One rainy day in October, Teddy and his family left for the week-long annual market held by a nearby town. Nancy didn’t have anyone to play with for all this time. Luckily, she one day met Hans when playing outside and invited Hans to join.

Hans was also glad to meet Nancy; it was nice to have a friend. Back at home, Hans was shy and did not speak to the other children. Therefore, he had never had any friends.

Hans was from a village on the other side of the enormous and dark forest. Having just had his sixth birthday, Hans felt he already had become a brave man. The shy Hans wanted to prove this to the fellow children, and went alone on an adventure to the village in the south. In his pocket he carried a silver coin, which a fairy gave him when he lost his first tooth.

Hans and Nancy played the entire day, until the sun was beginning to set. Nancy thought it was really interesting to meet someone from the Northern Village, and asked, “Hans, would you like to be my best friend?”

Hans, shocked to hear that anyone would want to be best friends with him replied, “Really? Do not older children like you already have best friends?”

“Although I am tall, I am not old at all! I am only nine years old. I used to have a best friend, but he moved to the neighboring town and left me here,” said Nancy firmly, who thought that Hans would probably be gone before Teddy returned. Hans was delighted to hear that he’d finally have a best friend of his very own and quickly agreed.

Hans built a tree house where the two played every day. Nancy often brought delicious snacks from home to refuel the two children with energy. The two had a great fun together, and time went by quickly. A week felt like a day and Teddy soon returned from his week away.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Love the familiar Swedish accent!

I remember many years ago, when I was 6 and attended preschool in Sweden, we were doing maths. I worked and thought hard to complete my assignments quickly, while many others were struggling and held their hands up for the teacher to help them. I too help my hand up, not to ask for help, but to ask the teacher what to do now that I was done. To my great surprise, she told me to sit quietly and wait for the others. Then she left me with her stinky breath of too much coffee and cigarettes, to help someone else. I expected the teacher to praise me. All the hard work for nothing.

Throughout the entire Swedish school system, I was never motivated, always staying under the radar and not joining into class discussions unless asked by the teacher. But I was not dumb either, I always managed to get above average grades, just a cut below those who put their entire heart and soul into the schoolwork and system with minimal effort. During the last year of High School, I got very fed up with the school system. I felt underestimated by everyone, especially some teachers, who failed to recognize my abilities and compensate accordingly. Slowly, the idea of moving to China formed, and as graduation approached, I decided to go for it.

I initially came to Zhuhai, in Guangdong (Southern China) in July 2007 and left again to stay 20 days in December before returning. Why I chose Zhuhai is a long story and calls for an entry for itself. My parents weren’t very willing to let me go again, and my friends had the same, if not bigger, question marks on their heads as last time. In the end, one is responsible for their own failures and successes, and no one could stop me. Again, I now realize that I made the right decision once again. I’ve already written about what happened last time. Now, lets focus on the second part.

I returned during the winter of 2007, one of China’s coldest winters in decades. I booked two nights at a local hotel and began hunting for an apartment to rent. I found a good and comfortable apartment for rent, the best in the area. 27th floor (keep in mind other buildings around here were 4-5 stories) with a view of the sea. That night I realized that I had no blanket. I left it at a friend’s place when I left last time, and couldn’t contact the friend (who I got to know later was out of town). I had to choose whether to stay in the hotel again, or to buy a new blanket. Both options would set me back $20. I chose neither. Instead, I slept on the empty bed without a pillow or blanket but with a jacket on. That night I didn’t sleep well and kept waking up due to the cold. The next morning I told myself that I would write about this on my blog as soon as I got internet working, and wrote a note on my desktop. Now I can finally delete it.

During the rest of this time, I’ve tried many different things and failed, but also found success in others. In between I’ve also had a lot of fun. Partying, relaxing on the beach, going to the movies, shopping and much more. Below I’ve made a list of what I’ve learned and integrated into me during this time, in no particular order:

