Fuddland

After my comments on the conduct of the public when boarding the underground, in the interests of balance I took a photo of something I see every Saturday morning on my walk to teach: a long queue of people [mostly students], snaking several times back on itself, patiently waiting for Sūzhōu (苏州) Library to open.

Like many important [or old] buildings, it uses traditional Chinese characters instead of the simplified versions that were introduced during the 1950s and ’60s. In traditional script, the first character of Sūzhōu is written 蘇, whose two components 鱼 and 禾 mean fish and cereal crops respectively, giving more of an insight into what the region was historically known for.

The only Western-style toilet in this public bathroom is used as a storage area.

As an aside, the Chinese for London (伦敦) is a homophone for “in turn, squat” (轮蹲).

Indicating where to stand as the subway train pulls up, following well-established international norms: passengers wanting to board should wait on either side, in order that passengers wanting to disembark can exit along the centre — with handy footprints just in case you’re not a Chinese-reader. This was taken in Nánjīng (南京) but you can see similar signs in Shànghǎi and, I imagine [and especially], in Běijīng. I translate the characters on the far left (《文明乘车》) as “Civilised boarding.”

In reality, the people who want to get on crowd around the middle, and start to push their way into the carriage as soon as the doors open. I don’t think this is rudeness on their part — I think it’s just a mindset that has developed over generations in such a vastly-populated country: you’ve got to scramble to the front if you want to get a seat or a good place to lean, and the fact that you can see there is plenty of room in the carriage does little to change this behaviour, despite the best efforts of the government in the lead up to the Olympics.

For China's nouveau riche, perhaps.

Fifth flat in just over two years, I’m getting good at this packing lark.

My new place is much more convenient for work and studying at the university — I can walk to either in under half an hour — and, much more importantly, is a stone’s throw from most of my friends’ homes, as well as the majority of bars, cafes and restaurants I usually frequent. No more wasting money on taxis home at the end of the evening!

Furthermore, the rent is two-thirds that of my last flat, and the neighbourhood is quieter and more traditionally “Chinese” than the wide-streeted, characterless district that I’ve been living in for the past fifteen months or so. It’s good fun discovering all the local shops, getting to know the best places to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. The only apparent downside is that the landlady lives in the flat directly opposite, which means we’ll have to be model tenants for a while before we throw our housewarming party.

The view from my bedroom window this afternoon. This is the first time we’ve had snow that actually settled since I moved here. Apparently, much like in London, it used to snow here most winters, but in recent years the December-to-February period has been merely very cold. It’s nice to have a bit of a pay-off for pulling on the thermals every day.

After a couple of months of unseasonal blue skies and warm weather, winter has at last descended onto Sūzhōu (苏州), with a very foggy past week and drizzly rain throughout the days.

The good news is: I have magically landed over a month’s holiday over the Chinese New Year period, so I can escape the dreary weather and head to warmer — or at least more visually-spectacular — climes in a few weeks. Time to start perusing my trusty Rough Guide once more.

…a shiny new washing machine! One that isn’t possessed by evil spirits, sings a happy tune to me when it finishes a load, and even has a self-cleaning setting. [I’m a bit scared to use that particular setting in case the machine implodes in on itself into a singularity, like a snake eating its own tail.]

And I just can't hide it.

On display at kindergarten at which I teach, a whole generation of children will express their excitement through the medium of winks.

One of my new teaching duties takes me about an hour out of Sūzhōu (苏州), to a technology company that insists I cover my filthy shoes with these fetching plastic socks.