Inspiration

Now for the moment in a kid-free zone, I need occupation. Or, inspiration to decide what would be an occupation I might like to be occupied by. Isn’t it believable and at the same time unbelievable how we discover over and over again how much we actually do not know about ourselves? That seems to be a terrible sentence for someone who has been saying for quite a long time past I must do some creative any writing. Maybe I should say I keep discovering something I did not know about myself, even though once-upon-a-time there was all that psychoanalysis and self-discovery as a part of every day. Maybe other people don’t worry so much about noticing personal oddities.

In the last week, I have realised how much I depended on walking, just walking somewhere, to get me going and provide inspiration. A quick trot to Tesco’s or Sainsbury’s, visit to the Post Office or Bank, if in Shanghai (missing it, missing it) take the kids to school. Of course I know I miss them. Then I would come home and get on with what I wanted to do.

But, my heel hurts, I can walk, I am not doing it any harm so long as I don’t overdo it, but I can’t walk without consciousness. I had to look this up, but I think proprioception is the word for it, the way in which I know consciously or unconsciously what my own body bits are like and how I am perceiving them. So what I have discovered is that now that my usual proprioception way is out of kilter (even though its just a minor niggle) I did not know it was associated so much with happily getting on with life. Oliver Sachs wrote a great book I read ages ago, A Leg to Stand On, which was about how he adjusted psychologically to a broken leg. Think of Nadal and Djokovic playing that incredible wonderful tennis on Sunday – according to the commentator some of their magnificent performance is at the level of instinct (rather different from my level). They do not need to think about the placement of their feet, angle of arms, etc etc in order to reach, strike and return.

Somewhere when an injury occurs, the stuff we were doing before at the level of instinct is not do-able any more without thinking about it, and that upsets the other things we did not know we were doing at the same time.

The sitting room gets more and more crowded, with stuff, not people.

So I am without inspiration.Having sat down at the computer anyone who bothers to read this is getting a long involved post.

Casting around for some trivial relief, here is a photo of my bike which now lives in front of the bookcase and books which had to be moved out of the boxroom. Goodbye to my once elegant southside sitting room. I am trying not to sound too fed up.

I have joined Write on Edge prompts to see if someone else can provide me with inspiration.

Watch this Space. The new lodger and her rather nice 6-year old for whom the boxroom had to be adjusted, arrive tomorrow. If they provide inspiration will it be OK to write about them?

Re-programming

I have been back in Edinburgh for ten days and not posted. Why not? Why don’t I say back home? Why not go straight in to how good it is to meet up with people I’ve only been talking to online? It is good!
But, I have just realized that the word is re-programming so here goes. The most unexpected has been the dark, dark mornings, dark early evening, well of course it is in January at this latitude. (northern lights have been visible but I haven’t seen them because my mind is in this adapting place). The usual, expected, cars on the left of the road, biological brain not listening to aware mind so continually getting startled. Half expected- nothing in the flat the way I left it- as lodger now gone made it hers, not mine. Hurray I found my wooden spoons which used to be my mum’s and had been missing two years. They were in the back of ‘her’ cupboard. Along with a Chinese supermarkets worth of unfinished packets. I have packed al those for the new lodger, who will also be Chinese. She and her son arrive next Wednesday. Expected – two weeks to get into that room, closet and cupboards I have not seen in 3/4 years even though I live in the other bedroom and sitting room. (In case this blog has readers who do not know, for several
years my lodgers have been teachers from the Confucius Institute and they hand the tenancy over to the next when they return to China. It seems to
be a win-win for us all.)
Unexpected – heel which has been bothering me for a few months became very sore to walk on, so I have discovered the Western General minor injuries unit is very efficient and helpful. ( why why do people complain about the NHS?) Plantar fasciitis sounds drastic but is not, and the ligament will mend especially if I do exercises and don’t walk too far on hard pavements like I did in Shanghai. So I have got the bicycle out again even though it is a bit dark and I had to find the lights.
Mary, Nadine, Graeme – wonderful to see you again. Rosemary and Edith too, phoning and skyping at civilized times to those further afield, everyone at the Scottish Institute of Human Relations (SIHR)I am very glad to be back!!
This morning I will soon be at Morningside Peace and Justice regular Wednesday meeting. They discuss all sorts of things. My mind is re-programming to interesting grown-up conversations.

