a new year...

so back from yunnan last thursday to settle into my next 12 months. I've decided routine is the way to go. monday i woke at 8, ran for 15m, showered for 15 then did Chinese for 30. Today i woke at 7.45, ran for 15m, showered for 15 then did chinese for 30 and had time to get dressed in order to start work at 9am!. Actually tomorrow i might get up even earlier and try to do 45 minutes of chinese.

once the routine becomes routine, my fitness should go up and my chinese too :) at the moment i am just using the text book, but finding it great. i'll probably still start to get a tutor a couple times a week i think; have to explore options!

so a new year begins, and i feel very middle-class chinese. running around our appartment complex (about 18 35-floor appartment buildings) which has a grass and seats type area in the middle, along with a small ringroad (and lots of entrances to the underground car park), you see so many cars leaving, and so many parked (some spaces above ground) -they're VWs, some Audis etc. These are the people who the entire World wants to sell to!

Its a nice area, a few miles south of the main business district, the rooms have A/C, western toilets (although can't handle toilet paper!) and other amenities. We've set up a wireless network in our appartment/office -there's the 4 guys on 2 bunk beds in 1 room, and Primrose in the other (small) room. There's a small lounge/eating area and also a large living area (office with 6 desks in!). We have a TV (but not managed to hook it up to receive anything) so we watch DVDs sometimes and we aren't far from Beijing life.

So middle-class Chinese, well their supermarkets are more upmarket (better designed, less chaotic, better range), their restaurants not the 'little stools and tables shoved in a wardrobe selling noodles' anymore but '2nd floor restaurants that require taking elevators, and the local shop is either a 24 hour 7/11 (empty, smart, expensive) or the little shop in the basement (very handy, but depressing to work there 24hr!). They drive everywhere (the traffic around here sucks at rush hour, although a new subway line will be open in about a year), have guards at each appt building to open the door if you have shopping, and have maids (like us) come and cook (hee hee).

Tonight John (from canada, been here 2 months) returns home, so i get to unpack into his area, and finally make this my home for the next 12 months. Tomorrow a friend from the UK (Michelle, MC VP OGX) arrives, probably, for a 12 month job and its also my sister's birthday (by the way, she is busy on a PR trainee programme in London). Now, its time to start work!