• Don’t panic - Panic doesn’t solve anything and often leads to more problems. Staying calm, confident and clearheaded is the best in every situation.
• Don’t blame others - You have full control of everything pertaining to your life, no one else is responsible for what you’ve done.
• Think big - Don’t let the small ideas and details take too much of your brain capacity. I see people selling fish and think they are wasting time. The fish dealer might think that the the garbage collectors are wasting time. Likewise, someone above me will think that I’m wasting time.
• Seek perfection - A little error can slowly grow into a big problem, so why not do everything right from the start?
• Try - Humans are not computers. We are flexible. For the things that you think can’t be done; try, ask. You will be pleasantly surprised.
• Never regret - Learn from your mistakes, never waste time regretting them. Without them, you won’t be the you today.
• Always reinvent - Never stand still. Unless you are old and unable, you should always be doing new things such as improving your work, life, business, friendships and all the rest.
• Greed is good - Don’t try to take the moral high-ground. Admit that you are greedy and move on with it. Successful people are often more greedy than the rest.
• Be inspired - Learn from the good things around you, incorporate them into you. I am still inspired by water delivery men delivering heavy bunkers of water late at night (11PM).
• Know that you are like anyone else - You have the potential to become a great success, but also a big failure. It all depends on what you want.
• Do, don’t talk - Talk is cheap, everyone can do it. Let your actions speak for you and be aware of people who talk too much.
• Reward yourself - You yourself is your best friend and only full-life companion, treat yourself well. Some of the things I’ve treated myself to during this time have been; an iPhone, a Nintendo Wii, a Black Nintendo DS Lite, new sunglasses (Dior), two pairs of sneakers (one Nike, one Adidas). I really deserve a vacation, so now Thailand awaits me a little more than a week away.

Before I go to do something else I just want to leave the final comment. It’s pretty satisfying to discover that I’ve met the goal I set in January. Setting goals really work. If you don’t already, you should try it some day!

What have you been doing the last half year?

Since opening, 88 has been widely popular amongst the locals, foreigners and Macau Chinese alike. To get a table at 88, one has to book several days in advance. It’s always very crowded and hard to move around in. The other clubs on the Bar Street requires no prebooking of seats and are half-empty most of the time.

What is it that makes such a place so popular? All clubs have themes, so the success can not be attributed to its steampunk decorations. The talk of the town has been that no Japanese are allowed into 88!

Upon personal inspection, I found it to be less sensationalist than that. At the entrance of the club, there is a sign prohibiting (my own translations) Imperialistic Japanese, Terrorists (Fundamental Islamists), Separatists and weapon-bearers to enter. Below follows an explanation.

• Many Chinese still hate the Japanese for invading and killing 300,000 Chinese back in WWII. Some nationalist Japanese people today still support the invasion, or as they call it, the “liberation of China”. This is what’s meant with Imperialistic Japanese. These are the people that aren’t welcome. Regular Japanese can still enter.
• China has some problems with some Hui (Muslim) Chinese. Extremists have caused violence and some are fighting to separate their region, Xinjiang, from China.
• By Seperatists they most likely are referring to some special Zang (Tibetan) people. We all know from recent news what they stand for.

China was once a strong and glorious civilization, but later weakened and faced the plundering and humiliation of by many foreign powers, something that has made the Chinese have become protective and nationalist. As China now moves into the World Stage as a key player and slowly back to its former glory, the Chinese finally have something to be proud about, and this has made them even more nationalist. The three groups mentioned above are those that currently are causing the most problems for China.

Chinese people are nationalist, and the owner of 88 used it to his advantage. The result is a fascinating example of how doing business in China is different.

I tried to get some photos, but security stopped me.

The recent Tibet unrest has been huge in Western media as of late. Western coverage (CNN, Fox, BBC, …) hasn’t merely been biased against China, but downright against China. A lot of lies and misinformation was spread. For instance, the protests were labeled as “peaceful”, when many Tibetans, even monks, were caught on tape with weapons destroying property or beating Police.

When they found this wasn’t working well for them, they then spread the false news that the Chinese Army (PLA) had set the riots up, dressing as monks. A picture was even provided as evidence, but only hours after the report that picture was also found to be fake. The photo was taken during a 1994 movie shooting. Chinese movie companies often use students or the military for low skilled acting as they are much cheaper than professional actors. Also, the PLA uniform was changed long ago, the picture showed them with the old version.

I find it funny that Western media outlets, that often speak poorly of China’s state controlled media are responsible for such a catastrophic level of journalism. Clearly, they are at least as bad as their Chinese “propaganda-spreading” counterparts.

