Shang-haiphen

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Today I went along with Herself to a conducting course given by a Swedish choral conductor. Hailing and her friend Jenny (a lovely girl who is for all the world the spitting image of Maria Doyle Kennedy...yer wan from the Commitments) were taking turns translating, rehearsing, directing and accompanying. Not your average translators, these lassies! And without wanting to sound too adoring, it fairly puts you in your musical place to hear them hopping around the choir parts and the intervals not a bother on them, the hoors. Why didn't I practise the piano more?!! It was good to be there - plenty of new music for me. The conductor himself is like a zombie having flown 10 hours from his holidays back to Sweden and then 2 days later heading off to Shanghai. Not great for the old jetlag! We had lunch out with a group involved in organising the course, the usual deliciousness on offer. I don't even know who paid for it....this seems to be common enough! Nobody was too worried. My considerable linguistic talents were called upon a few times to read a few English words (during the course, not the dinner).

Tomorrow, if there is less than an inch of snow, we will go to a small town (maybe less than 1 million inhabitants) not far from Shanghai.

Every day when we drive into the city centre we pass a signpost for the Tibet Road...methinks that road must be quite long: you'd have to pack a fair few sangwiches setting off.

It's great that Hailing has a car. This would be a totally different holiday if she didn't. Her VW Polo is very nice and must be the best looked-after set of wheels in China, warmed up before every excursion (like any good choir) and lovingly preserved. I can't imagine how she got on without it. The tank does be filled for about 22 euro, so it does. A nifty little machine it is that hops in and out of the lanes with the best of them, though with a lot less lying on the horn than some other vehickles.

I forgot to say about the 2 little girls in the photos...having persuaded me to come out so they could have a look at me, one of them told me "you is beautiful". My inflated sense of well-being didn't last too long, however, as I was told a few minutes later "she says you is fit". With my aforementioned considerable linguistic talents I didn't have to look far for the intended vowel there!! Oh crip!

Have to dash... -

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