Thisishenry

Lucky 2008!

2008-01-02T16:44:00.000Z

Er Ling Ling Ba means 2008

Ba is the Chinese for 8 and it's lucky because it sounds like fa which means prosperity. The character ba is written like two legs or like a lowercase n without the bridge at the top - 八.

To prove the point that the Chinese take the number 8 very seriously:

In China you buy mobile phone numbers from a long list provided by the salesperson. They vary from about $5 to about $10 normally. To get a number with lots of 8s you would pay $50 or more.

The olympic games are taking place in Beijing. They will start on the 8th day of the 8th month in the 8th year of this millenium at 8pm.

So here's my tip for 2008...

Now's the time to invest in China!

8 is a very lucky number in China so everyone there will expect to have a great year. Now in the real world this shouldn't mean anything but it's like the opposite of a bank-run. Everyone expects themselves and everyone else to have a great year so they act as if it definitely will happen - higher expected income, higher spending. Positive mindset creates a good atmosphere and people find it easier to overcome challenges.

And there are 1.3billion people thinking like this - that's a lot of people.

The really big questions will come for China once the Olympics are over. It will be interesting to observe and I would sell up during the Olympics. The challenge China will face is that the government has hyped everyone up to such a point about the Olympics, when it's over there is only one way for people to go.

Have a great 二零零八年!

Henry

Creationism

2007-01-21T14:50:00.000Z

I was pretty shocked to discover what the British government pays for Children to be learning. Even though this was reported 3-5 years ago, it still continues:

"We are interested to know what the Bible says about Science not because we wish to add a certain "religious flavour" to our Science lessons but because the Bible provides us with, as it were, spectacles through which the whole of reality can be sharply focussed."

Source

This, I suppose is the sort of religious flavour that tells us the world is 10,000 years old. What sort of perspective does someone have on the world who is brought up to believe that the world is 10,000 years old?!

Or perhaps the following view is what we should flavour science with:

"Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, [b] O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. [c] Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'

9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."

Exodus 32, Source

In this interesting bible story, God decides to destroy thousands of people because they started observing an alternative religion and "they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry".

I am confused as to what positive lessons genocide teaches children? What exact religious flavour will enhance their understanding of how the world works? What benefit learning about these justified (even praised) genocides has to young people?

Another perspective: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1389500,00.html

Je suis un photographer?!

2007-01-12T19:24:00.000Z

Bad French? I must be a wanna-be artist. Here goes anyway!

Black and Blue

The first picture is out of my office window (I was on a break!). The really amazing thing about this one is that the whole day there was a gale blowing outside the window. Suddenly the sun emerges low in the sky and casts long shadows over the town. The picture looks black and white but actually you can still see the blue at the top.

Busy Blur

What a great pun! Sitting opposite the Dominian Theatre waiting for Camille to get out from Church at 8.30am on a Sunday morning. It feels a bit like a time-warp.

Untitled

A distant cloud on the horizon. It's like a memory of a happy day flowing by. Like a thought passing through a magnifying glass. Like a bubble crossing a bubble of a life.

C'est tout!

Internet Explorer - Scurge of the Web

2007-01-10T13:36:00.000Z

It will achieve absolutely nothing but making me feel a little better, but I have a strong need to rant about Microsoft Internet Explorer.

I'm sure anyone who runs at the sound of 'HTML' doesn't even have the slightest idea but Internet Explorer is the most aweful and useless piece of software in existence. It would be like making a car which runs on a mythical non-existant type of petrol. Imagine - you stop at the petrol station and you ask for your mythical petrol. They should say no. But actually what they do is they take normal petrol, they spend days 'tweaking' it until it works in your car then they sell it to you at half the price.

I mean that would be crazy right? Why would they bother?

No - really - that is what is happening. Every website you visit has been made out of normal 'stuff' (let's not use techy acronyms). It's made beautifully and artfully so that you can have a pleasant dreamy experience. But then it's hacked to pieces, it's re-built with struts and supports like a tree that is far too old (the one in Sherwood Forest springs to mind!) just so that Internet Explorer can (sort of) display it as intended. The lengths that the poor people who put their hearts into these websites go to just so that Internet Explorer can continue to get away with 'running on mythical petrol'.

Let's have a guess at how we would estimate the economic cost to the world of Internet Explorer (it's gonna be high!).

The core impact of it's uselessness is web developers' time. It probably takes at least 1.5x the time it would otherwise take if everyone used Opera (for example). Well they have a living to make and so they charge this in full to the people who pay them - the companies hosting websites. So every website ever developed has cost 50% more than necessary. I think when you consider that even tiny websites can cost £200 while most commercial ones cost over £5000, you begin to see the scale of things.

Oh then let's add in the lost revenue of companies whose websites haven't worked in Internet Explorer - that's gotta count for a few billion.

Then we can add in the cost of security leaks - all those hackers shutting down government computers.

If it doesn't exceed all the money Bill Gates has ever made (oh Internet Explorer is made by Microsoft if you didn't know), then I'd be surprised. Maybe the world should sue Bill for all the money his company has cost us, let alone the psychological damage.

Conclusion...

This rant has a simple solution. Download Opera. Three reasons. First, you can zoom into pages - click the "+" key on your keyboard and the site gets bigger - trust me - this is amazing! Second - widgets - read this blog in a cool modern looking thing which pops up and down, rather than in this quite boring website. Third - mouse gestures - open a link in a new tab by right clicking and moving the mouse up then down - it's sooooo easy.

My God - I'm using the porsche of browsers for free while everyone else uses the run down ford fiesta that needs mythical petrol. Are you all crazy? Absolutely off your heads? It's like someone is handing money to you - not wanting anything in return. It is simply better - there is absolutely no (yes absolutely no!) drawbacks to it. Nothing zilch!

Here is a screen shot of my computer running opera (zoomed out a bit on BBC page) with my photo widget displaying a shot of Shanghai and my Blog widget displaying a post from a few days ago.

Ahhh...rant over! Please boycott Internet Explorer - it's rubbish and it causes mental anguish all over the world. (for the brave or tech-savy: IE Bugs Galore)

Pretending I'm Somewhere Interesting

2007-01-08T18:47:00.000Z

It could be perceived as a little desperate (?) or perhaps sad (?) or maybe just different (?). But with the volume of posts you could just assume I'm travelling the world, visiting exciting countries, witnessing beautiful events unfold.

