Flora & Fauna

More seasons than a spice rack

One of the toughest things for Maggie and I to get used to about living in Suzhou over living up in her home town in the north-east or mine in Canada is the weather. We are both used to four distinct seasons running from a warming spring, a hot summer, a cooling fall and a …

August 8, 2007
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Things that go “squeak” in the night

I was working late on the computer yesterday, and after being quite certain I’d dosed my eyes with a suitable level of radiation, I decided to turn in. Maggie, having to be up bright and early (oddly, at the same time as myself – but she requires something stupid like 10 hours of sleep), had …

June 28, 2007
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Survivor: China – The Best Worst Idea Ever

I like Survivor. There, I’ve said it. Please scroll down and immediately flog me in the comments. I don’t care. I’ve had this romantic notion of being trapped on a deserted island since I was a kid and saw Brook Shields’ (ahem) assets in The Blue Lagoon. When the reality TV show debuted back when …

April 19, 2007
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The First And Last Day of Spring

Alright, it’s been all of five minutes or something since I posted my last entry – but this deserves mention, especially taking into account how much I bitched about the cold. Spring came the other day. It was great. All 24-hours of it. After wearing a coat, hoodie and undershirt last weekend, despite being officially …

March 30, 2007
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The Green Leap Forward

Apparently my little home-away-from-home province of Jiangsu is kickin’ ass in green goals met. Thanks to Jeremiah over at The Duck who led me to this China Dialogue article about Jiangsu province setting a shining example for possibly solutions to China’s massive environmental issues. Jiangsu’s contribution to China’s gross domestic product (GDP) has consistently ranked …

March 29, 2007
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Give the Gift of Love – Give Chicken

Anyone that’s been in China for more than six minutes has been hounded by a plethora of bowl weilding beggars looking for your chinky bits (and no, that’s not a racial slur). Rumours abound about these unfortunate, often elderly or massively under-abled, people. I’ve heard tales that they are pimped out by the local triads, …

September 30, 2006
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Foreign People Zoo

Alright, so Chinese people want to stare at us laowai. It’s time we quit complaining and start cashing in. The “like a monkey in a zoo” thing is something I got chatting with a friend about once and he had the wonderful suggestion that I might just bank on. As I started to delve into …

September 14, 2006
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Da Pubu, Xiao Pubu

I’ve been doing my best this last week to get out and see this place where I live with fresh eyes. It started with me looking at things and going, “What would Maggie think of that?” and now has me giddy in the hopes that next year, as my wife, I’ll be able to bring …

August 11, 2006
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The Slayer Of The Dog That Bit You

After two weeks of whizzin’ around Southern Ontario (and bits of the US) visiting friends and family, I’ve finally returned to the poolside of my mother’s house. Though I’ve little plans to do much but smother myself in UV rays and chlorinated water for the rest of my time in Canada – I’ve been doing …

August 4, 2006
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