Pudong and schiphol

Ok now I am on the way home. Pudong and Schipol are the names of the airports on the way in Shanghai and Amsterdam. Just for the record, they are not all the same though finding things to do while on 2/3 hour wait is much the same. Pudong has free wifi and comfy seats everywhere, also many toilets along the walks to the gates. But it would not allow connection to the VPN so no Facebook or blogging possible – still in China. Schipol used to feel very modern – it is a few years since I have used this route- and I still like how easy it is to get off one plane and find the gate for the next. But, there are hardly any seats, no plugs that I can see for the ‘devices’ free wifi is time limited and the toilets all seem to be in the central transfer area. That is, by the shops. but, wifi is not in China so will I use my limited time blogging or Facebook. No
Contest as you see.
Soon be home and look out for an Edinburgh blog.

Silver linings

Sitting in CJW, whatever that means, in Xintiandi, which is near the Applestore, waiting for the old applemac to be repaired as I decided to give it to the boys to use till it crashes again or forever. Listening to jazz, eating salad, Italian bread, pasta and coffee to follow.
After taking the boys to school, I went to the Applestore and discussed the options which are not too expensive so long as I abandon thoughts of data retrieval. I had abandoned them mentally already though bought a backup drive thing for future use. Reminder: only useful if used. I then took myself off to wait for the repair to Shanghaimamas Monday coffee morning. Thanks Amanda, Melanie, Kellie, Laurie and others. You made a great difference to my last few months here.
Pasta has arrived – delicious- discover from napkin CJW means cigar jazz wine, implies luxury and no sign of C so now very relaxed.
So the boys will have a computer to remember their granny, I have a lovely new clean one -resolve to really really keep it clean- why not rubbish photos and maybe need one day can all go on the backup thing – I have another group of good people to stay in touch with and maybe see again.
Now, only have to get everything acquired in the last six months into the suitcase …. Edinburgh see you soon.
PS Although I have been in Xintiandi
several times, I tend to avoid it as it is Shanghai’s ‘modernity with style complex’ full of western shops and eateries, and tourists both east and west, architecture supposedly a mix of new and preserved brick lanes. Changing my mind, maybe it is quite a nice place after all.

Computer down… aaaaggghhh

On Thursday evening, my computer went down, and refused any key presses to bring it back up again. I am writing this on a new one!!! The aaagghhh is because I lost all the recent data as well – not so recent is backed up in Edinburgh on the desktop there, and worse, the email contacts list turns out to have been on the computer, not the server. So if you read this please email me and I can make a new list.

Thursday’s doings:

