Stormy Weather

Had a good day on Saturday, Yaning and I met up with some of her friends to play badmington at a sports centre in the Pudong area of the city. I was a bit rusty but did better than I thought I'd do and I'm looking forward to the next time .

In the mean time a huge storm was rolling in and while we were playing you could hear thunder and ssee flashes of lightning through the windows. By the time we had finished and were ready to leave we were in the heart of the storm and the rain came down in buckets, we got drenched trying to get a taxi! I thought Britain was bad for rain but when it rains here it certainly does it in style, once it started it lasted all day and night.


After badmington we went swimming which, not having a swimming costume with me, I sat out of. It looks as though red tape will be a constant part of life as, even though I didn't go in the pool, I had to have a health certificate to be in the building. It wasn't that difficult to get though, you just cough up some cash, get you heart listened to by a guy with a stethescope for a second and then the certificate gets rubber stamped, I hope everything else is as easy...lol

After swimming we went for a meal as one of the group was moving to Wuhan to start a business so it was his last time to meet with the group. The food style was from Hunan which is spicy but didn't blow your mouth off. Although I didn't understand the conversations going on the atmosphere was good and it is always good to hear Chinese being spoken so I can train my ear. One of the group went to John Moore's University for a year and so every now and again I'd hear an English phrase comming at me across the table, 'perfect, mate', 'buy the Big Issue' etc...lol When I did speak with people their English was very good and I hope I can get my Chinese as good in the future.

After the meal we went to a bar near home, as our flat is close to the area where most of the bars with 'hostesses' are located, and there were plenty of single western guys walking around looking for some company. The group spent the night playing a dice game of truth or dare and fortunately there was spool table so I entertained myself watching the ensuing fun and playing pool. After the bar Yaning and I walked home and as usual it started raining again! Just as we were entering the entrance to our aparment block there was an almighty crash outside and we went out to find a tree had collapsed across the pathway we had just walked down and onto a neighbour's car, a bit of a narrow escape so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled in future!

I'm still getting used to the time difference and the humidity too, so if I haven't called anyone don't worry I will do soon.

Got there safe and bonus to boot!

Well, I arrived in Shanghai safe and sound and as a bonus I was upgraded to business class on the flight from Dubai to Shanghai, I'll never fly with the commoners again! Only kidding, business class is far too expensive for me, even though you get waited on hand and foot, an electrically operated larger chair, a travel pack bathroom giftset, the choice of the best cuisine, table cloths and cotton covers for your pillow.


Shanghai is as interesting as ever. It's boiling, about 35 degs and very humid. Not done anything too exciting yet, just chillin' (or trying too in this heat!) and sorting some odds and ends out like mobile credit, language courses and a bank account. I'll get back to you when ther is something more interesting to say...lol

Selbst what?!

If you are wondering what 'selbstglobalisierung' means, it's probably grammatically incorrect German, but it's supposed to mean self-globalisation.

As we all live in a world increasingly being globalised, for good or for bad, whether we like it or not, I thought my move to China would be a prime opportunity to take back control and globalise myself on my terms, in part at least. Well, it's as good a name as any and not being so poetic as others I was stumped when asked to provide a name for my blog whilst registering.

Here's a pic of myself and Yaning when we went to Lijiang in February for the Spring Festival.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. Those of you who know me know I can have alot to say about something and even more to say about nothing, but when it comes to actually writing something about why I'm starting this blog why is it so hard to try to make it sound compelling for you to return? I hope you find what it has to say interesting and if you don't...see if I'm bothered.

'Travel is the cure for ignorance.'

Don't know who said that but I thought it sounded cool, and very true too. In case you haven't heard I'm off to China to be with my beautiful Xiao Ma and make a new beginning. The aim of this blog is to chronicle my life and adventures in a new land....and perhaps help reduce my ignorance of the world a little. It may even improve my English too!