Left Nanjing at 2040 last evening and had a fun flight with a little girl sitting in front of me who spent the whole flight practising her English....seems you can never escape "teaching" along the way. Arrived in Zhangjiajie in the early hours of the morning and with very little sleep we were up bright and early to start our touring of this often talked about magical place. We have a fantastic guide - Pan Hong - who is full of knowledge about the area so I'm gue...

Well I must seem very remiss to some of you as I havent written for weeks. To be truthful I've been too ill to worry and hence haven't done very much apart from going to work and then resting up. Have had (& continue to have) bronchitis which simply will not go away......think it might have something to do with the level of air pollution here......cannot remember ever actually seeing blue sky in Nanjing. Spring is trying very hard to make an appearance here....

I have to say that this seems like a VERY long winter to me.....supposedly the first day of spring today but it was still freezing cold. i live in hope to see sunshine soon and some temperatures that have double figures!! Back into the swing with the new semester and all is going well so far. My second year students are starting to get into "real" nursing subjects and feel that they are finally learning what they thought they should be!! It is great to see them ...

Back to reality with a thud after my fantastic holiday to Laos and Cambodia. Got back to Nanjing to find that it was FREEZING.......not just my imagination.......we actually got snow. It was quite funny as I opened my curtains one morning and thought something didn't look right and then I realised that the roof opposite my apartment was white not black......yes I know I'm blonde!!! Got back the day before Lantern Festival which is a really big deal here. Lante...

Its hard to believe its time to say goodbye. Have had the honour of visiting two wonderful, beautiful countries that are both emerging from years of warfare and turmoil and yet have so much to offer. Managed to get some final photos from the roof top restaurant in the hotel before I depart for the airport. Oh dear another 2 flights to get through today....but at least this time I'll be on big planes. Mind you I did survive the baby ones.....amazing what i can get...