American working time ie Night Shift (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

August in Wuhu Departures and Arrivals all change

Hot Weather

Barbecue Canadian style and Pizza Hutt

1st May 3 day holiday so having been invited to a Canadian style Barbecue on the Friday and as I normally work such strange hours the chance to be up and around during daylight definitely appealed to me.
The Barbecue was held in Ting Tang Park on the outskirts of town, this large public park is a great place to walk through tranquil tree-lined lanes, and admire the crystal-clear lake which is dotted with islands and small floating houses. Many festivals and activities are held here throughout the year. You can hire rowing boats and even go horse riding.

but to be honest it could have been any western country in Europe or USA with a emphasis on meat and some imported items.

We had lots of good home made food and numerous cans of bud were consumed throughout the afternoon have to say the highlight was some imported Canadian sausage which was smoked precooked and just slightly spicy followed in second place by home made burgers which were brilliant thanks to the efforts of the Canadian contingent.
The afternoon went all to quickly and the weather as predicted was sunny and dry the forecasts here seem to almost without fail 100% accurate time and time again.

I had arranged to meet a Friend for a meal in the Centre of Wuhu at 7.00 and had been persuaded to go to Pizza Hut not my idea as i perceive it as overpriced and decidedly average food and for what I spend on one meal in there I could eat out for 3/4 days at the local restaurants. Which I find to be varied low cost and extremely tasty.
So as its a holiday there is a queue for Pizza hut and I take a slip and assume i am now on the list for a seat when one becomes available. My friend is running late and I get seated and am joined shortly afterwards and we order one pizza between us and one crab shell starter and 1 coke and 1 tea cost after discount card 120 rmb or approx 12 pounds by western standards not expensive but my local standards expensive.
In comparison the barbecue was superb the pizza was OK but not brilliant.
On the subject of costs etc over half of Wuhu seems to being demolished and new fancy apartments are being build all the time my only question is who is buying them the average wage here is under 2000 per month I believe and I can not afford to buy and what happens to all the people displaced when the demolition is going on.
The growth rate and expansion here is phenomenal and seems to be carrying on unabated Financial crisis what crisis does not seem to have reached here yet.
The rest of weekend is taken up with relaxing on Saturday and teaching English on Sunday as the newly acquired teacher has left after only one month not that I am complaining the pay is good for me and I really enjoy the day spent teaching.

New suit in preparation for Exhibitions

Well as discussed in previous blogs need a light summer coat and new suit that fits so went to the Tailor who made my down jacket for winter and who also fixed all my jean pockets which had lost the stitching free of charge.

Not sure he could do it but he said he could so as I trust him from my previous dealings with him we pick the material for my light jacket went for black maybe the wrong choice but doesn't show the dirty marks so maybe its right choice.
As regards the suit went for Navy blue very light material with bright blue lining in the inside of the jacket at least it brightens up a fairly conservative suit.
The whole process took under 6 days from start to finish went on Sunday got measured picked material and style from books and yesterday went to collect the suit and the summer coat although judging from the weather on Saturday not sure I will need it it was 27deg yesterday and humid.

Anyway the coat fitted very nice cool and lightweight with the same blue lining as my suit coat I tried the suit jacket on in the shop but not the trousers as it was too warm to be trying clothes on and not sure he had anywhere i could and didn't fancy standing in middle of shop in my boxers.

This morning tried the suit on with a proper shirt tie and my dress shoes it fits really well and looks good. Nice and lightweight so at least I now have a good source for clothes and jackets etc etc.

The absolute best part of all this is the cost the suit cost 360 rmb approx 36 pounds the other suit I have was purchased in the UK not made to measure and was considered cheap at 120 pounds i cannot see a lot of difference between them apart from the Chinese made suit fits me better. My total outlay for the suit and the lightweight jacket was 500 rmb less than 50 % of what i paid for a off the peg suit in the UK.

So now I am ready for the 4 exhibitions I will attend this year 2 in Germany 1 in Shanghai and 1 in California really looking forward to going to USA as so far I have only ever been to Vegas which is not apparently like the rest of the US I hope to maybe take a week holiday to spend some time in the States stock up on shoes which I desperately need and will need before next winter arrives.

We seem to have an influx of new foreigners in the last week but so far not sure who they are but seem to have kids and may be teachers which is normally a safe bet.

Looking forward to Better weather

The weather through the winter has in parts been very cold but overall not too bad if you are dressed correctly IE to the uneducated involves wearing layers of clothes the most I came across was some one with 7 layers of clothes which makes everyone look larger than they actually are.
I survived the winter with 2 plus a big down jacket gloves and a hat but have to say that next winter may purchase some long thick underwear as suggested by my Chinese colleagues.Another thing which struck me as slightly bizarre I lost half the hairs on my legs in the winter ok if you want to be more streamline for swimming but I would have looked strange with half a hairy leg and half hairless no sign of root nothing so next year will try the thick Long johns see if that works.
The weather is starting to warm up slightly and is certainly getting nicer and the daylight hours are creeping longer each day.

I arrived here in September and thought it was warm so not sure what I will make of Summer in Wuhu but no doubt it will be hot apparently it can reach 40 deg c so I think shorts and loose tee shirt with light shoes and no socks not sure if that fits in with office dress code.And not convinced normally at that sort of temperature I'm in and out of swimming pool to cool down not an option here when I have to work,but maybes the afternoon and evening hours will be better may be cooler and more bearable.

Any way no doubt I can spend ages on the blog moaning about how hot it is through the summer still need to get some more weight off so with the bike and the heat maybe i will lose more weight which is one of the really positive parts of my time in china eating better and losing some weight.

Wuhu Rain and more Rain

I put the picture from Nanjing of the Temple as it makes me feel good to see such beauty all around me as I discover China.
As we have just celebrated Spring festival I naively thought that meant the weather would get better IE warmer how wrong its now rained for 10 days and is forecast for a few more.
The downside is that I cant use the bike so have to resort to taxis again however spurred on by Luca I now have Chinese lessons 4 mornings Monday to Thursday I am making progress but its slow and I can now order food and get taxi home without using the address written down.
Small progress but nice to be able to do some basic things without feeling so useless.This time i am more determined to keep going with this and try to hold a basic conversation soon.
Anyway the rain is not good for getting around or walking so hope it stops soon cannot believe soon we will have hot weather right through till November, I found September to be warm enough so not sure what i will make of June July and August glad Ive lost some weight otherwise it may have been too hot.The main picture is me in November still in short sleeve shirt at the stadium in Wuhu don't think i would be doing that in the UK.
Anyway regardless of the weather it has been a good few weeks some more Westerners have shown up in Wuhu most working for Aston Language centre or attending the University to study Chinese a good bunch who all seem nice so a welcome addition to the numbers of foreigners in Wuhu.