Got an electric shock this morning, from one of those extention power thingies. I’ts not the first time i’ve given myself a shock and it probably wont be the last, but this one was quite nasty. it hurt my finger for a few minutes, that surge feeling went right through the body. These crappy, tiny two and three pin plugs are nasty, I wonder how many people are killed each year from electrical accidents directly resulting from these. They look like they should be used to take no more than 12v, not 240V AC!!
In my experience, they have the tendency to fall out of the wall when you least expect it, or buzz because of the poor connection and fuse or fry anything plugged in on the same socket. I’m no electrician, but whoever designed these plugs should be shot; they’re really dangerous!
Or more likely i’m just stupid, being used to idot-proof hefty UK plugs.

The every morning ritual of fighting to get on the bus is an event that takes some getting used to.
To the casual onlooker one might think from the ferocity of the pushing and shoving that life and death is at stake.

But no, this is just to get onto a bus.

I have grown to enjoy this circus – partly due to my height and size; I have perfected a shoulder-barge technique that allows myself maximum leverage without actually pushing anyone over. This may sound bullish – and it is – but if I don’t do this, someone will do it to me (old ladies and children included) and I wouldn’t get a seat!
Perhaps I should suggest we form an orderly queue next time!:)

After i’d finished teaching and taking some more really bad quality photos (so bad I won’t put them online), Mcdonalds was in order. Mike and I eating there because we wanted our passports from our boss and that’s near to her office.

This long burger really isn’t very good, not one to try again
Took a few more pics…the underground.
Taxis on 重庆路, VW really have the market sewn up here. The Jetta is the most popular car on the road by far – due to the factory here – I have a respect for them I never had before, afterall, any car that can survive and run in this climate has to be decent.
Finally, near where I live. This is the main road that I often cross, it’s VERY dangerous as cars tear down here at high speed. Lost count the amount of times I’ve almost been hit
Some three wheelers, distant cousins of the reliant robin?
The security where I live. There’s a lot of them, and they like to march.Looking towards my apartment

I’ve been in China for exactly one year to the day. Seems like only a couple of months!

Beautiful sunset this evening. I Took these pictures on my webcam with the tripod hanging out of my bedroom window- though I almost lost it in a freak gust of wind, hope it was worth it. Judging by the quality of the pictures probably not!

Anyway been a pretty lazy day, done nothing except clean and surf the web.

My apartment is starting to become a bit of a problem. It’s difficult to keep clean! Partly due to it’s size but mostly because it gets really dusty so fast. It takes about 2 days, and my apartment needs cleaning again. However, the dust here is regular dust coloured not the black filth that was so bad about my old place.
My toilet has just blocked up again, and I have no plunger. I’ll Just have to resort to the rag on the end of a stick technique, then hope it works like a plunger – it did last time! That reminds me of (one of the many) times that our toilet blocked up at uni. I remember one time, the bowl filling-up with something totally disgusting when I flushed it. I panicked, it was going to overflow. So I looked around and instinctively grabbed the first thing I could use to dispense the water elsewhere. I grabbed a pint glass left in the bath (only in a student house), bravely scooped into the bowl and in one smooth action launched the glass (and its contents) out of the adjacent window. It was on the ground floor, and the glass ended up next to the road-signs and traffic cones in the garden.

Anyway, no work today or for the next week – It’s the national holiday!! I’m well chuffed to be having a break. Okay I may only work 24hours a week, and have 3 month holidays. Yet teaching and trying to study a foreign language is exhausting. I go to bed at 10 each evening because I have no energy to do anything else, and if I stayed-up later I would not be able to wake up at 6.30.
Tomorrow my landlord will come around and I’ll give him his rent. He’s been very accommodating in letting me pay one month later than I said I would. (Because of our boss paying us late) Maybe I’ll also get around to getting this website finished!! I’ve uploaded more pictures in the photo gallery; I will have my webcam working very soon…

David