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.
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.
posted by Nick at
3:57 pm
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