Here, for example is an exotic sunrise. I'm enjoying my current situation, living life in the 'real' England (not just the cities and tourist hotspots!). I am finding the British people very friendly and the food is pretty good - although it's definitely too bland for my tastes!

Romantic Sunrise in Wantage

UK Weather?

2007-01-06T13:24:00.000Z

This is the view right now out of my office window.

I'm looking for opinions - what does it look like?

What Does It Look Like?

Chinese Meal in London

2007-01-05T18:39:00.000Z

As our New Year 'treat' Camille and I had a Chinese in China Town. For some reason Camille wanted to go to the same restaurant as we had gone to the previous year. We actually got the same table. I suppose it was romantic in some way!

Here (for any Chinese people still reading this!) is what a British Chinese Meal looks like:

Grilled Dumplings ***; Chicken Wings **

Later we went to the ridgeway in Oxfordshire to see in the New Year in a peaceful way (as opposed to A. Drunk or B. Squashed, Wet and Cold), with the fireworks all over the Vale of the White Horse shooting up into the sky creating an awesome light show in a break between the awesome special effects added by Nature.

New Year Lights and Fireworks; Trafalgar Square

Actually I think this was my favourite New Year. Such a relaxing and romantic evening. Perfect.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

2007-01-05T18:21:00.000Z

I've been reading an incredible book since Christmas. It's called "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". It's philosophical but it has a gripping story. The writing style is unlike any I've read before.

For example the author gives himself a voice and starts to 'talk' out of the blue in the middle of a chapter. It would seem a little random but is intriguing rather than annoying. In another part he writes a chapter as an afterthought to a previous chapter - writing this quite clearly. It's as if part of the book is a narrative about writing a book.

The story is of a husband and wife. From when the meet through to ... ? I haven't finished yet. I think they die though - there were some hints. It's set in Prague in the 60s and 70s. The man is a prolific womaniser, the woman knows this but has deep rooted 'issues' and won't leave him despite the infidelity.

Book Cover; Random Image from Google Images (search for book title!)

What I think I like is the lack of detail. It skims over the story and puts most of the 'effort' into describing emotions and thoughts. At the same time I think I'm gripped by the story.

It's by Milan Kundera (amazon link).

I suppose I felt compelled to share that as the book is so intriguing. I'm going to post some photos in a seperate post.

Ciao!

Home Sweet Home

2006-12-29T18:44:00.000Z

I know it's taken two weeks (no I didn't take a boat!) but yes I'm back in the UK. Actually I got back 2 weeks ago and just been getting things off the ground with my company and doing the Christmas thing.

Well I fully intend to keep blogging from the UK. I suppose I need to find something interesting to blog about otherwise all you will get on here is a list of ramblings. Perhaps about the weather? I'm open to suggestions. It will probably be mostly about my company.

My new office!; A view over Wantage

Biggest achievement today - writing a formula which calculates the size of an order required which keeps the average stock above zero but below 5 units. Pretty cool huh?! And yes I did other things.

Well done Mum - amazing centre-piece!; Summer (?!?!?) Pudding

Oh - if anyone in the world knows how to fix my network with two wireless range extendors / repeaters and a belkin wireless router, I'll love you forever!

Til next time!

The Last Post

2006-12-11T12:21:00.000Z

From China and to China, This is Henry saying "Goodbye" "Adios" "Au revoir" "Auf Wiedersehen" "再见".

The sun is setting for me in China. I will soon be high in the sky, flying away on my jet plane. I have written an offline diary - a little more detailed than the blog. I was reading it this morning. Looking back to 90 days ago, it seems like yesterday but also a lifetime ago. I think I have changed more as a person.

Sunset on China; Leaving on a Jetplane

It's interesting. I suppose for me the really different part of life here has been how people treat me. Unlike at home, I am far from anonymous. In the school, almost everyone knows me as I have taught over 2/3 of the classes in the school (that is 28 classes at 45 students per class - about 1000 students overall). Without exception, everyone is extraordinarily kind. The best word to describe people here is gracious. Polite, friendly, warm-hearted, welcoming, generous. It is a special experience to be treated like this - consistently and genuinely for 3 months. I suppose it is the experience of having all of these people really like having you around. It has to change the way you think about yourself. I think returning to the anonymity of life in the UK will be the greatest reverse culture shock.

But oh, the excitement to come. When that plane lands on British soil, I will be moving into a new stage of my life. 'The Rest' I call it. The prologue to this story is now definitely over. Welcome to Chapter 1. It's going to be an exciting ride.

My closing advice to the students in all my classes is the best advice for me too:

Make Mistakes
Take Opportunities

Every day, do something that scares you

GRRRR...!!!!!!

2006-12-09T04:39:00.000Z

I only have two lessons left as a teacher. One thing I really didn't expect was for it to be so up and down! Some of the ups are in the older posts. Here is an idea about the downs:

"The frustration that I'm feeling right now needs some urgent venting. I am sitting here – spending another afternoon planning another lesson for the evening class. But I know for a fact that it will be almost fruitless. I know that 75% of the children will treat the lesson as a chance to get away with chatting to friends and not doing homework. It is the lesser of two evils for them.

I am putting in this effort yet I am pretty sure they will not learn anything. They couldn't even remember what we had talked about in the previous lesson."

Then, of course the lesson I was planning there went really quite well. Yesterday as I was doing my final two lessons with the older students, I was struck again by a down:

"Those who treat it as a joke or a chance to do homework for other classes don't get anything. Is it my fault? Is it my responsibility to get them learning. Well I suppose I'm the teacher so it is. But at the same time it's not 100% teacher. You need some input and effort from the student. When they're not prepared to do that, the teacher is left dragging them through things they don't want to do."

But all it takes is one moment to bring it right back up:

Class 4; Class 5

Update - Part 4

2006-12-07T22:42:00.000Z

How could I think the day was over!

Part 4

It's China. Every day is punctuated by food. It is more than an essential part of life. It is life. I was taken to dinner by a PE teacher and her friend and an English teacher and her husband - oh and the PE teacher's 2 year old. First the 2 year old 'relieved' himself on the floor next to the table. The waitress silently fetched some newspaper while we laughed. Then the sheep liver and kidney on a stick was produced. I was, of course, thrusted the choice liver and kidney. One bite produced a bleeding mushy thing. It was a real challenge for me. I finished the kidneys but not the liver. Needless to say, the bill was paid somehow invisibly.