1. try again, before boys awake, still no good, so TRY HARD TO FORGET while getting them up and out to school
2. pack computer in bag, take to XuJiaHui which is the only place I know with an Apple Shop
3. Helpful assistant tells me (in chinese) they are just a shop, but writes the address of the Shanghai Apple Store so I can take a taxi
4. It is only 20 minutes away, in HuaiHai road, a huge store with lots of ‘welcomers’ all dressed in red T-shirts, and better, I am immediately addressed by an English speaker
5. Helpful welcomer listens, agrees that we should try out a new battery, then see, and takes me upstairs to the repair area, which is of course not called repair, but “GENIUS”. Who cares, so long as they know what they are doing. They do!
6. I get a traige assessment from red-shirt (2) and an appointment in 20 minutes time with yet another red-shirted English Speaker. They all have names, Mike, David, etc etc on an interactive help card dangling from cord round their neck, and they all have iphone or ipad which is whipped out to call up my details. I gave apple ID to the first one, so now I am known to the system… more scary than the Tesco loyalty card…
7. After waiting I see no.3 who spends a bit more time plugging things in and out of seriously unresponsive Macbook and tells me it will have to go in for extended test. A new battery has just changed the screen from gray to blue, but cannot raise anything else. Options are explained, and possible costs which he guesses are motherboard replacement but can’t say definitely etc. and that would be hardly worth it for such an old computer. [4 years is old to this child]. I explain return to Edinburgh next week, with memories of Edinburgh apple servicing which always lasts about three weeks, and he says you can have it back on Monday, apple would phone me before that with assessment.
8. I watch while the forms fill in again, via iPad key ckicks, and a printout is in my hand inside a minute.
9. I go down to the sales floor and price the new one. There is a special discount today only. There are at least fifty display machines and seats for trying them out. I get one put into English, go online and compare UK and US applestore prices with the special offer. I meet Marco, red-shirt 4, who will sell me a special and insurance and a one-on-one contract and probably his shirt too if I want it. He had been to university in Wales and visited Edinburgh and was convincingly charming
10. I go and have lunch and phone Donal for comfort and Marco debriefing. He is worse!!! He tells me my precious Macbook was bound to die even if I did get it repaired, isn’t it 4/5 years old?
11. Return to Applestore, Marco is at lunch, go online move money around bank accounts so card will work without overdrawing anywhere. Make sure I sign off.
12. Find Scorpio – is this a good sign? – who sells me this new Macbook at the special price in five minutes and does not sell me insurance or one-to-one or anything else, though is shocked that I do not want all that stuff. Five minutes to check and set-up so I don’t have to do it by myself when I get home. Shocked that I will not put in a password, but I did when I got home. Is it a secret, or is it not? How come they can retrieve so much about me, from the ‘cloud’ but not the stuff which is on the computer sitting in front of them? Only grumbling because I really like to know things and will never manage to know all this new stuff.

I have lost data, bookmarks, all sorts of addresses, some of it fortunately on the iphone, and some somewhere in the depths of the email servers, whatever or wherever they are. Apple phoned last night, i.e. within six hours, hard drive gone, can’t retrieve data, there is a data retrieval place which will charge. Do I want all that stuff – because it was not sorted was why I did not let it transfer to my new nice clean iphone.

Now I have two nice clean thingys which will talk to each other. I should be happy. But I feel a bit more than 4/5 years old. Hurray for posting and wordpress which will cheer me up.

Reading and Writing

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading, and at home often have 3/4 books on the go, the serious worky one, the proper literature I am supposed to read one, the historical/sci-fi fantasy level one and the sheer indulgence like Lee Child or Ian Rankin or Michael Connelly. And sometimes there would be a biography or some poetry or a magazine like New Scientist or the Economist. [I only read Cosmo and Elle at the dentist's and have not ever read Hello, honest.] You who are also voracious readers all know what I mean.

Writing for pleasure is newish, except that I used to write letters to family and friends and have loved email since 1995, though it took a while for most of family and friends to catch up with me there. I can remember writing “a book” when I was at ‘elementary school’ as it was called so I would have been about 9 then. Then I stopped writing, unless it was for work, or those letters home. I am still shy about saying I love writing but not shy to say Thankyou Thankyou to Lisa Silverberg Starr of the Block Island Poetry Project which began in 2004 and I have never regretted the discovery that April that writing poetry is fun. And thereafter, a real pleasure, and a way to meet other people. [I am posting my poetry here.]

Then, in June/July 2011, discovering that the only cool place to be in Shanghai was indoors with the air-conditioner, even I could not read all day especially as books available were those raided from my [now 40something] son’s cupboard or the peculiar buyer’s choice in the international bookshop. [Thank heaven for Kindle and ebooks.] So I thought I would write a Diary and discovered blogs. I had heard of them before. I am in fact very proud of being unafraid of techy stuff and even a bit of an early adopter as I believe they call it – I created my own website way back in 1998. But, does anyone else find this keeping up with stuff a bit like a walk through a wilderness – its all great but you never know what is going to be catching your eye and you will almost certainly miss some great tree because you are busy looking at the stars instead? E.g. I am dying to try a Wii soon, but the kids always get their go on it first and then it is time to go out.

