When you try to make cleaning easier

Sitting in my kitchen, I can hear the robot vacuuming and mopping upstairs. Although vacuuming is not a chore I particularly dislike, it is convenient to think that it can be done when you are not at home.

As one of the older millennials, I feel like I still hold on to some pride to do things without too much technology involved. Smart technology only makes me suspicious. I do not need a smart fridge, a smart coffee machine or a smart rice cooker. The Google Home in my house has been off and disconnected from electricity since its entrance. I think the only thing about smart technology that I read about, is the fact that they tend to record way more information then necessary. We already live without curtains, no further transparency is needed.

But a vacuum robot seems weirdly benign. As a word, robot conjures more old-school images of machines that buzz and blink when you turn them on. Humans are in full control, the machine is not meant to think along but merely follow orders or a program. And sure, any simple machine these days involves an app which opens it up again to much more information than it probably needs. But that big bad company seems far away and the robot certainly cannot make use of any information that is on my phone. And seeing the cleaning lines on the map appear almost fully equally spaced is very satifying.

At the same time, I mainly like the convenience of the robot because I usually do not turn it on myself. Having someone else takes care of the whole process, makes it all even more seamless and automatic. Alas, I am on my own again for a couple of weeks and thought I should not need to resort to old school vacuuming.

So I took the robot from its docking station, wetted the mop as expected, checked its water and sent it of on its cleaning journey. I fiddled with the necessary map I needed to put it on, then I thought I had put everything away but somehow the robot really wanted to have a hangout session with our drying rack. All in all, it took some time before everything was right as it should be and the cleaning lines started appearing on the map.

The old adagio is still true. Everything is automated but nothing happens automatically. Well, at least not when I am by myself.

A Taste of News: Save the donkeys

As many in my direct circle know, I read quite some news. I try to mention at least once per day that I read something in the news, casually, in a conversation. And since commentary and reviewing is something else I like to do, I thought of starting a series where I write my thoughts about an article I read. A lot of them will be related to China, since that is one of the topics I follow most closely.

Africa’s Donkeys Are Coveted by China. Can the Continent Protect Them?
New York Times

I am a big fan of donkeys. When I was little, we would go on ‘donkey holidays’ which meant spending two weeks hiking through France with some donkeys to carry our luggage. At that time I was still small enough to also be allowed to ride the donkeys from time to time.

Unsurprisingly I was a horse girl during middle and high school, but donkeys have a different atmosphere. Their big ears, small hoofs and stumbling gait endears them in a way that is distinctly different from horses. It also helps that they are pack animal and you will most often see them with an inordinate amount of stuff on their backs while seemingly carrying it without any complaining.

Thus, it really surprised me to read that donkeys are an ingredient used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Generally, I have heard more about the exotic things they need to heal anything wrong with the body. From deer antlers to pangolin scales, let alone the range of plants that could be needed.

Similar to many other TCM ingredients that are touted as absolutely vital to heal certain ailments, it is interesting to think how much these consist of ‘standard’ natural materials such as keratin and collagen. I have bitten my nails for decades, I am not sure if that made me much healthier than I would have been otherwise.

What really suprised me, was the fact that donkeys cannot reproduce or breed easily. This sent me on a quick Google search, which after the decently informative but slightly too activist Donkey Sanctuary website, led me to the American Association of Equine Practicers website which states in its opening paragraph “Donkey medicine can be fun and rewarding and a break from routine equine practice.”

My two main random fun facts on donkey reproduction that I learned were the following. A female donkey is called a Jenny, a male is called a Jack or jackass. It would be quite funny to do this in Dutch as well. That we do not only talk about Jut and Jul as the standard Dutch people, but that they also refer to a bull and cow? What fun!

Donkeys are pregnant for a long, long, long time. Between 372-374 days. In my ears, having heard plenty of pregnancy tales in the past years, that sounds terrible. More than a year in this state, is awful. No wonder donkeys do not breed that easily. No fun, but it is a fun fact.

What is it with people liking plants?

Okay, I accept that walking in the forest, on a grassy mountain or at a sandy beach feels great. The sun on your face, wind through your hairs and fresh air in your lungs. But what I have never really understood, is why people insist on trying to bring it inside the house.

When I was small, my parents tried to ensure I would be a devoted garden girl. It failed miserably. I dutifully pulled out weeds and tore grasses from in between tiles and watered some greenery. But after getting one plant and having it die on me within 2 months, I was away for 2 weeks and nobody watered it for me, I quickly decided this was way too high maintenance for me.

Since then, I have never had any plants in my house. I remember clearly that a few years ago my mom gave me a plant, which slightly offended me even as if she did not know I would never want such a thing, before I realized it was fake to my huge relief. I lived a blissful life without any plants in the house, up ’till a few years ago.

