Early October Ocbloggings

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie  Quote: "You simply cannot afford to believe everything that people tell you.  When there's anything fishy about, I never believe anyone at all."  That's good advice from Miss Marple (And here I am in the People's Republic of China).  Anyway, the novel is the first A.C. novel I have ever read.  I can state that it is a shame that I have only brought two A.C. novels with me from Canada -- there were a whole bunch more of them at my parent's home that I could have taken.

 

To be here or to be there, where ever that is, is a problem that could be alleviated if I could be in two places at once.  But then they would just go to a third place or a fourth place and to a fifth place where they could be connected by a special secret communications network.

 

Flannery O'Connor  "I measure God by everything I am not."

 

Murder at the Hazelmoor by Agatha Christie  That's it.  I have read all the A.C. I got.  Too bad, I only have two A.C. novels here.  I will have to try and find some more though I am almost certain you can buy A.C. in China.  Being a colonial, of sorts, I was offended by her portrayal of them saying they were provincial and loud and so on.....  not.

 

Nostromo  Now that I have read all my A.C., it is time for me to read some J.C.

 

Jiangyin Military Museum  At the Jiangyin Park that I love to rave about, there is a new military museum.  I have to admit I and my wife Jerry were disappointed by it.  There really wasn't much in it.  As well, the artillery pieces that were on display were much better placed when they were on the top of the ridge that the park has.  One was able to take photos with the guns and climb on them.  Now, the pieces are in front of the museum and are stuck among bushes and can't be climbed on.

Loud?  Now, I am a loud guy -- a real loud mouth I have been told.  So, maybe I shouldn't be one to complain.  But in this instance, I saw something that I may be qualified, by virtue of my loudmouthedness to note as being far from normal volume.  These people came on the bus and were so loud I felt I had been sitting near exploding fireworks.  Their volume brought out their coarseness and rusticness**  for all to see.  I got a jarring reminder that I was in a third world country.

**As well, they wore cheap, brown polyester clothing and they reeked of constant smoking.  They looked to be from a part of China that had yet to benefit from China's economic growth.

Podcasts  I am now listening to podcasts from Canada:  Charles Adler and CJOB Winnipeg.

Jiangyin Visit  The K family went to Jiangyin, a small city that is part of Wuxi district on Monday, October 4.  The visit was Jenny's idea.  We had spent too much of the Golden Week holiday in the house.  We went to Jiangyin to visit their wondrous riverside park:  E Bi Zhai -- I think it is called.  I last went to the park about four years ago with Jenny who tells me she was pregnant with Tony at that time.  In the four years, the park has changed.  They now charge admission (which is not so expensive and worth it) and they have a new military museum (which was a disappointment -- see above.)

Tony in Jiangyin  Tony behaved strangely.  He was alternately enthusiastic and annoying.  He wouldn't pose for photos.  He was frightened in a tunnel that runs under the park we went to.  He loved throwing rocks into the Yangtze.  He ran along the riverside path jauntily.  He then wanted to stay or leave a place which was in opposition to his parents' desires, so earning a few spanks and slaps.

Busing it to Jiangyin and the Jiangyin Bus System  We took the #8 Bus from the park to the downtown bus station which is a convenient thing for Wuxi Expats visiting Jiangyin and who want to go to E Bi Zhai Park.  However, this bus station was not so convenient for the K family because the buses going to Wuxi from there didn't go through Yanqiao (where the K family lives).  In Yanqiao, the K family was able to flag a bus down that was going to Jiangyin -- very convenient because it meant not having to take a forty minute bus ride to the downtown Wuxi bus station.

One more thing about Jiangyin:  The recorded messages on the Bus Intercom are in Chinese and English -- something not present on Wuxi buses.

Park near Casa K  A ten minute scooter ride from Casa K in Yanqiao, there is a park built on what must have been farmland.  The park has a few lakes (probably artificial) near which are some buildings for a private club.  The entrance to the park is manned by security guards.  Tony and I were able to enter the park easily enough, and wander its grounds -- around the lakes are numerous stoned pathways and bridges.  As well, there are five or six piers, jutting out on the lake, built for fishing (I assume).  I also noticed that most the grounds are covered in clover (which Tony didn't want me walking on) except near the roadways were grass sod has been laid.

Business Lunch  Auditors are often the guests of honor at a Chinese business lunch.  The audited have these business lunches to shorten the time the auditors spending auditing and to make the auditors drunk and not able to perform their jobs adequately.  So, I was told by a student.