Introducing Skinny Derek

I thought that title might get some attention. Ok, the truth I am still a little above average, but since I have been in China I have dropped almost 7 kg. It is so much that the two pairs of jeans I brought here with me now look silly, so I had to go out and buy some new ones. When I left Canada I was a big 36 in the waist, but now I am a very slim 34, and hoping to get down a couple more inches. I know I will never be skinny like the good ol' days, but I can dream. The reason I have lost all this weight is probably to do with the amount of walking we do here. As I stated in the last blog, long walks are not uncommon, and this country is made of stairs as well. When I was living in Saint John last year, I believed I was being punished for some past misdeed by living in a fourth floor walk up. Now I realize that apartment was only training for me to get used to living in a fifth floor walk up in residence here. It is not very fun when you come home at 4 am after a night out on the town. I was thinking about making a suggestion that the put rest beds at each floor, so the tired could take breaks. I am sure there is some Chinese saying about how walking many stairs each day is good for your health.

On that note I have come to the realization that the Chinese have a famous saying for almost every situation. Most centre around living a good life, or being healthy, but my Chinese friend starts almost every sentence in a conversation by stating, "There is a famous Chinese saying about.....", sometimes I think it must lose something in the translation.

The other day one of the Lars and myself joined many of the Chinese students from the GLMBA for a bbq in a park in the North East of Shanghai. This park was quite unique to be in as it is completely man made, so all the trees are in nice rows, it is weird being in nature that just doesn't seem that natural. The park was actually quite nice and it surprisingly had some amusement park rides. My brother in-law once managed a ride called the "Fireball" back in his days with Conklin, and I was amazed to see something very similar to it here. Lars and myself were not too enthusiastic about going on the rides but we decided to give the "big" roller coaster a shot. It was a single loop, with an additional barrel roll in it. It had probably only a 50 foot drop so the loop was the first thing you hit. It was a fun short coaster,  I really was afraid for some reason. I would say it was more scary than doing the "Doppel" in the back row with no lap bar. The rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful, so I will make this a short post. I hope everyone back home is enjoying the spring air in whatever city they may be in.

To infinity and beyond.....

Derek