My current partner likes plants. He even rescued a plant from my former roommate whose plants were sort of perpetually dying. He gets happy when his flowers bloom, new roots grow and trims his plants lovingly. And he tries to sneak in more plants if I let down my guard. Luckily, I am always on high alert.

When he was on holiday for a month last year, I needed to actively remind myself that the plants needed water. It was quite the stress. Also, we now sometimes have annoying flies in the house, although that is good to train my motor skills I guess.

Moving to our new place last year, we even got some plants from friends. Where I would normally have to donate these to my parents or bring them to a plant shelter, they could actually get spot somewhere in our new home. All in all, I am not complaining and I know it is a luxury that I can be surrounded by plants without having to do something for it. But watering the plants spontaneously? I am not a plant mom.

A Taste of News: Fearing the family

AI Game Mimicking Nosy Relatives Takes China by Storm
Sixth Tone

Lunar New Year took place last weekend. Happy year of the dragon! May you prosper! The gods will bring you luck and happiness. Which of course means a stable job, a spacious house and a lovely family.

Festivities make for special times. I can immediately recall which time was the most memorable of all the New Years spent in China, but today we are not talking about that. This news article was recommended to me on Facebook, one of the few organizations I still follow on the platform, and had an extraordinarily high number of likes. Unsurprisingly. I think Chinese New Year is most well-known for a few things: the great number of people that move around the country (the infamous greatest migration worldwide), the great number of dishes you will consume during the holiday and the great number of annoying questions your relatives will unrelentlessly pound you with.

I think this is one of the cases where you cannot win, unless you are young and only need to collect money from a red envelope. If you are a student, you need to get good grades and find a partner timely (but big minus points if it seems you are sleeping around or dating multiple people, that is not proper behavior), if you have started your first job you should not argue with your boss and find a partner timely, if you have a partner you should buy a house and get a kid, if you have a partner and a house and a kid you should make sure it is well-behaved and getting good grades. In other words, the comments are endless. And this game must be difficult, excruciatingly so.

Because there are somewhat extraordinary pressures on Chinese returning for the new year to their families, it is no wonder that it is an endless source of different societal behaviors that may be more or less true on a larger scale. Children hiring partners online to take home has been a big story for a couple of years, children not going home is starting to become a bigger story to emphasize individualism and assertiveness, traditional costumes being replaced by cheap uniformity bought online. I am surprised I am not reading more about certain foods being replaced but I guess that is the thing most people probably can agree on to keep as traditional as possible.

I always find it fascinating when people seem to be more concerned with how things should be, than why things are a certain way. And what I think the screenshots of this game show very well, is that it is always indirect. This is the network of guanxi at a microscale. Everybody represents someone else, besides themselves. It is not only about their own hopes, but the sense of responsibility they feel towards other family members to put somebody on the spot.

Although I doubt this game will be played by those who would benefit the most from some self-reflection, perhaps it can serve as a practice to those who need to submit to this ritual every year. Maybe you find some new appreciation for your actual family members. Or discover that they are even worse than AI could imagine.

A Taste of News: Rocking that wall

Rock Climbing Gains Traction as After-Work ‘Meditation on a Wall’
Sixth Tone

I like mountains. Living in the Netherlands, I feel the lack of mountains has increased my need for height. At the same time, it sometimes seems that bouldering and climbing both exploded in popularity the last few years.

When I was still swiping on the dating app, the algorithm seemed to discover fairly quickly that it should show me some sporty guys. As a result, almost every other guy was either an avid skiing fan or a bouldering champion. In real life, the balance seems to be quite different, although my current partner also boulders.

For the Chinese, it is almost surprising that the sport is only now catching on. Bouldering and climbing seem quite adjacent to martial arts disciplines. It reminds me of Shaolin monks who could probably (not really) scale boulders and mountains without any problems. Unsurprisingly, the article mentions that practitioners do find the sport quite meditative.

Another thing that surprises me in the popularity of bouldering is that it is not very competitive. Although this is a broad generalization, my memories of doing sports in China is that you are pushed to do something to become good at it and so that you can then win. I guess the lack of competition makes it a good antidote for the rat race that is modern society.

Moreover, the article mentions that climbing is also becoming more popular. With all the empty flats and skyscrapers, I guess there should be a good opportunity to turn those locations into climbing gyms. It is at least slightly safer than turning them into bungee jumping attractions.

An ode to biking

Having Chinese heritage and grown up in the Netherlands, I feel my love for biking is coming through both nature and nurture. Even though I complain plenty about biking when visiting other places, since the bikes are not always top-quality but neither are all 4 that I have standing here, it is one of the best ways to move quickly and see more without tiring too much.

As the 15-minute city concept is winning in popularity, and as an unofficial reviewer of things, I thought I would reflect on the places I have biked and rank them. Since I do mostly bike in the city, if we go outdoors I would prefer my feet or a horse.