This is me talking too much, when what I really want to say is that I had no idea there were so many great blogs out there and great writers and it has been wonderful. I can’t keep up with them all, but a huge thanks to Speccy and her blog and links to others like Tinman and Grannymar who may not know it but I have been reading their blogs and enjoying them so much. Thankyou guys. I never worked out how Speccy found my poetry blog, which was where contact started, but this is my warmhearted bit, I do not think that any of the great friends and contacts I have made on or offline in all these years, have ever been planned. The world just keeps on going round and producing good stuff. [All these folk know about the yucky bits too so that is even more evidence of the good stuff.]

I think I need to go look at some stars again – the ones in the sky that is. OK I cheat and do not take my own photos. For some wonderful ones look at National Geographic’s best 2011 Night Sky pictures.

OK, this is from owl.photoposts.org and it is Shanghai.

The earth is nearest the sun on January 4th 2012, it does not feel like it! This is from earthsky.org.

I can see the night sky from here where we live in Shanghai, but it is a city. In two weeks time I will be back in Edinburgh

This post ended up being a bit of looking as well as reading writing. Thanks to earthsky and owlphotopost also, more wonderful people who give others like me great pleasures.

Return to Shanghai

No-one wanted to leave Sanya. Lots of discussion, saying goodbye to the bathtub etc., explaining what a ‘holiday’ is, and worst of all, repeating over and over that Mummy would not be in Shanghai, because she would be staying in New Zealand. Happy thought ensues, then we can sleep with Daddy, Daddy says Yes you can.
More happy thoughts, there are lots of new toys in Shanghai, we have not played with all the Christmas toys yet. And, we have not been out to ride our new bicycles!!! Monday morning, first thing, glad it was not raining, bicycle riding time in the ‘ little park’ in Jiang’An Lu.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hainan holiday

Block Island beachgoer friends and all in other parts of the Northern hemisphere, eat your heart out, end of December the place to be is Sanya, Hainan Island off the very south coast of China. Especially if Cindy has cleverly booked a family apartment at the Marina Spa Resort. Now I know that ‘resort’ and BI natural (nearly) surroundings are totally different and I have never stayed in a resort before, but this is China, and holidays are shared with millions of people.
We are in a 12th floor apartment, views out across the spa grounds, one of ‘our’ swimming pools, garden, walks, and a huge working harbor beyond. We are beside a coastguard station so as well as all the fishing boats and chows there are several sleek and warlike silver boats docked nearby. (Why is it I end up near the military wherever I am in China, here they wake me up every morning with their parade and reveille. Maybe there is quite a lot of military at least in the non-western zones where we always stay?)

Seafood is perfect, the way it should be. Beaches are beautiful, several a short distance away as we seem to be on a peninsula, and all relatively uncrowded as Chinese people don’t really do swimming much. On a break from the beach the boys spent an hour on the best bouncy castle, actually ‘castles’, I have ever seen. I took some photos and lets hope I can make them upload to tell more of the story.

On the walk along the shore below the apartment, we meet lots of people taking exercise, like Tai Chi and TaijiTian (traditional sword-play)

This man likes kids better than practice, now it is Ali’s turn to be shown how

‘Our’ big swimming pool, also on the shore walk

Louis is still practising Tai Ji Tian

The crocodile is tempting, now they both want to swim

Luxury every evening, there were two showers, but bath was definitely the winner, and adults had a long rest while it was enjoyed.

One of the beaches – across the bay – we went there in a tuktuk and then walked, ‘swam’ and paddled all the way back to the bus stop for home

View from apartment at night – the near centre right lights are the Coastguard ship, the bright lower left light is at the side of the pool.

We had lunch out at different places, always ready for it

Da dong hai (big east sea) was out nearest beach and was also home to the bouncy castle complex

Ali deciding what to go for next…

This was the highest, then a scary walk along the ‘battlement’ before descending the other side

Kids climbing up and over, all the grown-ups sat below and chatted to each other, well worth 30Y.

The buddha is carved from one piece of trunk – in the Marina Spa foyer along with lots of other ‘art-work’

Better artwork, Louis missed Cindy so he spent one evening making her a strawberry and pineapple birthday cake, which he gives her – see his big green hands

Another Louis special – there were Minjie and Mickey Mouse dress-ups on the beach (selling of course) so he created this all by himself from memory