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So, what's your point.....? Photos:
…..just because I'm not paranoid it doesn't mean THEY're not out to get me! Someone, a group of people, a..... let's not mention any names of individuals or organisations here..... It's never immediately clear here whether the school's server system is malfunctioning (or your own computer), or whether THEY have, seemingly at random, blocked certain internet sites. We all know the obvious, subversive ones, F**ebook & Y**tube, but now THEY have dramatically extended the list of sites that THEY want to block. Ironically THEY have now forced me to load software that gives me access to those very sites! It may not work indefinitely though.....
…..suddenly the system is running like dial-up on valium & people on G-mail can't access their messages. I assume problems in accessing my South Australian based e-mail is just a glitch at the school. However it appears that it, along with a host of other sites, has been blocked as THEY become increasingly concerned about us communicating outside of THEIR control. Some think that events in the Middle East & North Africa have THEM concerned &.....I can't say any more.....
…..another teach.....sorry, individual, (I don't want to put h*m or h*r,
Tianyi (George)
My Sunday Student in jeopardy), has provided a small piece of software which bypasses the blocked sites via proxies &..... I've said too much already. Anyway it seems to work SOME of the time, maybe when THEY are not looking. I will probably have to switch to my Yahoo email though, until THEY decide to block that too.....
…..the calendar indicates it's spring. The thermometer is most definitely into summer. Humid, in the low 30's C & my electric fan is spinning for all it's worth & not only the blankets but the top sheet is now pushed aside at night. I wonder if THEY control the weather too. If THEY do it seems THEY want us to sweat it out.....
…..it seems that THEIR conspiracy to control the Int*rn*t extends to the washing machines in our laundry room on the first floor, under my apartment. Damn, I gave away my location. Anyway, it appears THEY have gained control of the wash cycle on all the machines & have programmed them to stop before the spin cycle, sometimes without even draining the water. We must get a lock on that door. And a guard. One we can trust... Who can you
New Development, Yangzhou
In place of the trees we planted last year trust these days?....
…..it's probably a fair summation to say that this is a very big country to be run by small-minded individuals.....not that it is of course, all I meant is IF it was, y'know, if there were people who thought that my correspondence could contribute to the downfall of.....'nuff said, I'll shut up. Was that a knock on the door? What are THEY doing out there?.....
…..I'm helping Susan, the Chinese English teacher who sits next to me in the office, to create some short speeches on the topic of '----- of my life”. I insist I need a little information from the students first, I can't just write one with no background knowledge. She is collecting information in Chinese to translate to give me a start, plus writing some herself. They don't always sound good in English. Some are so incredibly florid that I almost can't bring myself to correct the punctuation & grammar without rewriting them.....
…..my embryonic plans to study for a degree while I'm here, via correspondence from an Australian university, could be nipped in the bud from the start if THEY continue to **** around with internet access. I can't
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Putting the grill together reliably say yet whether the University of new England website is accessible or not but while a capricious, paranoid, petty minded crowd of dickheads appears to be playing around with the communication network of a whole country it would be safe to assume that anything could be cut off or obstructed at any time.....
…..we're planning to go out to dinner on Saturday evening with our Chinese friends. I'm a little concerned THEY might poison the food but, after the school cafeteria I should have built up considerable resistance. I have basically become vegetarian this week, as the Western cafeteria has offered the much loved “BLTs', (Bacon, lettuce & tomato) sandwiches, pasta with bits of salami & as for the Chinese cafeteria, it's as well for me to investigate what's on offer pretty carefully as, apart from pork bits of offal get hidden in otherwise innocuous looking dishes.....
…..Wenesday evening Peter suggests we go to Gloria Jean's, the new coffee house on an incognito reconnaissance mission just to see what we're up for if we take up the offer of a casual gig there. Will we need a PA system or can we do it acoustically? Which would
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Jackie Ding assists in getting it lit be the best spot to play?. 'Don't mention music or gigs, just sit quietly in the corner & look around”. As soon as we walk through the door the young manager spots us. “Ah, did Paul tell you I want to start music here soon? Come & sit down, let's talk about it...” It's hard to go incognito here. We decide we can try a short session without PA as it's pretty quiet in there. Only when I get my voice back though.....
…..It would have been a nice outing for an hour or so but for dropping my phone in the taxi. I know Yangzhou is just a small town but finding the same taxi driver in a small town of 4.5 million still wouldn't be easy. I use Peter's phone to call mine but no answer. I heap curses on myself, which gives THEM a rest for a while, & resign myself the following morning to buying a new mobile phone & SIM card plus collecting all the phone numbers again.....
…..I send a message Shen Yue is out of town but I still tutor her son on Sunday afternoons. I call on Skype at lunchtime
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Erin makes the salad (cooking meat is for boys only!) to check that a Skype messages got through & reiterating that my phone is now missing so any organisation of classes will have to be done via other media. “I get your Sky-py message. I call your phone & I surprise I talk to taxi driver. He will take your phone to his office. You can collect it later”. !!!.....
…..I get Rainy to call the taxi office to ask when I can collect the phone. They'll give it to a taxi driver who is coming this way. He'll drop it off. I write, in my best Chinese, with some help from the dictionary, a thank you note, put it in an envelope with ¥100 & leave it with the security guards at the main gate.....
…..on the way back from the Da Run Fa I am crossing the road to catch the bus back to the school. A taxi driver calls out to me. I don't understand more than a fraction of what he says. He's probably speaking Yangzhouhua, that impenetrable accent that none of us can fathom. '…..Dawei.....”. He uses the Chinese version of my name! That's more than a coincidence. It's the taxi driver from
Would you eat this?
Even Mike found it, er, unpalatable. last night! I still don't understand what he's saying but he gives me back my phone & I take his taxi back to the school. I retrieve his reward from the security guards. I'm happy to give it directly to the man himself & I'm sure it was a good night's work for him. It's good to know he's not one of THEM.....or maybe he is.....
…..Damn! Now that I have resigned myself to the fact that THEY are stuffing up internet access for everyone & decide not do some other work, writing & editing photos, my laptop has decided to lock up while loading some essential “updates”, those frequent additions to the already bloated Windows software which fix the software that this multi-billion dollar business has sold before ensuring it actually works as it should. Finally Halim arrives to diagnose the “update endless loop” problem, where the computer endlessly starts & restarts while not actually loading “update 3 of 3”. A “recognised problem”, ie: one that the Microsoft actually admits to being their fault. The thought that Bill (you're-mug-enough-to-use-Windows-so-we-can-stuff-up-your-computer-whenever-we-want-to) Gates might be colluding with THEM is enough to bring on another attack of paranoia.....
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