Hello everyone!

(I'm having problems sending emails out at the moment, so if you've looked here, check here often)

ANYWAY:

The centre of Asia is amazing – every dimension of this place has me in awe (for probably the first time in my life). To put this awe into perspective: *I* forgot to eat for a whole day…. It wasn’t until this afternoon when someone asked me what I thought about Uiger food that I realized I hadn’t tried any yet, and in fact, hadn’t eaten since my flight to Beijing. So – I have arrived safely, and thank you to everyone who has sent me an email so far. The email connections at work are very slow at the moment; this is apparently not a permanent problem though. Therefore, in the meantime here is an email to let you all know that I have made it to Urumqi and am extremely happy with everything I have seen so far.

To give you the rind of what I am experiencing here: the school is brilliant. The place is completely decked out and I am very impressed. The other teachers are soooo charming, all in all they are really nice and are friendly company. Even the boss is an inspiring person – hey what more can one possibly ask for?

As for my apartment – it is HUGE and very very nice. For all those of you who saw my place in Brick Lane, it is bigger and better than that. At the moment I am flatmateless, so I have my own flat. This arrangement and size of flat has, therefore, got to be the pinnacle of my living standards to date (who would have thought I would achieve the height of my living standards in Urumqi???). I also managed to accidentally buy about two years worth of gas supply (I though paying for 7pounds worth of gas on my prepaid account would be a good start, but apparently this will provide my apartment with hot water and cooking facilities into mid 2006. hahahahaaaaa. Can't complain.

It has to be said that the Chinese are efficient too; I've already got my bank account and cash card. I am impressed.

On a tangent, everyone in the city thinks I am Uiger (for those who don’t know, this is the Eurasian-Muslim ethnic minority that lives in this province). This is quite nice as I'm not subject to the enmass-staring that my colleagues experience every time they walk down the street. It does confuse people though, when I have to tell them that I down speak either Uiger or Chinese. They must think I’m the most redundant human being on earth. Hahahaaaa.

Anyway, very busy adjusting and absorbing. I will be setting up Internet at home sometime soon (when I can in the next month) (hopefully) and then I'll be in more precise and regular contact after that!
Chat to you soon, xxxxxxxxxxxxxx