i rediscovered certain people do have a complete family, you see people in jobs that I did not expect them to be in etc. The session lasted 1.5hrs and of course included a cake cutting ceremony. As Vincent was the leaving men...... he was supposed to speak a few words, since he is normally present...this was not expected to be an issue. However, he starred in silence this time :)
In the evening an extra "good bye" was organized. Vincent was tricked into coming out for the evening to do "some things". Some of the long time yoga girls organized a karaoke night in Red Box in Causeway bay. Now am not a big karaoke fan, but hey its for a good cause. So around 19:30 Vincent and entourage show up at the place.....
In short, it was not a bad evening where a mix of cantonese and english songs passed the screen, drinks and food passed the table and it looks like everyone enjoyed themselves more or less.
GOOD LUCK AND LOTS OF FUN IN SHANGHAI!
Anyway, this sunday a 3hr class was organized to "celebrate" Vincent Hewitt his departure to Shanghai. Vincent is one of the main teachers at Yogalimbs in Hong Kong. Yogalimbs is opening up a studio in Shanghai in cooperation with a new welness spa center called " The Living Room". Vincent will go there and get the operations started and will be spending some time as lead teacher I believe. An exciting new step for YogaLimbs and VIncent of course.
The 3hr class was jampacked and was a good workout for the quads this time :) A good extension of regular 90 minute classes without draining you out completely.
After the yogaclass there was a little farewell party, with some good...indeed indian food. Always interesting to talk a little more with people outside the yogaclass. Surprising to hear new stories behind the faces you always see. In this case i rediscovered certain people do have a complete family, you see people in jobs that I did not expect them to be in etc. The session lasted 1.5hrs and of course included a cake cutting ceremony. As Vincent was the leaving men...... he was supposed to speak a few words, since he is normally present...this was not expected to be an issue. However, he starred in silence this time :)
In the evening an extra "good bye" was organized. Vincent was tricked into coming out for the evening to do "some things". Some of the long time yoga girls organized a karaoke night in Red Box in Causeway bay. Now am not a big karaoke fan, but hey its for a good cause. So around 19:30 Vincent and entourage show up at the place.....
In short, it was not a bad evening where a mix of cantonese and english songs passed the screen, drinks and food passed the table and it looks like everyone enjoyed themselves more or less.
GOOD LUCK AND LOTS OF FUN IN SHANGHAI!
Sunday, 19 November 2006
whats wrong with those people!
On Saturday 18 November my girlfriend was on a ferry from Hong Kong island to Mui Wo, which is on Lantau Island. She was going to participate in an Action Asia organized adventure race.
It was a so called slow ferry as she was taking her mountainbike with her on the ferry. The regular (fast) ferry doesn't allow you to do that. With her there were many other racers on board preparing themselves for a nice event.
Suddenly some of the ferry staff started running around and within moments an announcement was made on the tannoy that someone jumped off the ship to commit suicide. A few interesting observations here....the announcement was done in cantonese only, so the majority of foreigners had no clue what was going on. Second, why do you need to announce that it looked like a suicide rather then just "man overboard". The extra bit creates a lot of sensation etc. on the boat as in people getting camera's out and often blocking assistance.
Anyway, the boat starts making a turn to go and get the "jumper" out of the water. When they get really close, the staff is trying to reach for him with floats and the like, however the person was face down in the water and probably unconscious at that time. Apparently it took a while before the staff of the boat jumped in the water to get the person close to the boat and get him out of the water. In the meantime it got a bit tricky around the victim, as it was hard to see him and the water and there was lots of high speed boat traffic. After a little while, they have the person close enough to the boat to fetch him out of the water. As the majority of boats staff are older people, a little help from passenges would have been nice to lift the jumper back on board. NO ONE person offered ANY assistance what so ever! With all those fit people on board.....from the average local I wouldn't expect any help. People here often think about getting a good pic on mobile or camera before thinking on offering any first aid whatsoever.
Anyway, it looks like the person is still breathing...just unconscious. Next step for the staff is to put the person on his back, legs up...and seriously start pressing\pushing on his belly. On the tannoy an announcement if any one knows first aid can step forward to assist. And of course...... no one responds. Then there is this Chinese woman stepping forward trying to help a little, a westerner checks the pulse of the victim which seems present. This all happening with a big crowd around the victim....taking pictures rather then sticking out a helping hand. The staff tries to sit down the victim (still unconscious) on a deck chair?????? Which of course doesnt work out.