Old China, New China, the Future of China, the Food of China.

That's a proper Chinese experience!

Chinese Culture - Old and New

2006-12-07T08:02:00.000Z

I've had an interesting day. It fits into three parts.

Part One

Randomly had it sprung on me yesterday that there was a school singing concert at the Shunyi Cinema. Slightly bemused, I went along. It was a Long March romp. Mao impersonations; Long March uniforms; colourful dresses and dancing; ebullient singing:

Is it meant to be Mao?; Long March Uniformed Students

Part Two

After the school singing concert, I went for a quick shop before going back to the school for lunch. I managed to buy some pop-music which I have been trying to do for a week or so. I am the proud owner of a Jay Chou album (Jay Chou - Teenage Heart Throb). His name is plastered over many a students' desk!. I also got a female artist - Jolin (Jolin - Dancing Diva). What a contrast to the Long March songs. It just illustrates the contrast in Chinese life. Changes over such a short time combined with a society which talks the official line and lives another. Really fascinating to experience.

Jay Chou; Jolin

Part Three

The third part of my day has been teaching. I am a teacher for only 4 more lessons! I have made a determined effort this week to leave the students with some positive messages which may sink into their minds and change the way they live their lives. I hope that I have released some potential. I hope that I have given confidence to those couple of students who may have lost belief in their abilities. I hope I have given them what no-one gave me. It was at the very least fun to shout as loud as possible! Here is the slide.

Lesson Slides! Go Chinese students!!!

So there you have it. Old China. New China. The Future of China. All in one day.

Chinese Poem - Li Bai

2006-12-05T23:41:00.000Z

举床
头前
望明
明月
月光
低疑
头是
思地
故上
乡霜

A Tranquil Night

Before my bed a frost of light

Is it hoarfrost upon the ground

Eyes raised, I see the moon so bright

Head bent, in homesickness I'm drowned

Dog Soup

2006-12-05T23:22:00.000Z

I promised that would be eaten. All I can say is...

Mmmmmnnnnn!

Before...and After

(ps the is in the soup - the bbq meat is )

A Typical Lesson

2006-11-30T23:07:00.000Z

Here is a typical lesson. This week we've had some interesting discussions in the Grade 3 classes. Teenage pregnancy, advantages and disadvantages of girlfriends and freedom of speech!

After a multilingual hello, we get going with a long word - disestablishmentarianism! Nine students have to come to the front and each take a syllable (or part of). Practice speeding up until they can say it. They have never been taught this method of reading new words as they rely on the complex phonetic system.

Hello...; Long Words!

Next I have an optional mood lifter - depending on how tired they look - a crazy hopping, vertical twister sort of thing - just to make them laugh and wake up!

Then it's about 15 minutes of me droning on. Trying to give them a balanced view of the UK and what it's like to live there. I think it's important to build an awareness of the problems in 'rich' / 'western' countries as these are rarely portrayed on the imported media that they are exposed to.

The UK: Good or Bad?!

For the alcohol one, I tell them about excessive drinking and the inevitable accidents. For the Salary one I get them thinking we're rich until I tell them about the cost of living which is almost exactly 10 times greater than in Beijing. We all end up with zero, wherever we live in the world. For old people, the sorry state of caring for the elderly in the UK and the lack of interest shown by many families to their Grandparents (as compared with here!). For young people, I try to explain the problems and shock them a little with the teenage pregnancy problem. Unfortunately that then leads to the question: "Do you have any children?" "Errr... No!" They confidently tell me it's not a problem in China. Hmmm.

The next part is for them to choose a topic, think of some good and bad points and then have an argument! For me, this is the most interesting part. The topics vary from school - the easiest and most immediate choice; to girlfriends - one guy telling another that girlfriends were good because love makes you happy! I was also pleased to see some of them discussing China. Good - beautiful; friendly people. Bad - overpopulated; polluted; poor. I think one group listed freedom under bad. The power of suggestion!

Choose your Topic!

Getting them to argue is also fun. I go around shouting, "You're wrong" ... "No, YOU'RE wrong!". Some really get into it. Some, I suppose are just scared!

The last part of this lesson is a poem. I'm trying to get them to have a more natural spoken style - a more undulating pattern to sentences. Mixed success - it's something for them to work on.

Romance by Robert Louis Stevenson

Then, it is just to say goodbye (also in 5 languages!) and I'm off again. Normally to repeat the same lesson to a new set of unsuspecting 15 year olds.

Adios! Auf Wiedersehen! Au revoir! Goodbye! Zaijian 再见!

The Long March

2006-11-27T23:40:00.000Z

Last week, the entire school visited (over three days) the National Army Museum to see the Long March exhibition. Let's not get into the rationale behind this trip which comprised of 4 hours on buses, 1 hour queuing in freezing temperatures and 30 minutes in the museum!

The interest for me was to compare the informatoin I had gleaned from a semi-fictional novel I read about a British pastor who had got caught up in the march and the reality as presented by the Chinese government (which one was less fictional?).

Museum; Walking in Circles

To give them their dues, the museum was actually pretty good. Multimedia, interactive. Unfortunately 100% Chinese! The pictures told part of the story for me though. I was surprised about how much the march had moved in circles. I remembered the description of the marsh and the mountain from the novel.

Through Marsh and Mountain

Altogether I felt almost inspired by the exhibition. Consider the motivation driving these people to put themselves through such a painful and difficult experience. Imagine the force of character that the leaders of the march must have exhibited to get these people following them.

Mao's words; Mao and Later Chinese Leaders

I suppose my personal position is that it was, like so many things, an incredible idea that drove people. The idea that everyone can be equal and better off. Unfortunately, the reality was somewhat short of the idea.

Donkey Dumplings

2006-11-27T08:51:00.000Z

Here is a Chicken's head:

Organic Chicken Restaurant

Actually, I'm told that people don't really eat the head but it goes in the soup for flavour. If you're unlucky you might get it by accident, then there's the big debate in your head about whether you're expected to eat it or whether letting it go back to the soup is really bad manners?

