Moving along

Hi,

May 1st. This is Labour Day in China and a National holiday. Like every holiday, it is a 3-day holiday. Too bad they don't do that in Canada. But, unlike Canada, it doesn't matter what day it falls on. So evferyone has Sat, Sun and Mon off. I don't work any of those days anyway except for Sunday at the training school and they don't close for holidays. Usually, they schedule extra classes for those days because students don't have school so their parents will send them to study English. I had lunch with the owner yesterday. Great lunch. I had never heard of that restaurant before but it's menu is bilingual so I can go by myself if I want. It is expensive so I won't go often but it has a great atmosphere. Very high-end. I took Krista there for supper and she enjoyed it too. She is a native of Ma'anshan but had never been there.

Lately, there have been some incidents of stabbings of children in schools. One guy has already been executed and the others will follow shortly I suspect. Justice is swift and often final here. Not much room for pleas of insanity or countless appeals. There is an appeal process but I doubt that many are successful. The same outcome was delivered to those found guilty in the tainted milk issue and in the schools that were built under standard and collapsed in the earthquake 2 years ago. China likes to send the message out that if you screw up and are caught then you will quickly be out of the picture. When you look at the population of 1.3 billion, serious crime is very low. It is a very safe country to live in. Much safer than Canada or USA...even Halifax!

75 days until I get on the plane. I will do a little visiting but not much. I would like to see Huangshan (Yellow Mt.) before I go home but I will see. Krista said that she would go with me. I would like to go with someone because it can be difficult without Chinese to visit some of the sites. She has never been there. I have seen pictures and it looks beautiful. We would have to stay over at least one night maybe two. But it won't happen until July if at all because our schedules don't mesh.

See you later,
Don