Beijing, China

Overall: a good place to bike if you want to care minimally about rules and safety, like to shout at people and try to bike on highways.

Pro: Beijing always felt a bit lawless, even though it is the center of power. I remember shouting at everyone on the road because: point A, there are a lot of vehicles on the bike lanes like electric carts, scooters, steps, hooverboards, cars and buses that may or may not belong there; point B, using Dutch curses or comments really grabs attention since it is unexpected for the Chinese.

The city has a very clear gridlike layout which makes it easy for biking since there are a lot of straight roads and wide boulevards. It is also a great way to try how close you want to bike next to cars or other faster-moving traffic. And it often moves quicker than many public transport options, which are especially crowded during peak hours and often make you walk more than you expect.

Con: Beijing traffic can be entertaining, but also annoying and slightly too dangerous. The amounts of times I biked past a car and was almost hit by a door was too high for comfort. There are also way too many traffic lights, because the grid creates a million moments when you will need to cross. In the old center around the Forbidden City with the small alleyways, hutongs for those in the know, can be a maze to find your way through and when a car comes, because why would they not be driving through these very narrow alleys, you are basically blocked from continuing your way.

And lastly, you may not be surprised to hear that many accidents happen and you are quite vulnerable on a bike. I have had many colleagues getting hurt (whereas I was the only one getting somebody else hurt on my bike but that is a story for another time) and you see many reckless delivery drivers trying to do their job (a.k.a. moving stuff as quickly from one place to another) which often seems to involve trying to go through you.

London, Great Britain

Overall: if your mind is not entirely consumed by the fact that you need to ride on the opposite side of the road, you can do some nice biking.

Pro: there is a public bike system in London, which I always encourage. Even though there are some height differences, these are not too big to be of any inconvenience with a limited-quality bike. There generally tend to be bike lanes which are mostly only occupied by bikes.

Con: why oh why did these people decide to ride on the other side of the road?! I do not think I will ever be able to wrap my mind around it. If you go straight, no problem, but you do need to curve eventually one way or the other. Also, bikes are not that common yet so it does feel like a car can creep up on you at any moment.

Aalborg, Denmark

Overall: it is definitely a bike-centered place and offers some nice routes throughout the city.

Pro: Denmark is probably one of the most well-known countries for its biking culture besides the other Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands. Of course this means that I am extra strict on its biking facilities since I think the biking culture is one of the few things the Netherlands really has going for it.

Biking in Aalborg this summer, I think it was quite comparable to biking in a Dutch city. Bike lanes aplenty, bikes aplenty, nice bike routes and wide boulevards where you can bike and walk next to each other (still a concept I am not convinced of). The main difference was that most people wore helmets (a concept I am more convinced of).

Con: I was surprised how many cars still were riding through the city with bike lanes on the side. I feel in most Dutch cities cars either need to drive quite slow or are rerouted on a ring outside the city. Also, there is quite a lot of wind which is unsurprising but always annoying.

Lyon, France

Overall: if you do not mind having to go up and down a bit with probably a bit of effort it is a nice city to bike through, especially if you want to see its different parts.

Pro: a public bike system! I think the shame in the Netherlands is that you need at least a personal public transport card to make use of our ‘ public’ bike system, OV-fiets. Anyway, it was quite nice to bike in Lyon (also because we could rent bikes 3 days for 5 euros and of course (a)bused that as much as possible) although the public bikes vary a bit in quality.

The city is quite sprawling so rather then waiting for public transport and then having to go through 5 stops to get to your destination, biking feels a lot more efficient. There are also some areas, like the Parc de la Tête d’Or and Parc Gerland that are nice to bike through. Also along the Rhône and Saône there is plenty of biking space and you could even go all the way to Genève.

Con: some of the bikes creak a lot, which is a bit annoying. The old city center also has a lot of cobble stones so it is probably not very nice to bike either. And going downhill I had a few moments where I was afraid any pebble on the road could send me flying off the bike with a pretty bad landing. There are also quite some roads which could use some maintenance.

A Taste of News: Rizz it up

Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year Is … ‘Rizz’
New York Times

Ah, at last the end of the year is close. Lists shall be created daily to commemorate anything and everything. And looking at this headline, I could not help but wanting to write down some ideas about this word.

The more year-end-lists are being created, the more I am aware of my age. As older things tend to be put in categories with taglines like ‘do you remember…’ or ‘nostalgic for…’ I seem to understand less and less of the new things coming in.

In other words, every time a new word enters the mainstream, I am almost surprised to find myself with knowledge of it. I most certainly will not really have a use for ‘rizz’ but it is recognizable to me.

I am not really a fan of the word, mainly because I think it is not used seriously. If a word can only be used ironically, it means there is something up with the concept it represents.