The central government also acted with extreme caution this time, as they knew that separatist camps as well as the Western media was watching closely for any form of aggression. Despite of this, several journalists have stilled called for a 2008 Olympics Boycott, one prominent journalist even compared the 2008 Olympics to the 1936 Nazi Olympics.

On German TV, people saw videos of how Nepalese Police beat monks at the same time as reporting as reporting the Tibet unrest in China. If I was an average German citizen, I sure as hell would hate China after watching the news too. All the false, bad press about China has caused major demonstrations outside the Chinese embassies throughout the entire Western world.

After all this media hype, I decided to do some digging on my own, on the root of the problem; the Dälai Läma. My own research shows that he is a hypocrite, and has no right to (and doesn’t) advocate peace. He is sponsored by CIA. I won’t go into details as it will take up too much space. If you are interested, you can dig it up yourself. Information against him can even be collected from commercial Western media, such as the New York Times.

Despite all this, China won.

This is the information age, and as Chinese citizens now are better educated and use English more proficiently, they also learn ways to bait the media. First, a Chinese student collected photos of how Western news reports wrongly told this story. Chinese news websites quickly picked the photos up, and not long after, even Chinese old media started reporting on this. When the Chinese mainstream got to know about this, they were furious at all the lies. Even students, who often disagreed with the actions of the central government embracing Western thinking, were now fully supportive of how the government handled the situation.

China unites, and fights back. All over the internet, one could see Chinese citizens posting on English message boards in their best English trying to explain their truth. Not long after, students set up a website, Anti CNN, to show the various “lies” that the Western media used to turn the story against China. If you are interested in learning more about Tibet, or how Chinese people feel about the situation, I strongly urge you to check the website.

Also, it’s funny to note that the Chinese government has noticed that the internet can not only work against them, but in favor of them too. After years of inaccessibility from the Middle Kingdom, the BBC, which was responsible for many of the so called lies, was suddenly unblocked in the midst of chaos so that everyone in China could see how they reported. I was shocked at fist, but now believe it was a very smart move.

Maybe it’s because the Chinese people are starting to tell their versions of what’s happened, that the overall tone online has changed. Ten, or even five years ago, if something like this happened, people all over the world would agree in unison that China was evil. Now, it’s different. More and more Westerners, especially those with higher education, are not so sure about their position anymore. Some have even started to support China and condemn their own media on this matter.

The times have changed indeed.

In China, beggars are professionals and will take measures, such as wearing dirty clothes and adding dirt to their body in order to maximize profits.

• Incident 1. A month ago, I was in the buffet section of a Macau casino offering some of the world’s best buffets. Sitting by a table was a beggar from Zhuhai whom I’ve seen numerous times on the streets looking very poor now enjoying a great meal.
• Incident 2. During the Chinese New Year celebrations we were outside setting off fireworks. A beggar, male crippled with only one arm disturbed me for a few minutes asking for money. After the fireworks, on the way home I saw the same man, wearing the same dirty clothes, but now carrying a smart citybag walking home rapidly. He now had two arms and was enjoying a cigarette after a hard days work.
• Incident 3. A friend one told me of how he was standing in the line of a bank behind a Guangzhou beggar who deposited 200,000 CNY (approx $45,000 USD) at the counter. When the beggar was walking out of the bank, my friend glanced at his bank statement which now showed more than a million CNY! A regular hardworking Chinese can’t make a million in a lifetime.
• Incident 4. Yesterday I heard a street vendor ask a beggar who was missing an arm how business was going. The beggar said, “Not bad.” Beggars see themselves as businessmen.

Another type of business model used by beggars here is to buy crippled people (normally children) and send them out to beg. At the end of the day, the owners come and pick them up and take all the money. If the cripples don’t manage to get a certain amount of money, they will be beaten or not given food.

So you see, no matter which kind of beggar you decide to give money to, it is a complete waste. If you have money to throw away, give it to some regular hard working person who needs and deserves it more.

The government has issued a nationwide red alert because of heavy snowstorms that has put this country in a state of shock. Transportation is no longer working, trains and busses have stopped mid-way or slowed down to a crawl. To rub salt into wound, now is the time when people travel home to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year - the most important holiday in China.

In some cities, there has been no electricity nor water for 4 days. Many people are trying to book planes to South China because of the relatively warmer climate.

