TOM CAT

My friend Tom has been helping me with my  travel arrangements for the holidays:

Street poster outside the campus

Inside one of the street cafes:

LOCAL LIFE

Mad Max Street outside the university campus, where local people have erected small cafes, fruit stalls and shops. You can buy fruit, vegetables, meat, and beer, or you can go and have a meal.I suppose I have got used to this so the novelty has worn off a bit for me,  but my wife Sarah wants to see more of Chinese local life....

THE LENS OF DISTANCE

I sometimes think of England and my village from this distance and wonder how I feel about it. What will I think when I return? I feel a sense of apprehension as there are some things I don't miss: chief among these is the difference in personal interaction I experienced. Customs are so different here and I'm just beginning to get used to them. I sometimes feel I've developed a steadily widening social circle among colleagues, students and Chinese professionals: but it can be easy to deceive yourself that many of these are deep friendships. Often they can be superficial and change at the drop of a hat. Things won't be clear yet for some time as I get to know the people and customs better.

Here are some pictures from a notebook: I sometimes use these to order food or communicate in some other way:

The Chinese people have smiling eyes. When they are out they often wear masks to protect themselves from the polluted air: and their eyes make it look as if they're laughing.