Blocking Socialisation

So I've been conversing for sometime now with Kim over Skype and there have been many instances where we've shared a variety of links to each other. In many occassions I would stumble onto some funny videos on Youtube and would try to share them with her. But I can't! Why? Cause the Government of the People's Republic of China is actually blocking it; and not just YT. Also Blogspot, Twitter, Flickr and, after today's findings, Facebook have taken the "banhammer" quite viciously. My first reaction to these findings were of course how am I going to be able to use them once I'm there. There are ways around it and I know of them quite well given my extraordinary computer skills (insert sarcasm if you will). I'm a big fan of the belief that if something is made up of 0s and 1s it is definitely hackable or can be worked around. But, news flash, not all people in the world have the knowledge or the time/interest to invest into gaining it in order to have access to these sites.



So I'm sitting here thinking to myself "what is the reasoning behind such a ban?" The obvious answer that I've found throughout the internet is that the reasons are the various political issues China is facing. Ok, again, what is the reasoning? How is it possible for several people to believe that by depriving a nation from accessing social networks will serve their purpose? Is there any...now wait a minute! Roll back a bit. What is this purpose they have exactly? Some might say it's because they want to minimise public opinions being exchanged so that citizens basically just converse with each other and nothing else. Furthermore, it could also be that China is a tad embarassed, so to speak, and don't want to seem weak. Whatever the cause may be I still don't see a proper reasoning here. China is promoting scholariships for foreigners to attend their educational institutions (I'm one of them) and yet they don't wanna expand their people's socialisation capabilities.

Now I'm going to be abrupt about something here: I couldn't give a rat's behind since I have the know how. My real concern is how can they, the people, allow their Government to deprive them of such communication resources in an age where social networks are constantly expanding. Hell, even companies are using them to promote their business and I've actually done research on this for a paper in university (I are grand master researcher). It just doesn't make much sense. Ok so you have political problems. Who doesn't? Funny story, we had a minor social network crisis going on in Greece as well. It even hit the news! Some shameless lamer made a video that portaied Kemal Ataturk in a gay manner and posted it on Youtube. Some guys from Turkey retaliated of course and then some back and forths were going on in YT for awhile. It was regarded as a matter of international relations, our Government was furious about it but guess what, Youtube remained fully accessible in Greece throughout the incident!

I'm not trying to brag or act like my country is in anyway superior to China. I'm just trying to discover the logic behind the ban. It could be cultural differences that make me fail in my understanding. Or maybe I'm just too stupid. Fact remains, though, that such a move is just...lame (how journalistic of me eh?). The internet and all its facets are one of our greatest technological gems and we should enjoy it, not put up walls just for the sake of not losing face or whatever.

If I've managed to draw in some Chinese readers I am greatly interested in hearing your views on this subject.

Peace out all^^

Yannis

The real summer starts now

So yeah, I know I promised the inside scoop on my family but due to some "operations" and other unspeakable situations I'm going to have to postpone it for later. Interviewing the mob isn't easy, even for an inside man such as myself. Anyway, the temperature doesn't seem to be going down easily and it is under these extreme conditions I had to complete a variety of errands and tasks. For one I had to drive my sister to go take her driving theory exam which she finally managed to ace as expected! Congrats Tiggy! The kicker, though, was that while she was scheduled to take it at 12:00 pm she ended up being called at 12:30. The greek public services never fail when it comes to making our lives hard. But all's well that ends well! I'm a proud big brother now! Along with that I had to take some pants I had for shortening (I'm a small guy so I can never for the life of me buy pants that fit). Funny thing is I've had those pants for well over a year but never really had a use for them since I'm a jeans man. Since I'm gonna be working, though, I think something a little more formal is in order. Got some nice shirts to go with them as well! So now I got the style, now time to start gearing into teacher mode. FEAR ME!



Oh, by the way, I got my flight tickets finally...and it ain't a pretty voyage. Departure time from Athens El. Venizelos airport at 23:00 Greek time. I'll be flying to Dubai for about 4.5 hours where I'll be arriving at around 4:30 am local time. Now here's where the real fun begins: my flight to Beijing departs at 11:00 am Dubai time! Yeah you read correctly, I'll be stuck in the airport for well over 6 hours alone and completely exhausted! :-( From there on it's another 7 hours to my final destination (why does that creep me out?). Sadly I need a visa to get out of the airport so can't do some minor sightseeing and take some photos. Oh well...I'll endure it. Now I'm really pondering whether or not I should take my guitar with me since I'll have to be dragging it along with my heavy laptop backpack. Hm, could always sit in a corner and play while random travellers pity me by giving me some spare change....or throw tomatoes at my face since I can't play at all.

Oh well, on a happier note, as of today it's just my bro and myself occupying our residence! Up until the 19th the family bosses and sis are gonna be vacationing so that means it's wild time for the boys! High time we got our "pool" (stop laughing!) ready so we can just lay back and enjoy the sun. Along with some alcohol and good company we are sure to get some neighbor rage going on in no time! From the 3rd until the 10th of August we'll be joining our family for some vacationing at the glorious island of Innouses (it's a tiny dot on the map next to Chios).

Well I'm gonna end this small update. I humbly apologise for this stale post. Promise to make the next one more interesting. You can always keep tabs on what I'm doing via Twitter.

Peace out and enjoy whatever you are doing!

