Bristow

This school year seems to be fraught with ill fate. Scarcely two weeks had passed before I contracted a ferocious case of head lice - a situation I have NEVER encountered during my life. At first I thought the itchy scalp was just a sensitive reaction to the change of temperature or my shampoo. Then one fine morning as I was helping the children out of their coats I happened to catch sight of myself in the mirrors which line our walls. Usually I try to avoid eye contact, so as not to horrify myself at my typical ragamuffin appearance - duly doused in snot and paint - but this particular morning a strange rustling of hair (sans wind) caught my attention. I peered in closer to discover the cause of this phenomenon and was horrified ... read more

I'm not back for Christmas... you won't notice me. You'll have rain: a drizzly pain, and presents under the tree... Strange to believe I have heralded in my second Christmas in Beijing. How short the year seems to be one again beholding my little plastic, blow-up tree, a tacky strand of lights draped over the tv, and have the gerbilish version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells" (sung in Chinese) blasting out from shops and restaurants. What did the holiday hold for Jennifer Lindsie? Thus far there has been a shortage of ridiculous festive work; which (I admit) isn't altogether disappointing. Finances, though always tight, aren't in the dire straights they were and I was hoping for a more quietly productive vacation. I have been attending some intensive Chinese classes during the ... read more

Our summer descended upon us with a great bought of sultry and soggy type of heat. Walking out on certain days you feel as if you are being coated with slimy grime and are careful while breathing, as it is as if you can bite the air - it's that thick. The refreshment of a newly showered body lasts an average of four minutes in this humidity, and if it is a day with no sun these are truly dismal surroundings. I can't complain too bitterly however, as there have been a smattering of exceptional weather (of course always while I'm working) where it's an incredible joy to gaze out at the crisp blue sky (and occasional fluffy cloud!) while wandering about dappled in real sunlight. It's a heady joy. My "summer" has come to a ... read more

"Why your visa not right?" - was a phone call I received during the final stages of the Dragon Boat Festival we celebrated mid June. A few weeks previous I had finally submitted all required documents to my agency for them to apply and obtain a "Z" (working) visa for me, at this point in the game any phone call I was expecting was one to inform me that my nightmare was over and I could finally pick up my working permit. Alas, it should have been expected that my personal ill-fate was not through sending stumbling blocks to trip me up! I gradually came to understand that the visa run I had taken in April was a miserable failure as the agency I hired to obtain the Hong Kong visa did not in fact issue ... read more

My "Life Soundtrack" has now completely shifted to be set to children's songs... I find myself wandering about my pit of an apartment, muttering tunelessly, "It's time to clean-up, it's time to clean-up..." to myself until Simon pokes his bemused face out to mock me. I don't even notice anymore. Why, you may ask, have I regressed to such infantile music appreciation? Could it be that life has become that much bleaker that I have had to escape to happier, younger times, before life and responsibility rested on my shoulders? No, quite the contrary. As I had initially suspected, the Tiger had good things in store for Ms. Bristow. I am proud to report that this little lady is once again, well on her way to becoming an established personage in Beijing society and at the ... read more