Last weekend I went for a meal and ate some Donkey Dumplings (hey that rhymes!). They were pretty tasty! The donkey meat was minced pretty much as beef would be.

Oh and I had some pig's stomach and before that some pig's liver.

To be honest, meat is meat. It doesn't make a lot of difference where it came from. Liver, though, tasted pretty bad. All I could think about were the images were shown during GCSE Biology of smokers' livers with all the grey dead tissue which looked a little crumbly. Well that's what the liver seemed to taste like!

Now I'm getting a bit more adventurous... I'm determined to try some dog before leaving - after all - where else in the world can you eat dog at almost any restaurant?! Oh and in case you wondered - actually they don't eat cat in China (or at least that's what I'm told!).

你好小狗！你好吃马？
Ni hao xiao gou! Ni haochi ma?

Romance

2006-11-26T12:19:00.000Z

For Camille:

I WILL make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me,
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.

I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom,
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.

And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.

(By Robert Louis Stevenson)

Hello World

2006-11-25T07:34:00.000Z

I've missed you! It's been too long!

Today it snowed! Why is snow beautiful? What makes it so inspiring? Well even if the causes are a mystery, the effects are clear! It made a good start to the day - the sun not even brightening the horizon and the moon hidden by pollution, the cold seemed to refect off the snow and enhance the freshness of the air.

I have a question. Is it normal to question your direction so much? I think that sometimes I wonder where I am going so much that perhaps I don't get anywhere. I am also in a deep conflict between the need to do something and my personal theory that we can only be happy if we accept our lot and enjoy the experiences that life offers us. In other words, 'going with the flow' is the only route to happiness. Contrary to this, though, I tend to feel most happy when I'm going against the flow. Even more confusing though I don't feel happy when I feel like I am pulling other people against the flow. Imposition is something I have a real problem with!

Now I am confusing myself. Perhaps to summarise:

1. Happiness comes from acceptance.
2. Society expects you to do something.
3. Is acceptance going with the flow?
4. Is going against the flow making problems for other people?

Much clearer! My current resolution goes something like this:

Assuming that other people are able to make their own decisions and voice them, I can discount problem number 4. I can also argue that 3. is logically inconsistent. The fact that most people don't accept their lot makes acceptance a positively disruptive step to take. However, I think it is not a black and white system. Acceptance could be understood as 'accept you will never succeed and never achieve anything so sit at home and watch Sky TV for ever more'. This is more like denial. I suppose I see acceptance as coming to the realisation that everyone has the potential to make a positive impact on the world (however small) and that with this potential comes some responsibility - the responsibility to follow it through. Happiness then comes from fulfilment. Fulfilment is the realisation that you have taken responsibility, achieved something and helped people.

And to summarise again:

1. Imposition is in the eye of the imposter (so to speak)
2. Acceptance is going against the flow
3. The role we should accept is that of a responsibility to make a positive impact
4. Happiness is derived from fulfilment.
5. Fulfilment is dying with the knowledge you took responsibility, achieved something and helped people.

So the next question is, When is the best time to die?

The Weather...

2006-11-18T00:18:00.000Z

Well, I am British, after all:

London
The forecast for London, United Kingdom on Saturday: sunny. Max Temp: 10°C (50°F), Min Temp: 5°C (41°F), Wind Direction: W, Wind Speed: 10mph, Visibility: moderate, Pressure: 1013mb, Humidity: 53%, UV risk: low, Pollution: low, Sunrise: 07:21GMT, Sunset: 16:08GMT

Beijing
The forecast for Beijing, China on Saturday: sunny. Max Temp: 13°C (55°F), Min Temp: 3°C (37°F), Wind Direction: NW, Wind Speed: 3mph, Visibility: poor, Pressure: 1028mb, Humidity: 71%, Sunrise: 07:01HKT, Sunset: 16:57HKT

Thanks http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/

So, interestingly, London has a narrower band of temperature, a shorter day, more wind, lower pressure. But Beijing is more humid, more polluted and less visible.

Less visible...hmmm. Maybe the weather is a political signal?

If you had 1,000,000 RMB...

2006-11-15T11:29:00.000Z

Take a group of 45 14 year old Chinese children. Every day they spend 15 hours awake and about 3 hours not working (yes that means approximately 12 hour days). Every lesson they sit in tiny desks with piles of books. Every minute they are over-worked. Every month they are examined.

Then tell them to dream - tell them that they can do anything - tell them they have more money than they can imagine. Suddenly there is excitement in the room. Everyone wants to talk - it's a magical effect! They want to learn!

It is also a pleasure to hear that many want to help people. And many want to help themselves. They are a bunch of normal human beings. Will they lose these dreams? Will they live them? Will they pursue their hopes or will the world beat them out of their young minds?

Optimism is self-fulfilling, so I am happy to believe that it is inevitable that some will achieve their dreams. Surely China will become a better place when these Children grow up!

Beijing Today Extracts

2006-11-14T11:12:00.000Z

Animal Attacks
Over 11,300 people in the capital were injured by animals in the first 10 months of this year, up more than 28% on the same period last year.
Connected news from previous edition: Beijing plans increased pet controls. Connected 'hearsay': Government plans major 'cull' of pets in run up to Olympics!

Kids tarred with stigma of stupid
On IQ tests for badly behaved children, currently being recommended by schools.
"Being labeled an idiot could turn a happy child into a sad one"
"We encourage those who have study issues but do not have mental problems. We tell them they are clever and give suggestions on how to improve themselves. As for the goofy ones, we tell them the results too. It's also no problems, as they don't even understand what it means."

Obesity becoming a health problem in China
"60 million of [China's] citizens are obese. Thats equivalent to the entire population of France... At the same time, about 24 million Chinese still live in abject poverty and suffer malnutrition"

A dream comes true for AIDS orhans
A school is set up for AIDS orphans and they have been taken on a trip to Beijing. The school has been set up to seperate the children from the mainstream due to bullying.
Can't decide if this is good or bad but you can be sure there's more to it than is written.

Mandelson talks of China's global role
"In a speech Tuesday at Tsing Hua University, EU Trade Commissioner Peter mandelson has argued that a resurgent China should be opening its markets wider to foreign cometition and ready to take up global responsibilities for the preservation of the open trading system"
Guess what the Chinese minister said?

