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 Written + illustrated by Jason Li

Edited by Shirley Lo

Chapter 1The Cold in Catalunya

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This is a work o non-fction. Names, characters, places and incidents havebeen altered in some instances or protection purposes.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Hong Kong License.To view a copy o this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/hk/ or send a

letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, Caliornia, 94105, USA.

This book has been typeset in Bernhard Modern Std and Calliope MVB Std.

 You are reading the iPad-optimized PDF edition that has been released onthe 20th o May 2010.

 

For more details about this book, or i you wish to be notifed when the nextchapter is released, go to:

http://www.adeu-barcelona-catalunya.com

I you wish to write me or whatever reason, you can email me atjason@hongkonggong.com.

Special thanks go to Shirley Lo or spending hours slapping the text intoorm and proofng the fnal document; to Cesar Caballud or his illustrationadvice, assistance and constant encouragement; to Peter Chai or artdirection and Matt Lemay or editorial direction. And o course, to all thosewho appeared in this chapter and in my lie in Barcelona.

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Things you need to know before reading 

My name is Jason.

I lived in Barcelona rom 2008-2010.

Barcelona is in Spain (the country)

Barcelona is in Catalunya (the province)

The people o Catalunya are the Catalans.

This graphic essay is based on real people & events.

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  JASON!

“Comehere.”

“Le me

ell you somehing.”

Look. Look. The Caalan people...

They have no blood!

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I am a Madridleño, we haveblood, look , i is warm!

We are riendly!

“They are, how do you say his… Cold-blooded!”

Hey Trasor...

No, no.

Tha is wrong.

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“Wha ishis? 

Look.

This.”

“There’sblood inour veins.”

“This.”

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Oddly enough, his view is shared by most o the people in Spain.

Spanish people have dubbed the Catalans “polacos”, because theyare rom the north. It is not a term o aection.

Foreigners like me, who move here, somehow end up adopting

this viewpoint as well. Many o us fnd them unwelcoming andclosed...

The Caalan people,oh hey’re so dry and rude.

I don’ eel anyconnecion o heCaalans, I can’ 

relae.

I’s rue, I don’ haveany Caalan riends.

Though one exception pops up again and again...*

Well, I daed a Caalanor hree years...

* See ootnote 1 ater the end o this chapter or my explanation or this exception.

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Today, in 2010, Catalunya is a province o Spain.But it wasn’t always this way.

For the better part o the second

millennium, Catalunya was constantlyfghting or its autonomy.

Never truly successul, they remained asmall country struggling or recognition.

They were ofcially conquered andabsorbed into Spain in 1714.

Over time, their fghting spirit was channeled into an industriousness that hasgiven them the reputation o being the hard-working, merchant race o Spain.

Some people believe thischaracteristic explains whythe Catalans are a cold andcalculating people.

Despite their integration into Spain, the Catalans stayed proud o their ownhistory and traditions, and never gave up the fght or recognition.

Heat map of friendliness in Spain

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The myth o the Cold Catalans is so widespread that the Catalansthemselves buy into it and eel compelled to deend themselves.

During one o my frst days at work...

 And you know wha hey say…

We, he Caalan people, we are alitle bi cold on heouside…

Bu when you ge 

o know us, i ’s very good…

We rea you

like amily.

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History aside, perhaps there are better, present-day explanations or the Catalan attitude.

Independence

Even though their ongoing quest orindependence has been going well…

Some believe it’s not enough.

Caalonia is dying,hey [Spain] arekilling i and we mus reac...

No Caalan canaccep he scal

 pillaging ha weare suering nor he

atacks on he righsand reedoms o Caalonia."

Unresolved history

Another actor may rest in the underlyingbitterness that isn’t mentioned day-to-day.

An anger brewed during the reign oSpain’s last ascist dictator, FranciscoFranco, who ruled until 1975.

He dominated the country or so longthat many he deeated were never allowedto openly celebrate or grieve…

…until the new socialist governmentgained power in 2004.

…after Franco's death in 1975, the

right and the left, the victors and the

vanquished, agreed to a national "pact of 

silence," urging the country to look forward

to a demo-cratic future instead of dwellingon a war-riven past.

From Newsweek Feb 16, 2004

The Law of Historic Memory will, for the

rst time, acknowledge the victims of the

fascist dictator, breaking a tacit agreement

among most Spaniards not to dwell on

the past, a move which paved the way for 

a smooth transition to democracy on the

death of Franco in 1975.

From the Telegraph Oct 11, 2007

Source: BBC News Dec 12, 2009

 Joan Laporta,ormer chairmano FC Barcaootball club

Catalunya has its ownStatute o Autonomygranting it power overareas such as culture,education, health,transportation andsecurity.

Executed at least150,000 o hisopponents during hisreign (including manynotable Catalans).

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Have these events made the Catalans a cold and bitter people?

