At the entrance to my palatial estate there is a small security hut. There are 5 guards that I see on regular basis, but you know they all look the same to me apart from one. And do you know why?  because he has a smile on his face and he says hello to you, even me the foreigner.

The rest of them are a miserable bunch of soor faced bastards. They look like your typical communist party members,  with their wee uniforms and fake looking badges that make them look very important indeed and maybe all they’re doing is playing the role of the uniform.  Maybe when they take the uniform off they just become the hen pecked little man of the house.  And when you see just how fired up some of these Chinese ladies become I’m not surprised that they make the most of the uniform. 

The weather is becoming colder by the day but the other night it really did get chilly.  In fact I went out today and bought some thermals. Anyway getting back to our wee guys.  The office door was closed but you could see the red glow coming from the Hut through the fog inside, no doubt the heater was on full.As  I got closer I noticed that there was 3 guys inside puffing on their  ciggies and sucking on them like their lives depended on each draw, but as a bonus they were also getting all that second hand smoke. I wanted to stop and just look in as if I was at the zoo so I could watch these animals in their wee cage. I find them fascinating and like any creatures or things that fascinate me, I like to watch ☺☺ Mind you I was glad that the happy wee security guard was not in with them as I’ve always thought he looked a bit smarter than the average bear. 

I’ve invested heavily in a pair of slippers for my feet and now they are very happy indeed.  The weather has turned cold and I fear that winter is just around the corner.  The beanie, scarf and North Face jacket are all being worn regularly and it’s not really cold yet.  I hear the figure of -10c being banded about and to be honest I find this quite terrifying. It’s been many years since I have experienced such cold and such misery 😣

Ah only kidding. …..I’m looking forward to complaining everyday about how fucking cold it is.😆

I also bought a new quilt as the summer one I had was not as effective anymore, plus the fact my fat reserves are getting used up rapidly. Which is OK but I’ll soon have to buy new breeks as well at this rate.  As me Ma would say ” they’re hangin’ half way doon ma arse”

So anyway ma new quilt is made from Camel hair, but not sure why is says sheep on the box.  Maybe they are one and the same here. 

But whatever it’s made of it kept me very warm last night, or it could have been the 3 glasses of Spanish red wine.  But I’m sure my sheepycamel was a good investment. 

Haven’t seen it in years but it’s still a great movie…..

Well the pollution levels in Suzhou are definitely better today than they were a few weeks ago, but then again the downside is that is pissing down with rain once more 😣😣 It’s rained so much in the last couple of weeks I’m not sure where it’s coming from.  Last week there was the typhoon in the south of China that brought the rain, but I’m not sure what the excuse is this time. 

I’m finding it a bit difficult to adjust to life without a car because since the age of 17 I’ve had my driving licence and a car.  I drove everywhere and enjoy my driving.  I like driving in the rain because I grew up in Scotland and got lots of practice.   It rained a lot in Scotland but I had my car so it was no problem. Now if I have to go to the shops I have to carry everything home and it gets wet,I get wet.Shoes, trousers and jacket.

 I remember my friend Christine telling me that she can be stuck in the house for days sometimes because of the weather.  At home I don’t have that problem because I go down to the garage and into the car. I buzz the door open and drive out and then I always enjoy pressing the button and watching the door close.  As far as I’m concerned it was the best $500 I spent on the house, well next to my day bed. I Can drive to the nearest shopping centre with an undercover carpark,park the car and still not get wet. I miss that.

So now I’m in China living on the fourth floor of an old building, with draughty windows.  It’s cold and damp and I’m really not looking forward to winter. I hear it gets down to -10c in winter so I think I’m going to need a wee bit more than ma wellies if that’s the case. 😣

I was out at public speaking event tonight and they had a guest speaker that was a bit of a character and very confident.  He was sat quite close to the front because he was assessing some of the speakers but I must admit I was very surprised when he lifted one cheek and then let a big wet one rip. And you know to my amazement no one batted an eye lid, not even the young girl that was sitting quite close to him. 😆😆😆

I bought a 29 rmb bottle of Chinese Merlot and I’m quite surprised that it’s not too bad, although in saying that I wouldn’t want to drink too much.  I had a couple of glasses and I can feel a bit of a wee niggle in the skull,  so I’d say that in moderation it’s OK. 

It’s a bit fruity, a bit light and a pleasant after taste. So along with a meal I think it’s acceptable but I would drink it on its own. 

I popped along to see what the Suzhou Toastmasters was like and I really enjoyed it.  As you may or may not know, I am part of a wonderful group called the Bremer Forum. I first joined this organisation to have the confidence to be able to stand up in front of a group of people and give a talk or a speech and I have been able to do that for the most part quite comfortably. So last night I went along to the Toastmasters which is very different to the Bremer Forum. In forum we learn about procedure,how to chair a meeting and of course how to develop yourself to become a confident speaker. From my short introduction to Toastmasters it seems that there are different levels that you need to achieve and you must meet a certain criteria before you progress. Thankfully this is an English-speaking meeting and I was the only native speaker there and I was very impressed with the level of English and also the quality of the speeches.

One segment I was able to take part in was Table Topics. This is impromptu speaking,  where you have 2 minutes to talk to a subject and you have to be coherent and have structure to your speech.  Guess what I won 😆 the native speaker won , mind you I think they were just being nice. 

But I’m looking forward to going along next week to get some more mental stimulus and of course to meet some new people which will make my stay in China so much better. 

I came across these wonderful delicacies while I was strolling through the market but just couldn’t decide which one to try. ….

Last Monday was the start of one of the biggest movements of people in the world. Many Chinese head home to see families and many will just go on holiday. If you want to be play tourist, it’s not a good time to do so as everywhere is so busy.  But what I find quite interesting is the fact that when everyone stops for work on the previous Friday,they then have the whole week off. You may think that is great because you have the 9 days off, well not in China because that’s not how it works here. 

Everyone returns to work on the Saturday and everyone thinks that this is OK because they have just had 7 days off, but now they have to work the next 7 days to make up for some of the time.  So this really means that if they have their normal weekend off and then the holiday starts on Monday then they really only get 3 days holiday because they have to work the following weekend.  Confused? But the thing is most people think they have just had 7 days off work. Well technically they have.  It’s brilliant and no one complains ’cause this is China😆

And what’s not to like about Bowmore Single Malt Whisky?

Although the bottle is not quite as full anymore.

Cheers