Private Aircraft: playthings of the rich
"The market for private airplanes is heating up with new aviation regulations and competitive prices. Pilot training schools are eyeing the commercial opportunities like tarts with the rent due."
For a slightly dull article and a clearly consesrvative paper, that was a startling line to end on!

Beijing previews 2008 Olympic traffic plans during China-Africa summit
"The combination of control and pursuasion proved remarkably efective taking off the city's streets about 30% or 800,000 of the capital's 2.8million vehicles during 6 days of meetings between Chinese and African leaders over the weekend."
Try doing that in London! Ken would be shot at dawn.

Hidden at the bottom of the front page of this paper is the following:

"Under the auspices of the Information office of Beijing Municipal Government"

What is fascinating to think about is how much a constant stream of carefully planned and subtle articles can affect peoples' opinions. Corruption is a common story for this paper but only ever focuses on low level officials. People don't think the country is perfect but they are only aware of the problems that the government wants them to be aware of and these problems always seem remote. Oh and the government is always doing something about them - perfect example is the AIDS story on the front page.

Check out http://bjtoday.ynet.com/

Shanghai Zhongwu (上海中午)

2006-11-12T08:33:00.000Z

"A famous historical and cultural city"
"A paradise for shoppers"
"Prosperous"
"Cosmopolitan"

For me, what stuck out... Probably the beggars. I have seen only 1 in Beijing and to be honest I thought that the government just rounded them up and put them out of sight. Perhaps the further from Beijing you are, the lighter the hand of the central government?

But I did like the city. Safe. Vibrant. Interesting. Functional. Cheap. The contrast is, I suppose the stark reminder off where you are:

Rubble and Skyscrappers

The city has a lot of parks and good places to walk. I spent some time watching the Xiang Qi (象棋) or Elephant Chess in ZhongShan Gong Yuan. A man invited me to play but I couldn't as I didn't know how. I'm going to learn now though as it would've been really great to give him a game! It is a very common thing to see the old men playing cards / chess in the park like this. It was nice to be invited though!

Timeless Beauty

Something I really wanted to do was experience the city by night as you almost always see what I suppose are now cliche pictures of the lights. I have this thing about getting the same photos as I have seen in the past so here are my versions.

Shanghai by Night

I had great fun on this day in Shanghai mostly due to the completely random conversations. Firstly a beggar who I tried to explain why I don't give money to beggars out of principal. Then a random student who wanted to practice English. Then the art students who wanted me 'just to have a look at their exhibition'. Then the numerous hawkers on the Bund. Then the chess players in the park. Then a long conversation with a guy who shared my birth year who was selling large paintings on the Bund. Oh and finally an Australian traveller in the Youth Hostel. I will never meet any of them again. I will never know what their lives held after the point I met them. I do not know if they even exist, really. All I know is what they told me and what I told them. Maybe the guy, my age, on the water front will grow rich and one day visit the UK. Maybe he'll starve if no-one buys his paintings. I hope it's the former.

Happy Birthday Camille!

2006-11-05T10:14:00.000Z

It's your birthday and you'll cry if you want to, cry if you want to, cry if you want to! Remember remember the 5th of November - it's Camille's Birthday.

Camille 我爱你

Chinese Alcohol from 1980s

2006-11-05T09:48:00.000Z

On Friday I was randomly invited to tour a Brewery along with the visiting group of Singapore high school students. It turns out the brewery exhibits poems from poets who only write while drunk; reliefs of Confucius - the Chinese thinker who defined their social order; a courtyard used by the Emperor; an insight into Chinese factory workers' lives and NO tasting opportunity!

I was bemused more than interested. What surprised me was the extent of choice in Chinese strong liquor! This side of the culture seems to be well hidden from foreigners. The alcohol on sale is all in excess of 45% strength.

Again and again I see that I should not make assumptions about any people. I suppose, again and again, I can see that underneath all people are the same.

Why?

2006-11-04T10:34:00.000Z

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Beijing Traffic

2006-11-02T23:29:00.000Z

Here is a taste of a highway in East Central Beijing. It could so easily be anywhere in the world. It's incredible to think that only 30 or so years ago this country was in a state of anarchy. The advances made are astonishing. About this there is no question.

The question I have about China is the nature of the advances.

Beijing Sunrise; Beijing Sunset

2006-11-02T13:57:00.000Z

No matter what the sheperds say most days are pretty similar. But when you get a clear night, the sunrise can be stunning - something I've never really seen before.

Sunrise:

From the 9th floor of the dormitory building you can see the sun rising in the East in the area just outside Shunyi and near the cemetary.

Sunset:

From a footbridge over a busy Beijing urban highway. The skyscrapers and traffic could be anywhere in the world. But walking behind me is a man with a typical Chinese three wheel bike carrying some goods from somewhere. It is the contrasts which make the facts more evident.

Life In China

2006-11-01T07:53:00.000Z

Have been silent for a few weeks! Too busy by far!

Last week my happy predictable life was uprooted. I was meant to be teaching a few classes. Suddenly I had 12 in 3 days, having only taught 28 in 5 weeks! Then I was somehow meant to be designing 'external' sessions on Sustainable Development - Our Reality and Entrepreneurship! In addition I got requests to help with children doing various competitions in English, help a teacher to pronounce complex sounds correctly and just chat to people. To say the least it was a crazy week. I got to Thursday and suddenly became ill with what seems to have been a 5 hour bout of nausia brought on, as best I can tell by drinking from a cup which may have had some mould on I suppose.

Well, I finally got all the material for the session on Thursday night and set off for the conference on Friday. It took 3 hours to do a 1,5 hour bus journey. I arrived 3 hours later than hoped! Then I found that my role on the first day was quite heavy and that I was facilitating what amounted to any random strikers who turned up.

Fine but not really allowing me the time to finish the session as I'd hoped. The conference went until 10pm and I couldn't really find the space to do any session prep. So at 4am, I finally closed the lid of the computer, happy with the session and the materials! Crazy.

The conference was good - very odd feeling to be back in the middle of the AIESEC bubble. I have some 'developing' thoughts on what it's like. Not sure yet what I think.

So it's been a very busy week and I wasn't really prepared for it so set me back a bit I suppose.