Yannis

Misadventures and Getting Things Done

Yo, party people~! Yannis here! Hope you are all doing well and having fun in this summer heat! If you are not, well...hope you are planning to have some fun! One thing I have to say is that although summer time is great here in Greece, the heat blast (commonly known as a heat wave but "blast" just sounds more accurate) is just unbelievable. I seriously think twice before walking out of my house between the hours of 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. And it's mid-July which means we have a lot more to look forward to. Good thing we have an inflatable pool! Do I hear laughing? Hey! Inflatable pools rock and I challenge anyone to prove the contrary! Oh, you got a proper pool eh? K... *walks away in shame*



Anyhow, off to some of my news. For starters, my bro Dimitris is back from Portsmouth, UK. Good times! There's definitely some partying that will be going down for sure from now on! Hehe~! The parental units are gonna be off for the weekend. Even more good times!! No worries, we'll keep the place intact...somehow. Also, I've managed to assemble all the paperwork I needed to get my student visa so I'll be submitting those at the embassy tomorrow. Let me tell you it was not an easy task getting my physical examination form filled. As I stated in my previous post, they required that I be examined from head to toe literally. Not only that, it had to be done at a PUBLIC hospital. So I merrily strolled down to the nearest one (ok I drove it wasn't that close) and as I showed this lovely lady there the form she gave me a puzzled look and asked me what exactly it was I wanted. Some clarrifications now: a) I am not really proficient in how hospitals work and b) the form was written in English and Chinese. After a few back and forths with her she decided to get rid of me by advicing me to try another hospital since they were really swamped with appointments all the way to mid-August. So I drove down to another "nearby" hospital with alot of high hopes. I'll be blunt: they were crushed pretty fast! As I gave my form to another lovely lady there she quickly replied "I can't read this". Now I'm not one who asks for too much (for real) but I find that kind of weird in this glorious age of globalisation (clearly overhyped). Or maybe I'm a little naive. In all fairness to her, of course, I do also find it a little off that the form didn't contain any Greek. I mean they do want it to be signed by GREEK doctors in GREEK public hospitals. Oh well, I've managed to get things done in the end. BANZAI!!
Another little misadventure occured right after said form was filled. I misplaced my passport. To make a long story short, I freaked out to a point where I started to believe our house had a gnome infestation of some sort. Funny story though, my mom knocked some sense into me so I started picking on some clothes scattered here and there. It was located in a pair of jeans that was pilled under a cloth mountain I maintain in my room (without fail). I'm a really messy person and the photo on the left barely scratches the surface of what my living quarters are like. All's well that ends well, though! Love you mom!
So the majority of my preparations are almost complete. I got my flight ticket to Beijing with a stop in Dubai which hopefully won't last too long, my visa will be processed within a few days, Kimy found a decent cheap hotel to spend my first few days there vacation-style (yeah I've vacationed enough I know) and now all that remains is a few minor details here and there.

So what should you be looking forward to from my posts until my fateful journey to the Land of the Sleeping Dragon? Well, along with some reports on my activities I'll be introducing you to the people I love the most. Next week I will be giving you the full scoop on the most powerful Mafia, the Vatis Family! So stay tuned!

Peace out~!

Yannis

Let's start at the beginning...

Hola peeps~! I'm Yannis (for those who may not know me) and I'm a...Greek man. Well ok that doesn't say much about me nor the purpose of my blogging but I'll get to all of that in a second. I'm 27 years old, born in Manhattan NY and raised in the lovely city of Athens. In a nutshell I'm a "geek" with a bit of a "cool" side. I like gaming but I also like hanging out and drinking beers. I watch a lot of Japanese animation (manga for some) but I also love rock and metal (yeah that's way cool). Fantasy and sci-fi are my genres of choice but I find enjoyment in almost all kinds of books and movies. But the pinnacle of my geekiness? My studies! My bachelor's was in Computer Information Systems (all kinds of computer related courses woo!) and my recently completed master's was in Information Technology Management. Regardless, this is who I am and I'm placing it out in the open. Now that we are acquainted I shall expose the reason that got me to start this blog....



*drum roll*

I'm moving to Beijing!

*crickets*

Ok, it doesn't sound as mind-boggling as it might have a decade ago with all the globalisation going on these days but there are some who still give me a puzzled look when I say it. Nevertheless, it's a big decision I've made for myself for a variety of reasons. My most important one is my loving girlfriend Kim whom I met during my MSc studies in Sunderland. We've been together for over a year now and we're really happy together. Besides that this move is an opportunity for me to discover a different culture and life-style with many opportunities to fulfill some of my greatest lifelong dreams. It's also a chance for me to learn Mandarin Chinese hence I've gotten a scholarship to study the language at the Beijing Information Science and Technology University. Since I've made the decision to make this journey I've decided to share my adventures with the rest of the world. What will it be like for a person from Greece such as myself? What hidden mysteries does the Yellow Dragon of the East hide? Can I identify any possible similarities between Greek and Chinese culture? That's all out there for me to discover and share with you.

For starters I'll be guiding you through the preparation process I'm undergoing before I actually go there. Tomorrow I will be going to a public hospital (god have mercy) to do some tests required for my student visa. I'll have to do the whole shebang including blood test *shivers*, ECG, eye-sight, chest x-ray and general check-up. Sounds crazy right? It is! But if that's what it takes I'm up for the challenge.

Stay tuned as I will be updating here on a reqular basis! You can also follow me on twitter for some less than ordinary updates on my activities! :D

Peace out everyone~!