Ganpodwer Splot

Thanks to one of my students, Jack, for the title of this post. It was his headline for a newspaper article on... yes, you've guessed it, Guy Fawkes!

Things of note that happened recently:

The buses in Kunming are mostly good, if a little crowded (especially the number 84). There are 2 versions of the number 9 bus. There is the regular bus, which looks like all the other buses in Kunming, and there is the little one. This one (as its name suggests) is smaller, dirtier and looks like it has come from the countryside, which it kind of has. Taking this bus always involves a lot more staring that taking the other buses. I learnt on Friday that it can also involve an impromptu aerobics session. There I was on my way back from Carrefour with, appropriately, a baguette in hand, contemplating an evening watching a dvd and drinking a well-earned glass of red wine. Suddenly, as we approached a junction, everyone on the bus who was standing, squatted down. When we got past the junction the conductor said 'Keyi le!' [It's OK!] and everyone stood up again. I was a little bemused, but the explanation was suggested to me by another foreign teacher - they cram the buses travel to over-capacity and so at junctions people crouch down to avoid detection by the police! Random...

Yesterday I went to a normal aerobics class and on the way home I cycled past a man on his bicycle towing a trailer piled high with pink stuff. Closer inspection (a little too close for comfort as it turned out) revealed that it was in fact a huge pile of pigs' heads. Yuck!

Then yesterday evening I went to a Christmas fair and concert at Nordica.

Pretty much a normal Friday & Saturday then.

Hasta luego!