It was over 200 on the air quality index as I turned my back on Shanghai this morning. A short flight later and I am taking a huge intake of breath into my pollution choked lungs. It feels good, very good. Having been warned that nobody would be able to speak English here I quickly… Read More »
It had been a long time since I went out with my camera for the day and seeing as I had a rare weekend off I dusted my big SLR camera, wrapped up warm and headed out the door. It wasn’t long before I returned home having not taken the correct lens – an annoying… Read More »
It’s nice to be able to leave the classroom and go into the local park for a change. The students love it too and so we decided that the park should be the location for our filming. Each class was divided into four teams and was given a product to advertise. They spent two lessons… Read More »
don’t get me wrong, I like Chinese food but I couldn’t live on it permanently. In Nanjing it was easier because the local food was much better than in Shanghai. There is a limit to the amount of fried rice and noodle soup I can eat so sometimes I like to have a blow-out and… Read More »
I was surprised to stumble upon this church on my bicycle journey through the French Concession. The first thing I noticed about it was that it was illuminated as were the trees around it and it looked very beautiful. I parked my bike and thought I’d take a look inside – not having been inside… Read More »
A thought occurred to me when I was walking along Fuxing Lu today. I looked up and saw this dirty giant yellow truck with two hatches from which two men were peering. What is this truck? I couldn’t work it out. Why are their men inside looking out of the hatches. Nobody else seemed concerned… Read More »
This man and his fascinating contraption has been hanging around Nanchang Lu for a few weeks. When I first saw him I couldn’t work out what was happening. There was clearly something in the black cast iron oven being turned quickly over the fire but it wasn’t popcorn. Then after a few minutes he got… Read More »
They make my life hell those Post Office employees. They opened all my nicely packaged presents I was sending home for Christmas and rejected 2 bluetooth speakers and a penknife. I managed to throw the penknife back into the box when he wasn’t looking but really I think these people are too keen to say… Read More »
“Don’t be sad. Aunty Gwen has died” came the message on WeChat from my sister. Actually I wasn’t that sad because as we say in cricketing countries “She had a good innings”. Next week would have been her 104th birthday. She had outlived all her friends, her sister and even my brother, her great nephew.My… Read More »
Rain was forecast but our spirit was not dampened. The showers came but we played on. Umbrellas were put up and still the students smiled and ran and jumped and kicked and clapped. I arrived too late to see the opening ceremony which I am reliably informed was a miraculous thing to behold. They came… Read More »