Midterms et al.

We are now in the midst of midterm week. I both enjoy midterm week and despise it; I really like the week break from lesson plans and homework books, but I much less enjoy the mindless proctoring and redundant grading.

This weekend will be the huge Shanghai Alleycat Race. It’s a weekend of group rides, the main alleycat race, some fixie trick competitions, and a mini bike polo tournament. Although it is not the first event of its kind in China (I went to the first in Beijing in May) it is the first of it’s kind in Shanghai. I would like to inset the event flyer and a link to the website here, but due to my incapacitated blogging, I cannot. If you want to check it out, just type “Shanghai Alley Cat” into a google search bar. Believe me, it won’t e difficult to find what you are looking for.

I don’t have to do any proctoring today and I finished all of my grading from yesterday, so it’s a bit like a mini-holiday. Not sure what I am going to do today. Maybe go out to a café to read and write, maybe stay in for a while and watch a movie. I am still waiting for Where the Wild Things Are to reach the DVD stores here in Shanghai. No luck just yet. Probably another few weeks.

I should probably spend some time on my bike if I am going to be ready for the alleycat. Haha. The weather is finally getting cold in Shanghai (although it keep going back and forth) and I am now wondering how much I will ride during the winter. I have never really been a fan of riding in conditions I consider less than ideal, but so far things have been different for me in Shanghai in regards to that.

Check for updates this weekend about Shangahi Alley Cat and watch for a complete write-up from Hangzhou. Some funny stories to be had there.

Testing

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Let Us Recommence

I initially stopped blogging because The Great Firewall of China had shut down my access to blogspot. I thought it would be temporary, and I was okay with the notion of a break in blogging – for a little while.

Many a month has now passed, and The Great Firewall is standing stronger than ever. I have, thus, decided to begin blogging again. I do not yet have a VPN, so my access to this site is extremely limited. There will be no photos or videos. Only my words. Daft and boring as they may be. My apologies in advance.

I plan to write one paragraph a day. About anything. This may, in fact be my last year in China. Where to next, I can never be sure. I hope to save for myself the often fleeting memories of fast paced life lived in modernizing China.

I am going on a weekend getaway to Hangzhou starting tomorrow after work, so look for a weekend full of updates on Monday. Nothing like starting a blog and then immediately a backlog as well. Such is life. I am really excited about the weekend, as this will be my first real getaway since coming to China. Going just to go. And most importantly, to enjoy good company.

Zaijian!