Having spent my morning messing around on my newly acquired guitar, I'm now taking a break, listening to some BBC radio and writing this journal entry. But as usual I'm skipping ahead and should start earlier in the week before the start of this great weekend. I had my fourth Mandarin lesson on Thursday, and managed to add a few important sentences to my conversational Chinese, and practised my pinyin table... Even more peis, paos and poos. I discovered something really interesting though!... I am often being asked by Chinese friends whether or not I have eaten. I've always been confused by this and usually reel off a list of my most recently consumed foodstuffs. I always feel slightly put out by this question and wonder what they are trying to get at by asking me whether I've eaten?!? However, it seems that the Chinese language has a greeting which purely means, 'how are you?' but literally translates as 'have you eaten?' ('ni chi le ma?' breaks down as 'ni' -'you', 'chi' - 'eat', 'le' - talking about the past, and 'ma' - turns it into a question)... So my confusion with regards to the question must always have been matched by their confusion to my answer!!! Well, at least that is one mystery solved. Friday was an easy day. I went into work at midday expecting an afternoon full of lessons but was informed that I only had to do a single hour and forty-five minute lesson. Happy days! I therefore spent the rest of my day shopping for something to wear that night and going for a run. Buying clothes here is an absolute nightmare! Firstly, you know that horrible feeling when you are followed around electrical shops by sales assistants asking whether they can help you?!?... Well, buying anything here is like that but much worse. If you dare to look too long at a t-shirt, three sales assistants will throw themselves at your feet with a pile of suggested t-shirts. Everytime I walk into a shop, I walk straight out! Also, unless you're an anorexic midget (by British standards) finding clothes that fit isn't the easiest job in the world. A size ten equats to an XL here... Which isn't the greatest confidence boost in the world!... Especially when most shops only stock XS and S. I have also given up on ever finding trousers that are long enough... Shorts and skirts from now on for me!!! ... But, by Friday I was so desperate not to wear the same outfit for yet another night out that I braved the shouting and rugby tackles... And actually came away with some stuff that fits (a few tops, some shorts and a skirt)... And all for less than a tenner. Not bad! Maybe I should take a leaf out of the book of Alex Martin, a woman who made herself a little brown dress and vowed to wear it every day for a year as a personal attempt to confront consumerism. Check out her website here: http://www.littlebrowndress.com/brown%20dress%20archive%20home.htm Friday night involved a few too many beers in Blue Sky bar with a couple of guys that I see in there regularly, Steve and Mark. And then went off for some food in a restaurant called Swede & Kraut. Yummy! S&K is a western-style restaurant that serves all kinds of food, from pizzas and steaks to New Zealand lamb and Thai soups. It is mostly frequented by white people but the term 'western' doesn't quite fit. Like many similar venues it is slightly too minimalist and lacks some atmosphere. But I think that's generally how westerners are viewed by the Chinese... As lacking character and atmosphere. I ended up playing Chinese poker with the one group of Chinese people in the restaurant and stumbled home at I'm not quite sure what time in the morning. Saturday night was even better. I met up with a group from the Mandarin language school for bowling and a nice meal. The bowling was more fun that I expected and I even managed to get a few strikes and spares. I finished with a reasonable score but way off the score of a guy called Gus who managed strike, after strike, after strike, after strike. Quite impressive! We then went on to the most fantastic lounge bar called Planta. It is yet to officially open, but we were there for the pre-opening opening... And I'm soooooo going back for the official opening. The venue is just unreal. It must have cost a disgusting amount of money to create such a classy and expensive looking venue. All dark wood and Moroccan furnishings. Wow! The food was great and the jazzy and funky tunes really added to the atmosphere. I got talking to a Canadian guy called Bill and his Chinese wife. He is an English teacher and a musician, so we swapped numbers and we're going for some drinks next weekend. He seems to know of a few places where I'll be able to cure my craving for live music... If that's true, then life will be complete! How exciting! I then went on to Blue Sky for its birthday bash, which was great fun. Lots of beer flowing and free food. The place was packed but I got talking to Mark and Steve again... Mostly about music and our desert island discs. Well... It turned out that Mark's leaving Nanjing today and moving to Shanghai, as his engineering contract has run out. He plays the guitar, but was dreading having to lug it with him. I offered to buy it from him, but he very kindly gave it to me for free. Hence my guitar practice this morning. Yaaayyy!!! I am so determined that I'll get past the stage where your fingers hurt and you just give up this time! It'd be so great to be able to carry a guitar with me on my travels and jam with other people doing the same thing!... I get the distinct impression I'll give up after just a few weeks of trying though... I hope not! I'm sure I'll be more likely to practice because I don't have to set anything up, or plug anything in... I can just pick it up and play whenever I fancy it. My only slight worry at the moment is the footprint that I'm leaving in this country. Of my Chinese friends, not one of them ever wanted to become friends with a westerner. In fact, many of them went out of their way to avoid it. However, they have found themselves becoming friends with me and their views on life are changing. None of them have ever left China before, and none of them have ever wanted to. But, having heard my plans and listened to stories about other countries, their curiosity about the world outside of China has grown. They now have dreams of working abroad and of having holidays outside of China. However, leaving China is not easy for them. For a start, how will any of them afford it? They mostly come from what they describe as 'humble' families, and earn very little themselves. If they ever earn more, that money will be used to support their parents in their old age, as the government offers no support here. Also, visa regulations are very strict. They must have expensive medical examinations before leaving and the government restricts foreign travel as much as possible, despite eagerly welcoming foreigners into the country. Oh what to do?!? Well... An evening run, followed by some language practice, some dinner and maybe some more guitar practice. Oh it's a hard life! Keep in touch people! I love hearing from you... It keeps me smiling! E x