Here in Zhuhai, it has been around 5-6 degrees Celcius for the past week. Traditionally a warm and subtropical city, there are no heaters in the apartments. Basically, the temperature inside is the same as the temperature outside. Right now I’m wearing a thick jacket in my own apartment and my toes are freezing to death! Showering and getting out of bed have become a nightmare. In the neighboring city of Guangzhou, 200,000+ people have camped several days in wait for a train that will take them home for the New Year.

Business has also been affected. I can not ship anything outside of this province, and am forced to rely on local services which have greatly increased costs. Also, packages are taking longer to reach their destination. In result, more complaints have been received. It has been a hectic time. Many here have related these events to those in the movie The Day After Tomorrow, and I tend more and more to agree. There’s no denying that climate change is happening.

Luckily, the snowstorm is almost over (according to forecasts). From Monday next week, the temperature will start to gradually increase to the nice and warm subtropical Zhuhai again. Hopefully I’ll be able to switch my jacket for a t-shirt.

Now, whenever he has a question or needs help with anything, I answer quickly and confidently. I’ve helped him get to this city, get an apartment, buy a laptop, and also familiarize with the city and the local customs.

By seeing his unfamiliarity with living independently, people, money and decision making - I see how much I’ve changed and grown and it feels good.

I followed my dream, surviving alone in China, and it turned out to be the best decision I’ve made.

I’ve had the concept in my mind for a while, and was inspired by the logos of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Bank of China which I liked a lot.

The basic shape is of an ancient Chinese coin, and upon further inspection one can find my initials on it. There is a opening on the top, but none at the bottom. With this, I hope my life will be filled with good things, that none of the good will drain away. The logo was made entirely in Photoshop.

From: Chase ******* <*****.*******@kcsg.com>
To: *******@carlpei.com
Subject: Scams
Date: 18/01/08 17:37

I know you have been sending fake IRS emails and setup a fake IRS set to
collect my information such as SS number and credit card number. I have
reported you to the local authorities in Stockholm and they are on there
way to pick you up for fraud. Have fun in jail. Peace.

–
Chase *******
KCSG News, IT

At first, I thought this was some kind of prank. Then I remembered my web host mentioning to me over MSN, in a non-serious manner, that someone reported to him that one of my domains (aglocoearners.com) was used for phishing. I asked him if it was something I was responsible of doing, he said no. I was confused but had other things to do and didn’t think about it more.

I search for “aglocoearners.com” on Google and find that it indeed was used for phishing, and the fish was already published on the anti-phishing website Castle Cops. By now I started to panic.

Checking through my email, I found more messages of the same kind. I immediately called the Swedish Police, but unfortunately their IT department only works on weekdays, so I’ll have to call again tomorrow. I’ve also emailed GoDaddy and various other people.

aglocoearners.com was a domain I picked up back when AGLOCO was being hyped up by blogging gurus like John Chow. I was going to start a AGLOCO forum on the domain together with a friend who I no longer have contact with. It never happened, and the domain was idle. We both had FTP access to the server hosting the domain. I don’t think it was the friend who did this. It’s more likely that he saved the account details somewhere that was later stolen.

Additional Info:
- The phishing email was sent out at the 17th (3 days ago).
- The domain folder shows a CHMOD of 775, unchangeable.

Phishing Email Header: (from one of those emails I got)

Received: from mail.pegaprecision.com ([71.158.242.2]) by mail.decossas.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830);
Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:14:50 -0600
Received: from User ([151.12.152.26]) by mail.pegaprecision.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.3959);
Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:12:31 -0800
Reply-To: <no_reply@usa.gov>
From: "Internal Revenue Service U.S.A"<service@usa.gov>
Subject: Notice From IRS
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13.13.29 +0100
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="Windows-1251"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
Bcc:
Return-Path: service@usa.gov
Message-ID: <JUPITERvmkBgAusejaa000027ef@mail.pegaprecision.com>
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 17 Jan 2008 12:12:31.0718 (UTC) FILETIME=[3C56B060:01C85902]
X-TM-AS-Product-Ver: SMEX-7.0.0.1345-5.0.1023-15672.002
X-TM-AS-Result: Yes-28.070100-8.000000-1

Any help is appreciated!

Currently, I’m still very confused about what to do and would appreciate if anyone knowledgeable in the field would give a few suggestions. It would be nice if you could link to this post hopefully to attract people who know what to do.