This week is more balanced and there is light at the end of the tunnel (as opposed to last week). So I'm going well. Still the random unpredictability continues as on Monday I was told I would have to move rooms on Tuesday. In the evening I turned up for a lesson and the children told me it had been moved 15 minutes later - no-one told me! Today I was told that next week all the children at the school would be having exams so I wouldn't need to teach! Thanks for the notice!

That's life though! It makes things more interesting.

Ciao.

China

2006-10-24T07:18:00.000Z

This weekend I made it to the Great Wall - I must be one of the few visitors who leaves it 5 weeks in Beijing before visiting it!

It's a bit of a shock to realise I've been here for 5 weeks! The counter on the Olympics was 692 when I arrived. Now it's 655!

I went to the Great Wall at Simatai. Fortunately I managed to negotiate what I thought was a relatively fair price for the taxi. I was a bit paranoid about getting it as they are normally trying to rip you off and I'm not prepared to drive a killer bargain because it's really not fair on them either. So I have this thing about taxis. I suppose then it was the best thing to challenge my comfort zone!

I did get an OK price - at least I only paid just over half the original price so I suppose I did OK. I got to the wall and powered up to the top in half the stipulated time. There was a woman who was trying to sell me a book who walked all the way up with me. I didn't ask her to but she basically guided me up - not that there was much guiding required. I was annoyed at first but then decided to go with the flow and started to practice my Chinese with her.

When I got to the top I was a bit disappointed that there was a guard stopping people go to the higher watch towers with the more challenging walking/climbing. Still that did mean I wasn't tempted to take the risk. I almost ran down with the local lady following/leading. I did buy the book. Not sure whether out of guilt or actually wanting it - the photos are quite good. Then I went straight up the other side - killing the legs but actually this less crowded section was far more interesting. The wall was narrowing and in worse condition but this gave it an authenticity that enhanced the experience of walking on it.

I am not sure about the Great Wall - it is a bit of a myth as it was never 1 entity - it was built by different people at different times and a bit like China was united by various people at various times. It was also built with the cost of large numbers of lives. Is it wrong to enjoy such a thing even hundreds of years after the crime? Will people look at the places we look down on now as unacceptable? I think it is certainly a part of a global heritage - a feat of human determination more than anything else. Also a clear signal of man's need to feel domination over all things other men, plants, animals and mountains. When you look at the Simatai ridge from a distance, it itself looks like a wall - what other reason can they have had to build it except to try and send a signal to an enemy that we are more powerful than you and if we can do this then how can you conquer us?

So for me it was really just a great way to access remote hills and a great walk taking you quickly up and down steep slopes and giving you great views.

Great Wall - tick box. It makes a nice trio - Machu Piccu, the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China. Three landmark places / constructions, three different countries, same theme - let's a build a building that makes a statement and shows everyone else how amazing we are. Just goes to show that while people and people's products look different, they are all the same underneath!

Sadness is a Choice

2006-10-20T08:39:00.000Z

People can choose - happy or sad. If you see something nostalgic is it a happy or a sad moment? You choose!

Sustainable Development and Motivation

2006-10-20T00:33:00.000Z

I'm planning a session on SD currently for an AIESEC Conference in Beijing. www.aiesec.cn
It was an interesting process. Firstly I started off identifying with objectives. Then I slightly changed my mind on the approach and I began to identify what, why and how factors and elements. On the precept that why is the most important I only spent a few minutes on what and how - they are quite obvious really. I then began to think about what motivates people to act sustainably and more generally 'make a difference'.

My theory is vaguely as follows. There are two sides to peoples' motivations. The positive and negative. Positive means that the motivation is created by a personally derived desire for action. Negative means that the motivation is created through force or imperative from an external source.

Some positive motivations can be:
Opportunity
Potential Impact
New knowledge that inspires
Personal gain
Personal experiences – all
New experiences and connections

Some negative motivations can be:
Personal Responsibility
Guilt
New understanding and connections
New knowledge that shocks
Personal experiences – all
Social Drive

Take an example of someone who is 'making a difference' - Bill Gates (I will assume he is making a difference). Without speaking to the man it is impossible to say. I can visualise his motivation deriving from a variety of my identified sources though. Perhaps, for example, on the negative side he feels guilt - he has an extraordinarily privaleged life - even though he's worked hard, he has been rewarded over the odds and on some level may feel a requirement to pay society back. Connections may also force some action - he may feel that Microsoft has taken from society and that some positive contribution must be made to balance that. This last one would seem unlikely given the field his foundation concentrates in. Unless there is some 'reverse psychology' going on - this seems a little too contrived though.

Taking an alternative perspective, Bill may be positively motivated, and personally I feel it is more likely (his committment suggests desired rather than forced action). He may realise his opportunity in being the richest (or as good as) man alive to make a truely positive impact on society. He may realise that he has the potential to make an impact like no person before him and this may be making him try to make a difference.

Well anyway! The session will attempt to identify what motivates the young Chinese students which will be of great interest. It will then try to give them some positive motivation - asking them to build new connections in their knowledge which will generate some desire for action. Later in the day they get specific knowledge and understanding of key issues and they can use the desire for making an impact to combine with this and generate action after the conference. Great in theory - we'll see what the outcome is.

This is my theory of motivation to make a difference though. What do other people say?

First search for "theory of motivation to make a difference" showed no results.

Second search for "what motivates people" gave this CLICK HERE (google link). - mostly sales articles, same-old-leadership stuff and nothing interesting.

Next search for "what motivates people make an impact" (click here) yielded mostly random sites and a non-functioning site on youth aids work - getting closer?

There was one broken link to a paper which asks similar questions. Maybe I should be an academic and do research into it across the world. Or maybe not!

Enough rambling!

Hasta luego.

Teaching! Ahhh!

2006-10-16T13:38:00.000Z

Can't decide whether I just had a good or a bad experience.

OK so according to my continual insistence that all experiences are good, I've had a good one. I had a class of very tired, slightly confused and slightly disinterested 12 year olds who I was reciting the following lines of randomness to. I expected them to write it down:

I want to enter the head
To meet the chief of the meat
Be sure to get a receipt
For it is clear there is a deer here.

Until I touch my son's blood
I have few cues to use on his suit
If fur works the earth when they were birds

Crazy huh!? So I admit some fault in providing something so random. But they know almost all the words so I thought they might just do it one by one.

