So. Here I am then

I rather fell into this while doing a routine Google check on the English Civil War. I use the verb "fell" advisedly - or carefully, at least - because at 1.10 am China time, and having just wiped my recent Search history in order to access my hotmail which was being devilish, I have no coherent idea of how I got from Oliver Cromwell to here. Nor do I really have any coherent idea of what I am doing here when the plan two hours ago was to go and have a hot bath.

But that's the thing I've found about China: nothing goes according to plan. I have come to the conclusion that, while not believing in astrology particularly, the fact that I was born Libra is rather important over here. It's all about balance. Not Ying and Yan because no-one here knows much about that - the Cultural Revolution left all that esoteric nonsense for trendy Westerners to pick up so they could could prove how mystical and, well, esoteric they were by wearing ancient Eastern signs on their t.shirts or rings. As I do.

So, to get back to balance: it may not be the secret of the universe but I do believe its the secret to China. Those who don't trust to Balance tend to get rather upset about China if they come from the West. Because nothing goes to plan - one's own plan, that is - but somehow everything comes out all right in the end.

So, I didn't get that long hot bath with an English language book and some Japanese knock-off bath products. But a quick shower will suffice from the hygiene point of view and an English language web site based upon a particularly cultish sort of English language book is much more exciting than poor Ruth Parks' "Poor Man's Orange" which I have read before anyway.

The object of both bath and book was to disassociate myself for a little from living in a country where I feel constantly like Gulliver in the land of the little people and where I am dependant upon total strangers in order to perform even the most basic of life's normal functions like eating (can't speak the language yet, you see). It seems therefore that I have accomplished my objective after all. Only in a rather Chinese sort of way.

As I said...it's all about balance. And things working out in the end. The end being, I expect where I should say that my area of expertise, to put it rather grandly, is Seventeenth century women writers (in England - so it isn't a large area of expertise) I am a writer of all sorts of things including plays, poetry, journalese, short stories and utter rubbish. I am originally English but from the age of 3 weeks have lived in so many other countries that I tend to forget that fact for whole years at a time. I am currently teaching at a University in Ningbo in China which is a surprise to both me and my friends (the teaching part, not the Ningbo part), I am having a short rest before going on to Post Graduate studies as I only finished my thesis last week and sent it off by e.mail to Australia which is where I have been studying until recently.

I also have an extremely cold bottom at the moment so am going finally to take that shower.

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