Life and Travel in China

Some time ago I saw a Pole on the border with Hong Kong. How did I recognize him? Firstly, because I have such a gift, and secondly, because he had the same worn-out passport as me. It's a joke how Polish passports are produced (mine is new, supposedly EU, cherry in color, probably from 2004). What a scandal! The gold-plated emblem and the inscription passport on the cover simply wore off after a few weeks. How can this be? Mongolia already has better passports, what a shame! Each country has a normal passport with a visible emblem and nationality. Italian, Chinese, American, Canadian, Japanese... the whole world has normal passports, only Poland has such wonderful, invisible prints. Once, the officer even looked at my passport from every side - he had probably never seen such rubbish before. Someone should be responsible for this, right?! Passports aren't free for fuck's sake!

And Mr. Marek Niedźwiecki has just published a text in Trójka that he is receiving e-mails with stamps, and I quote, "From Japan, China, or something worse." Nice text, maybe the poor man won't even realize that he spoke about the middle country as if it was something bad.

Today I have prepared a list of vegetables and foods that are not available in China, or at least not available at retail, or are available in other parts of China. I have never been able to buy vegetables: parsley, celery, beets, radishes, Brussels sprouts, asparagus... definitely something else, but these are the most important. However, there is no shortage of green leafy vegetables and various varieties of cabbage (although they do not know sauerkraut at all). As for other products, I miss gelatin, cheese (especially white cheese), yeast, good mineral water (I'm not interested in Perrier), dark bread, Italian food, decent chocolate, there are probably no good cold meats, and Chinese sausages are nasty. In general, we have a completely different view on food and the usefulness or use of certain products. Fortunately, my wife cooks Polish dishes efficiently, and so do I, sometimes also Chinese dishes, or a mixed style. He also loves Polish cold cuts and sausages, cheese, sweets, juices, yogurts and mineral water.

It's a f***ing joke that workers from China are supposed to work in Poland because there is a labor shortage. This is according to the economic information of gazeta.pl. The Ministry of Labor will be looking for construction workers even in the Middle Kingdom. Or maybe Poles should be paid decently? Millions of Poles wander around Europe and even around the world in search of a better life. Are we some kind of exiled nation? We don't have a state? Such a wave of migration is a shame for the government. And I won't be offended at all if China gives me citizenship and I apply for it in a few years. My homeland is always Poland, but not this kind of Poland, more of a utopian one, made of books, poetry, hymns that no longer mean anything today. When there is communist exploitation, they spit on China, but when they transfer it to Polish soil, China is good.

Today I saw something really funny. A typical example of overstaffing. Well, at a metro station, they opened a bakery shop underground (one of them has already gone bankrupt). The store measures approximately 3x2 meters, i.e. 6 square meters. And now guess how many girls work there? If it were in Poland, it would definitely be one person, because why else? And in China? Six girls!!! Shocking!!! They weren't even in the store, they just stood outside in a row and invited customers, after all, if they had stood inside, there wouldn't have been enough space. I must take a photo there.