The problem is that they're so used to being cooped up and told not to talk as soon as you try and loosen the environment they start to take advantage. This means you feel like you have no option but to punish them.

The problem I face is that I want to teach them as much as possible as they have paid for the lessons and they deserve a good job. But the lessons are so late (starting at 7.40pm!) they can barely concentrate so I have to do less material that I think they can cope with (in normal hours). There are also too many of them!

So anyway got silence and I hope a little more respect from them. Next lesson is more relaxed.

It really makes you think about handling people - they are acting in the same way that all people do but simply more instinctively. I am trying to draw parallels with companies. I think people are over or underchallenged and this makes them disruptive. When disruption starts, it spreads leaving the very studious who continue working and the majority in dis-array. Authority is essential but can be used too bluntly and can create more problems in the future. It is equally important to understand the reason for the disruption and tackle it as it is to assert authority and earn respect.

Respect isn't something you give, it's something you earn - so said someone very wise!

So I will work harder to make the lessons at a better level and to make the interaction more simple for them. I will expect them to work harder to listen to each other and to me! I suppose the point is - it's not their fault, it's not my fault. We must work together to improve.

We shall see!

Dongtan Eco-city

2006-10-15T06:36:00.000Z

"the aim at Dongtan is to achieve an “ecological footprint” of two or less, meaning that two hectares of land would on average accommodate the consumption and waste of each person." From the economist technology quarterly last week.

I just read this article. I've heard about the 'Eco-city' before. It's interesting to get more information.

As ever I think there are several points to consider:

1. You can't consider on city in isolation and purport it's environmental credentials. The world is a system - there are so many equilibria that the positive effects of the city may be equalled or exceeded by some negative effect that while not contained in this city will nevertheless exist.

2. Should China be investing capital in white elephants (or is it pink elephants...whichever!?) or alleviating poverty and reducing the income gaps?

3. Sure it would be better to start simple and try to cut emissions in Beijing and Shanghai? Improve transport. Improve planning regulations and enforcement of them to keep construction under control.

4. Dongtan seems like a short term show piece. It's function to me seems to be about showcasing technologies but does not fit the social/financial sustainability measures that a truly sustainable city would have.

I have been thinking about this and I really don't think that China has such a huge responsibility to the environment as we do in Europe and N. America. In countries where wealth levels are so high, we should be putting huge amounts of resources behind making out entire societies sustainable (not, incidentally at the expense of other countries as can currently be the case). China's responsibility is to develop and increase wealth levels among it's entire population and ensure development is even and educated.

With the news that the number of $ billionaires has doubled in a year (from seven to fourteen), I hardly think that China is developing evenly. The country could do with getting this right and implementing more simple environmental measures (planning and emissions controls) before building eco-cities.

Shantaram

2006-10-15T03:12:00.000Z

Shantaram

www.shantaram.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/greg_roberts
Amazon link
Author Interview

This book must be read. There is nothing else to it!

I started reading it abot 6 weeks ago when my sister gave it to me and said - Henry - I think you'd like this book! I thought - hmmm - it's a good length - will last at least a month and probably will keep me going while flying to China. I looked at the back and it was apparently about a guy who'd escaped prison and lived in Bombay with various exploits. I thought it looked good so took it along.

Little did I know. I think the words in this book will seep into my consciousness and change the way I think. The reason I love to read is that it transports me to another world and allows me to live out two lives. I can pick up the book and no matter where in the world I am I am living the lives of those characters. I can look up and see the world around me and then I'm inexorably drawn back into the world created by the author.

This book was something different. It is the first book I've read with such a poetic feel. Reading it for the first time is one of those experiences that can never be repeated and I can duly envy all those in the world who have not read these words in this order before. It is like watching Faulty Towers for the first time - for people that have never seen it before there is a treat, an ultimate pleasure open to them that is closed to those that have seen it.

The I cannot and will not seek to explain the book. There are no words other than the authors that can do that and you must read every one of the 900+ pages to understand this.

The book ends with the author finally moving on and reaching the place he seeks. I think he accepts his lot and embraces it. This is his life and he finally realises that the only way to survive (let alone be happy) is to let the experience flow over him. I have just realised too that this is something that he comments on far earlier in the book when a friend tells him that he cannot resist experiences and must let things happen to him. Although this is attributed to an Indian personality trait, I think that this is the most profound realisation in life.

When we realise we must accept our lot and we embrace our situation that creates our future we can begin to control our fate. I suppose it's counter-intuitive that accepting what could be termed fate allows us to control it but I think resisting the inevitabilities of life forces us down a line we do not control, while accepting them allows us to mould the situations we face to suit us.

Teaching English

2006-10-10T12:39:00.000Z

Here are some of the things I am using to teach english in the school:

We are switching the children from a phonetic pronunciation system to a phonic one. I have been trying to teach them the sounds so that they can use the system.

I have started most of the children on a, e, i, o, u. The class I take in the evening is further ahead though as I have more classes. For Monday's lesson I invented the following rhyme/limerick/poems:

One day I went to the zoo
At the zoo there was a fruit
But the fruit was so chewy
And I didn't have a clue
Why the chewy fruit was in the zoo?

The next day I went to play a sport
And the sport was with a ball
Then the ball had a fault
The fault was from a claw
But I'm sure I said it was morning

In the evening I hit my toe
The toe was hurt to the bone
But the bone was old
Even older than the snow
When the snow had landed on the road

One day I put on my watch
That day I put my watch on
When I put on my watch
And put my watch on
I was surely putting it on

The owl said to the cloud
How will an owl speak to a cloud
And the cloud said to the owl
A cloud cannot speak to an owl
So how can an owl speak to a cloud?

If I oil my toy
My toy will be oiled
But if I oil my toy
My toy will by oily
So what's wrong with an oily toy?

They are a bit random but that's the idea - hopefully the children will remember some of the sounds at least! I'm determined that the classes are useful for them!

Another video

2006-10-06T08:56:00.000Z

Hopefully this won't overload peoples' connections. Here is the embedded video of my school where I work. It's a pretty large school and most students board during the week. The video is taken out of my room on the 9th floor of the teachers' dormitory building.

