Helloooooo People. This will actually be my last 24 hours as a single man. Tonight I could be wild, an outlaw, a young man hunting for his last experiences being a single, living alone, be responsible only for me. Well, I am in bed already and think about work and scribble some ideas on paper, after I cleaned the room and made the bed for my girlfriends daughter. Pretty wild too he ?! I will probably be something like her step dad now. Or maybe just be the boyfriend of her mum. I don’t really know. I totally forgot to take that class and now don’t really know what first steps to take. Haha. Fortunately, I know her already and it will be a pleasure to live with these people. As already mentioned, this will be a new session in my life. Being a responsible for somebody and soon for even more. The good thing is. I feel good with it. I don’t feel too young, to handle all this, to keep the job, to pay the bills. I don’t feel too young, to not go to discos and clubs, and all this kind of stuff anymore. Still, I like bars and will carry on having a drink here or there, but the time were I just wanted to go out and have party and basically over when I was done with studying. So, anyways. I think its all cool and yeah and kinda like awesome kinda like you know.
Reporting from the travel front, I will now to start reporting from the family front. Maybe even more exciting and DangeRoUs. hehe. Peace.
It has been only month, that I wrote about my life and thoughts and many things which surrounds me. After my last entry many things changed. My girlfriend Shawnee came to visit me in Shanghai by the end of december. We loved each so much … so we thought of showing that love through a BABY. I will be a father and it feels so great to know. I always wanted to have children and now .. I will have some. She will move here in one week with her daughter who is 9 years old.
I also have found an apartment which is half an hour to walk away from my office, where I found this job. I am senior Art Director and work in surprise ……………. Advertising. Well, I can make money with it and keep in mind, that I actually want to make my money with photography. it pays the bills and is actually not bad. The people are fun to work with and its a very small company too. Actually I made the website for them too.
So basically from arriving with one suitcase in the beginning of september in Nanjing, without a job, no apartment, not much money left and a girlfriend who is very far and not pregnant, I now have all these things within 4 months. I really like the idea that everything is going to be a little more stable now, hopefully she and I will stay a while at one place. I actually imagined, that since 2003 I didn’t stay at any place really longer than half a year. I somehow did in Hamburg before I went to China, but even there I stayed 3 of 8 months out of the country. It feels good somehow that I have arrived and I like all these challenges here, apartment, job, language, family, … yeahhhh.
I somehow got some Emails the past few weeks from various people who wrote me out of the blue to tell me how great my photography is. Especially this guy from Statesville, NC really cheered me up and keeps me thinking about not giving it up with these words:
“I noticed your work when a neighbor showed it to me. I am now very inspired by your work! I’ve always wanted to be a photographer just like you! I’m planning on becoming a photographer later on in life. I’m 14 now but I’m practicing,learning, and working hard to achieve becoming a photographer! I love your work… don’t ever stop what you’re doing! Your photos are very interesting and wonderful to look at as it gives you a chance to think about or be put in someone else’s shoes as you travel to other countries to capture photos of the innocent children and people in other countries. Thank you for everything!”
My decision was the right one and again I can trust myself I am doing the right choices and moves in life. I am still on my way to figure out how to do only things that makes everybody, including me, happy and its good to be on this way: everything is very difficult, so is it perfect.
All the best from Shanghai, where everybody is welcome to stay at my place.
Almost one year later after my traveling I got inspired by a little movie from Aline Neumann, who travelled through the united states for 70 days. So here is my version. Quite late, but whatever. I spent the hole night working on it, I have no idea why I actually did it. Just for fun.
Glad and happy I got my third publication in a magazine. Now its actually a whole story about my pictures and 3 double pages without any advertising is pretty awesome I think. So happy. The article is in Romanian though, but the translation in English is above. After my Email interview with the editor Cristina, who is the author of this very well touching and great article, she wrote the article and just referred to the interview. That’s surprised me a lot, because I thought I just gonna read the interview I send her back by mail. Believe me, I was more than positive surprised what she wrote about me and my pictures. I really can see myself in what she wrote. Cristina, thanks a lot. That’s a great beautiful Christmas present.
In case you are interested, you can read the article by clicking on ‘more’.
Nini Sum is a freelance graphic designer/illustrator from Nanjing, now living and working in Shanghai. She has worked for local and international clothing and branding companies, and does web design, toy design, and oil painting — a bit of everything. She’s well-known for her pencil drawings, and for winning the Shanghai Cut and Paste tournament in the 2D drawing category. Nini has also just started her own screen-printing business, Idlebeats.