Caalan wih pos-Franco

ace? 

Is his heace o a biter,Caalan

man? 

 She looksbiter 

alrigh…Bu is

 she evenCaalan? 

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From what I’ve seen, the struggle for independence and the nationalistic

fervor has only made people proud.

Hi, I’m Jason. I emailed abou rening his aparmen…

“Yes yes,come in, please.”

 So yeah, I have been in Barcelona or hree days now…

You a designer... an aris.

Very good, I like creaive people. Bueno.

Okay, le’s have our rs Caalan class now.

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I nothing else, it is that the politicians are sometimes too Catalan.

When I was in school, everyhingwas in Spanish and we would 

learn Caalan on he side.

O course, we spoke Caalan in he playground, and many people speak i a home.

Now people have classes all in Caalan and Spanish isa second language.

Wha? Bu Spanish is used all over he world!

This ucking shi wih helanguage is jus oo much.

Even the injustices rom the Franco era have given some a purpose and drive.

On their way to a townhall sponsored reburialo victims rom the1930s Civil War.

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Regardless o whether or not the reasons are valid,the myth o the cold Catalans lives on.

The myth is strong enough that most oreigners classiy the locals they meet inBarcelona like this:

I they’re riendly and open... I they’re unriendly and closed...

This group, we calls ourselveshe Drink Team, and we’re

 super un and go ou and  go crazy… always super laughing.

Bu Jaume...

He doesn’ really like hem.

They’re a litlebi eeeeh… he

hinks hey’re aclosed group.

Yes…

This group,hey’re Caalan,righ? 

Bu Jaume is Caalanoo, isn’ he? 

SPANISH CATALAN

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  Jason! How have you been? 

Good good, i ’s

been a while huh?  Almos a year maybe!

 So ell me, wha do you hink o 

Barcelona? Tell me all o your complains!

Well, I’m no  going o complain

abou he Caalan people.

Everyone doesha. Wha a load o bullshi.

 All my oreigner riends say heCaalans are cold 

and whaever They’re newih me. I’ve go Caalan riends.

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Taking a closer look at the case o the cold Catalans,it’s actually hard to identiy who is or isn’t a Catalan in the frst place.

Some might say my riendship with him is because he has that warm, riendly Spanishblood. But perhaps it is not a matter o blood or ancestry...

 Are you a, wha’s he erm or a hal or rs-generaion Caalan, a cha-neg-go? 

The whole world is ullo charnegos, here’s no

 such hing as a pure-blood Caalan.

Yes. Yes I am.

 So my parens areoriginally rom Japan,bu I came here whenI was ve.

 So you speak fuen Caalan? 

Yes, my Caalan is beter han my Spanishor Japanese.

 So do you hink o yoursel as Japanese?  Spanish? Or Caalan? 

...

I eel more Caalan hananyhing else.

Mutual riendShingo Oe’s art

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It seems that once you master the Catalan language, you become Catalan.

* Generalitat = Catalunya’s autonomous government

Once you understand this, you realize that the Catalans are always trying to getyou to become o them.

Though it’s not all a warm and welcoming embrace.

 So my parens are bohrom Cuenca, which isa village near Madrid.

“I don’ knowhow bu when Iook he Caalanlanguage exams,

I passed hem all.Even all he super high-level ones.”

“Acually, all my super Caalanriends say, ohPedro, you have

 such a srong Spanish accen when you speak Caalan.”

“Wai, you’re no Caalan? I’ve been

elling all myriends I live wiha super Caalanwho works or heGeneralia!”*

“Yes, I’m

Caalan,bu I’m acharnego.”

Hey hey!

Hey! How

you are? Long imeah...

Caala? 

No no, sorry.

Oh comeon Jason.Caala!

Caala!

Resumes talkingto his girlriendin Catalan.

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So i the Catalans are riendly about their struggle or independence, andsometimes we can’t even tell who’s Catalan or not…

…why do we say that the Catalan people are cold?

Because sometimes they are.

Because sometimes, we are distracted by what’s on the surace.

Okay, hank youor showing me hefa. I will le youknow.

Bueno.

 And yeah, even i I don’ live here, we should goo he heaer as you

 said. Once my Spanish ges beter.

Yes. Once your CATALAN is beter.

Well, us Caalans AREa litle quieer han he

 people rom he souh o  Spain.

Yeah, bu ha’s jus likehe rs ime meeing

 someone a a bar.

I’s jus as hard o become good riends or amily wih oher Spanish people.

“treat you like amily”zone

ake riendliness layer(Catalan or Spanish)

entry point oroutsider

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But ultimately, I think we call tbe Catalans cold because…

…it’s un to laugh at others…

…and because it brings us outsiders together.

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To be notifed when the next chapter is available, go to:

http://www.adeu-barcelona-catalunya.com

Thank you.