Video Tour

2006-10-06T08:46:00.000Z

I am trying to see if I can insert youtube videos into my posts. The first attempt is the video of my room that I uploaded yesterday. Welcome to my home away from home in China!

Fantasy Share Trading

2006-10-05T10:07:00.000Z

So I'm about to foray into the fantasy share trading world. I wonder what the future will hold for me? Perhaps I will make some fantasty millions. More likely I will take undue risks and lose most of the money. Perhaps I should focus my fantasy money on ethical shares and observe the outcomes? Perhaps I should go for the money. Who really knows!?!?

I think I will invest in the Co-op because they do good stuff. I will probably look for random and innovative companies because that is just more interesting than the Microsofts of the world who just do boring computer stuff.

I suspect that time will tell and chance will decide my fate.

Got some photos coming from China but my camera has deleted the nice ones from Wuling Shan at the weekend! Damned technology!

Travelling the World

2006-10-05T10:02:00.000Z

I found this link on Dan Cunningham's blog (http://dan.nomadlife.org/). Turns out I have been to 21 countries (counting only those that I have at least stayed one night in):

If you count all the countries I've visited overall - even airplane stop-offs then it comes to 29!

create your own visited countries map

Yes, OK, 29 is completely spurious and I really did only stay in the UAE for about 2 hours...but it's fun to think! Only about 160 to go.

Notable exceptions right now are Iberia - I've never been to Spain or Portugal - they should be pretty easy to add to the list. Russia would make the map more complete. Africa will be a challenge but I will definitely be there in the next 5 years or so!

Thanks for the link Dan!

China in Pictures...

2006-09-29T11:59:00.000Z

1. Me and lucy and my welcoming committee - AIESEC PKU - eating chicken wings and hearts at a restaurant next to their uni.

2. The teaching building of my school

3. My room

4. Me at the desk in the teachers' office.

Life, The Universe and Everything

2006-09-12T20:49:00.000Z

So have been away over the weekend - visiting my sister in Cardiff. Always a pleasure! Her house is amazing - I'm very jealous!

We wandered around the city centre and I was personally a little put out by two ostentatious 'stag-nights' that seemed to be 'going down'. I would actually call them stag days because it was only 5pm and they seemed to have had a good run already. So one of the guys is sitting chained to a chair in the pavement between a pub and it's outdoor seating wearing a bra and some other exciting clothing. He leers at people as they walk past and makes some smart comment to my girlfriend. I mean what drives people to want to do this? If you are starting a marriage in this way are you really in the right frame of mind to get married? If marriage is denial of freedom then something is very wrong. Basically it's another commercialisation of a weak tradition (by which I mean it has been adapted to mean something irrelevant to encourage spending). I can't stand it!

Anyway that was Cardiff - the city is still very nice though! Today I bought souvenirs to take to China - for presents or rewards etc. Exorbitant prices - I drew the line at a tacky pen with a flag on it for £2 (check it out: http://www.crestoflondon.co.uk). I got my bits and pieces though and the predictable irony is that most of it is 'Made in China'. This, I hope, will amuse!

Oh yeah and went to an amazing Indian yesterday - Tower Tandoori (http://www.towertandoori.co.uk/) near Tower Bridge. The food tasted good and the decor was great. Best part was that they were just really nice people running it. The manager made an effort to brighten the mood at the table as I was late and my girlfriend was a little put out! This for me was great service and it was a fun meal!

Finally... My sister leant me a book - Shantaram - an intriguing story of an escaped convict from Australia who seems to take Bombay by storm. Having visited Bombay it's reminiscent and great fun to read deeper into the city. Every other page I have to remind myself that all these things happened to this guy. Incredible story! (Amazon link).

I fly out to China on Thursday so tomorrow is packing! Enjoy.

Henry

Stone Necklace

2006-09-06T19:08:00.000Z

Have been drilling holes in stones from Croatia today. Turns out to be relatively straight forward despite assurances to the contrary from a whole variety of 'tradespeople' in Wantage (shoe-repairers, engravers, jewellers, jewellery makers and of course the funeral parlour!). The necklace is looking very nice if a little phallic but I can't change the choice of stones unfortunately.

Also been intensively learning Chinese - this is a challenge and not a challenge. The improvements in the pronunciation are great but the bulk of words and limited time make things tricky. Today it was "What are you doing today" or "jintian ni xiang zuo ma?". Yesterday it was "Ji dian le" (what time is it) and "Ni you xiongdi jiemei ma?" (Do you have brothers and sisters). The chapters are getting much harder and the CD doesn't run through the vocabulary at the start like it did for the early chapters - that's life though I suppose.

Oh yeah - the last part of my activities right now - work - The Company. Won't go into detail but currently worried about getting the website up and running along with sourcing products, finance, expertise, somewhere to work from etc etc etc!!! I am currently working on my positive outlook! At least the competition is pretty feeble.

Thought for the day...

I think that the UK press has meetings every so often and picks a politician to 'murder' for the next couple of weeks/months (depending on how stubborn the politician is). A few months ago it was the Home Office minister. Now they've got their sights set on Tony Blair. Basically this means that every news bulletin and newspaper front page has a mention of the 'leadership crisis' or various misdemeanors. The Mail (I think) produced a 'memo' and within minutes the entire press (including BBC) were reporting the contained information as if it were clear fact. Not a mention of the fact that it could have been made up by the Mail to capitalise on the attention. What a surprise when the Sun managed to produce a date for Tony's departure! Anyway...my point is that politicians are paid through our hard earned taxes in order to improve the running of the country and the lot of the people. No wonder they aren't much use when the press create non-issues just to sell papers. I never read papers and don't watch TV. I urge the nation to vote with their feet and stop reading ALL papars!

Here I am

2006-09-03T10:15:00.000Z

I almost forgot!

Here I am!

2006-09-03T10:10:00.000Z

Hi

This is Henry!

On Thursday I finally got my visa to go to China and teach! I also bought my flights and so I'll be off on 14th September!

Took three attempts for the visa - the queues are crazy - there must be 1000s applying each week. Looks like my great idea for a unique trip might not be so unique after all but I have no doubt it will be a challenge.

The queues are managed by these guys who have been applying for visas on people's behalf for 15 years. They make sure that the queue is orderly and people are in the right place! I suppose they get some form of preferential treatment in return for this service - interesting system.

Zaijian!

Henry