Never ask a woman if she's pregnant

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April 7th 2012

Published: April 8th 2012

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Laotou

JJ and Shen Yue, Nanjing

Blowing bubbles, Xuanwu Hu, Nanjing

New photos on:

http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/

…..Happy Easter everyone. Sorry, Easter comes & goes virtually unnoticed here in China, despite our English English teacher, George, being resilient through Lent & eschewing rather than chewing, chocolate, biscuits, (sorry, my American friends, cookies), & refraining from beer. Until the Chinese work out how to make money out of Easter bunnies I guess it will remain a curious festival, much as this week's Qing Ming Jie, or Tomb Sweeping Festival, might appear to some of you.....

…..if there is the slightest chance that you may harbour any feelings of low self esteem, however insignificant where you live now, do not, under any circumstances, consider visiting China. Jenna, one of our Canadian English teachers, is approached this week by a woman she has never seen before. Jenna speaks no Chinese apart from “Ni hao”, a few basic insults & maybe the ability to count to ten. The woman smiles, pats Jenna's belly, makes congratulatory sounds & hands her a card which appears to invite her to some sort of health clinic. The woman does not know enough English to understand, “I am NOT HAVING A BABY!”.....

…..it's over two years since I met

Wenyi, He Yuan, Yangzhou

One of Yangzhou's famous gardens in Spring

Enya, or Li Wenyi, & chatted with her on the train to Harbin when I went to practice practical cryogenics at the 2010 Ice & Snow Festival. I kept in touch since then & have introduced her to quite a few people including the mother of one of my students, Shen Yue, who is her honorary sister. She comes to Yangzhou for the Tomb Sweeping Festival, not to sweep any tombs but to stay with Shen Yue & visit Nanjing for the first time. It's a chance for my student Jeffson, Shen Yue's son, to practice a little English & try out my camera. The weather is unbelievably gorgeous, clear(ish) blue skies, warm but not too hot & perfect for a squiz at the craft shops in Fuzimiao & a walk around Nanjing's Xuanwu lake, along with what seems to be half of the city's 9 million people.....

…..Wenyi is attacked by a wolf. On the way to the park near the lake we spot a couple of characters in cartoon costume, the popular Pleasant Goat & his, (or her?) nemesis, The wolf. Wenyi shoves her camera in my direction for a quick snap with the wolf before we

Stinky Doufu, Nanjing

JJ waiting for a snack

are swept away by the milling masses. The wolf immediately crosses his 2 index claws, the Chinese sign for, “10”. ¥10 for what will probably turn out to be a blurred snapshot. You have to be joking. We are soon lost in the crowd & leave the wolf to look for other prey.....

…..now that I finally have a preamp for my violin I arrange to go to the Old Brewery & play a few songs with the Phillippino band. Danny, who used to sing a few songs with me when he lived in Yangzhou, is visiting from Wuxi. It's a good night & Paul, the band's keyboard player, promises to send me some of their material so I can learn it & join them now & again. Encouraging that I haven't forgotten which end of the violin is which.....

…..starting next Saturday I have a new gig, at a new restaurant at the Jing Hua Cheng, (Living Mall), in West Yangzhou. I'm even more pleased with myself as, when I go to meet the manager this afternoon, I am able to discuss times, payments & PA requirements in Chinese, (she speaks virtually no English). Not fluently or

Wenyi, He Yuan, Yangzhou

without a few quick sketches or reference to the electronic dictionary but hey, how can I be expected to know the Chinese for “mixing desk”?. That's after stopping at the Electronic market this afternoon & getting them to make a 3 metre jack to RCA cable & a 3 metre Male to Female canon cable.....

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