In the meantime, the boat had not moved. Emergency services were allerted, so after a little while there was an ambulance\rescue boat, 2 police boats, fire services all boarded against the ferry. In the end the victim was breathing and gained consciousness just before being loaded on a rescue boat to, I guess, be taken into hospital.
In total the ferry wasdelayed for more then 1/2 hour.....worse was the virtually no one on the boat offered any assistance.
THanks adventure racers.....will think about that when you make a crash of have a sprained ankle during your next race...
Any one who wanted to assist...but doesnt have any first aid skills...respond and i will organize a first aid course for you.
It was a so called slow ferry as she was taking her mountainbike with her on the ferry. The regular (fast) ferry doesn't allow you to do that. With her there were many other racers on board preparing themselves for a nice event.
Suddenly some of the ferry staff started running around and within moments an announcement was made on the tannoy that someone jumped off the ship to commit suicide. A few interesting observations here....the announcement was done in cantonese only, so the majority of foreigners had no clue what was going on. Second, why do you need to announce that it looked like a suicide rather then just "man overboard". The extra bit creates a lot of sensation etc. on the boat as in people getting camera's out and often blocking assistance.
Anyway, the boat starts making a turn to go and get the "jumper" out of the water. When they get really close, the staff is trying to reach for him with floats and the like, however the person was face down in the water and probably unconscious at that time. Apparently it took a while before the staff of the boat jumped in the water to get the person close to the boat and get him out of the water. In the meantime it got a bit tricky around the victim, as it was hard to see him and the water and there was lots of high speed boat traffic. After a little while, they have the person close enough to the boat to fetch him out of the water. As the majority of boats staff are older people, a little help from passenges would have been nice to lift the jumper back on board. NO ONE person offered ANY assistance what so ever! With all those fit people on board.....from the average local I wouldn't expect any help. People here often think about getting a good pic on mobile or camera before thinking on offering any first aid whatsoever.
Anyway, it looks like the person is still breathing...just unconscious. Next step for the staff is to put the person on his back, legs up...and seriously start pressing\pushing on his belly. On the tannoy an announcement if any one knows first aid can step forward to assist. And of course...... no one responds. Then there is this Chinese woman stepping forward trying to help a little, a westerner checks the pulse of the victim which seems present. This all happening with a big crowd around the victim....taking pictures rather then sticking out a helping hand. The staff tries to sit down the victim (still unconscious) on a deck chair?????? Which of course doesnt work out.
In the meantime, the boat had not moved. Emergency services were allerted, so after a little while there was an ambulance\rescue boat, 2 police boats, fire services all boarded against the ferry. In the end the victim was breathing and gained consciousness just before being loaded on a rescue boat to, I guess, be taken into hospital.
In total the ferry wasdelayed for more then 1/2 hour.....worse was the virtually no one on the boat offered any assistance.
THanks adventure racers.....will think about that when you make a crash of have a sprained ankle during your next race...
Any one who wanted to assist...but doesnt have any first aid skills...respond and i will organize a first aid course for you.
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
quick summary
In the next days i will try to write about:
- trailwalker 06
- Europe Trip
- Lijiang tri
- upcoming activities.......
And whatever comes along
Marcel
- trailwalker 06
- Europe Trip
- Lijiang tri
- upcoming activities.......
And whatever comes along
Marcel
back in action
It has been a while ago since I blogged....
My plan was to install wordpress and then continue.......................... basically the plan didn't get executed and i missed out many excellent blogging opportunities.
When trying to put another posting in, blogger came up to me and said: why dont you change to the new beta version........ and always in for something new.. I did! Lets see if I can get it where I want, and else setting up wordpress is still an option i would say :)
Guess what.......of course lost all my settings............as well as my content. IT is still visible on my server.......but.....but...can't get it back in. Anyway, i got something up and running and will edit my blog in the next days, as well as all the RSS feeds, fine tune the lay out.........and back in business!
THe main reason for my change was the blogger didnt support categories like travel, business etc which makes easier reference.
My plan was to install wordpress and then continue.......................... basically the plan didn't get executed and i missed out many excellent blogging opportunities.
When trying to put another posting in, blogger came up to me and said: why dont you change to the new beta version........ and always in for something new.. I did! Lets see if I can get it where I want, and else setting up wordpress is still an option i would say :)
Guess what.......of course lost all my settings............as well as my content. IT is still visible on my server.......but.....but...can't get it back in. Anyway, i got something up and running and will edit my blog in the next days, as well as all the RSS feeds, fine tune the lay out.........and back in business!
THe main reason for my change was the blogger didnt support categories like travel, business etc which makes easier reference.
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