On the other hand, it is a pretty benign word to have made it to the top, all things considered. I certainly have more feelings towards some of its contenders. Fear for Swiftie, exasperation for de-influencing, frustration for prompt.

So I will accept this truth and bemusedly listen to the youngsters who use it. Oh but not Tom Holland, any moviestar at that level does not get away with saying he has little rizz. It is about time for certain people to realize that the shy, bubbly personality is a type of charisma. A very effective one at that.

A Taste of News: How women fight

Young Chinese Women Are Defying the Communist Party
New York Times

When I saw this article passing by, the name sounded familiar to me. A quick search turned out that I reviewed one of her books which I found enjoyable, but also slightly simplifying key things.

I have this feeling from time to time when reading, hearing or viewing things that it cannot be as easy as it sounds. That is not to be a buzzkill or a cynic, although I enjoy playing both these roles at select times, sometimes there is a bigger story to tell.

That is not to say that I totally disagree with the writer. It is moreso that the things I pointed out in a previous blog arenot as easily conquered. It is precisely because Chinese women, or almost all women for that matter, are not that pliable and obedient to immediately act according to the party line.

That birth rates keep on declining just as the number of marriages, certainly show the increased independence of Chinese women. At the same time are many barriers still up and new ones being created.

It is always heartening to read about fighting spirits, how people defy expectations. Actively row against the stream. At the same time, it is the exceptionalism of these stories that make it difficult to have faith in the future.

But that is probably what the Communist Party and most authoritarian regimes count on. It would be nice for things just to be a bit simpler sometimes.

An elegy for the elections

Dear readers,

Thank you for gathering here today. We have assembled to commemorize the latest elections. It was truly peak democracy, even though we close this chapter with sadness in our hearts.

Although the past 3 weeks went by fast, nothing could have prepared us, in our bubble, for this outcome. There were plenty of reminders throughout the weeks. Predictions, positive outcomes, negative outcomes, debates about things that seemed to matter a lot at one point and less at another.

You were elusive. Seemed unpredictable and stubbornly common. Who would lead and who would follow. Surely, many households, friend groups and colleagues carried out discussions at dinner and lunch tables. You were the talk of the town, probably not because people were looking forward to you but more so to have it over with.

And then you came. I remember the grey sky that morning. My reluctance at having to make a choice. The fleeting feeling of thinking I could make a difference. And in some small way we all did of course.

But then came the ashtonishment. The all too familiar feeling of being confronted with your own limits. Disbelief at the situation. Scrolling on social media for people who felt the same, expressed in funny memes to soften the message. Worrying about possible implications of the whole situation.

Shall I move sooner than I was planning? Does moving even help? Is it a serious solution to consider? I am not sure what makes sense now or in the future.

I firmly believe in representation. But if the representation feels agressively targeted to groups that I belong to, it makes things difficult. The election had to happen, but the result should not have happened. Hopefully everyone has some peace, we will need it in the coming years.

A Taste of News: Panda diplomacy ‘panda-monium’

Panda Diplomacy Might Not Be Dead Just Yet
New York Times

While working at the embassy a couple of years ago, the Netherlands had the great luck to be receiving the first pandas ever from the Chinese government. Now I do not have a lot of love for zoos, and I also do not have a lot of love for pandas.

I find it somewhat baffling that China took the panda, an animal that eats bamboo because it is too lazy to hunt, as its national animal. I also remember seeing pandas 15 years ago and the small ones had some attractiveness because they also move around a lot and seem like regular cubs being cute while doing dumb stuff. However, the adult pandas really reminded me of the adult couch potato. Especially since they just collected the bamboo remains on their chest.

A quick Google search on why the panda is China’s national animal turns up something about it being a symbol for peace and friendship, perhaps because they also have dificulty mating, and the black and white representing Yin and Yang. This sounds like something a consultancy company would write, and there is possibly some truth to it, but it also sounds quite questionable.

So the fact that this animal is not only beloved in and outside of China but also useful for actual diplomacy amazes me. I remember being sceptical when the Dutch pandas were arriving in this newly built enclosure, that also won a prize for being the most beautiful animal enclosure even if it mainly resembled a Chinese temple, and supposed to bring in all this new business. And a while later I read an article vindicating my suspicion that the Dutch are not brought to the east of our country that easily, although the zoo director still defended his decision to bring the pandas to the Netherlands.

Besides the fact that pandas need highly expert care, the other thing that surprises me does not scare people away, is that they are leased. Cubs and the pandas are to return to China, as the article mentions is happening to the US pandas. I guess in one way or the other, pandas are a bigger attraction on that side of the world, maybe because they are more connected to larger wildlife or simply because there are more people for the amount of pandas available.

I think it shows how effective some aspects of Chinese politics are at blending official and informal matters. How suddenly the Chinese Communist Party can influence your enjoyment of your zoo visit.