James Huang - Far far away from Scouseland

I turned 23 in February and celebrated four years as a Christian. I was happy that I had escaped any irreparable screw-ups. However, I spent the time in hospital with a severe eczema flare-up. I needed the time to recover and I intended to do a lot of reading. I ended up playing Civilisation 4 (a computer game) for days on end. The other patients were amused at my explanation of the game.

I got discharged in a satisfactory condition and flew back to Tianjin the next day. My flatmate organised a belated birthday party for me in Starbucks. That was after I lost my camera, so I have no photographs of the occasion - except for a photo of the venue which I took last year.

I get back into the routine of Peace Institute life. It is my last semester in the school. I mark down the 20 weeks in my diary - so I am already counting the days. I manage to keep my pre-intermediate class, which means I can recycle lesson plans. I arrange my twice-weekly Mandarin lessons. Thursday is my new day off and I start my weekly Starbucks routine. I re-assume my role of Coffee House organiser. Coffee House is a monthly school event where the school invites outsiders to come and participate in English discussions for free. There are other activities and a performance by the teachers. It takes a lot of my time and a lot of my stress.

The heating never comes on in my apartment throughout the whole winter. I find out that I don’t have to pay the heating fees, which is a small mercy. But the long term effect is that I’m now scared of the cold.

Economic forecast

Slightly warmer than my apartment. But getting colder. Northern Rock (an British bank) gets nationalised. Property prices are falling. So, I can look forward to buying a house in 2050 when global warming renders Britain’s property stock worthless.

World event that no-one should ignore

Freak weather conditions cripple China’s transportation system at exactly the wrong time of the year (link).

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January is the month for fresh beginnings in the Western Calendar. It was more like an intermission for me. I tell people that I spent 18 months in China, but it was really three 6-month stints with a month in the UK sandwiched in between. January was equally split between the end of term in China:

This was followed by two action packed weeks in the UK and Denmark. I was already thinking about my future London-life. Wai forewarns me about the hard life of the accountant. I also have dinner with Charles, an good friend from university. We provisionally agree to tentatively look for an apartment together in September. In the end, the tentative agreement becomes a legally binding contract. I come to realise that flat-hunting is not really possible from China and I let Charles do all the leg-work.

I enjoy my time back home but I am already counting the days left in China.

Economic forecast

Just a minor hiccup on the road to everlasting prosperity and happiness. Rising house prices for all. Actually, The Economist reports that forecasted growth for the US, Eurozone and UK are 1.8%, 1.8% and 1.9% respectively.

World event that James ignores

Obama beats someone called Clinton in a minor election in a small North American nation. I don’t expect that there will be any repercussions anytime soon.

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I passed my exams. All I have is a feeling of relief. I don’t have to re-take the exams. I don’t have to pay for the resit and use up holiday time. My job is safe (safer?) for a few more months. It’s not like a school exam where you aim for a good mark and to beat your peers. Passing is more than enough. I just have to repeat the process 11 more times.

I’ve finally managed to put up a banner on the site. I was meant to do in when I was in China, and it would have had more meaning then, but it still works for London-life. I would still call Liverpool “home”. Sometime in the future, I will regard London as my home, but not just yet.

I’m planning to do a month-by-month review of the year. Given my rate of blogging, it could take a while.

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While trampling through the week the path got strewn with exacerbated clients, emails unsent, dishes unwashed, an untouched fridge, clean gym shoes, discarded post-it notes, work papers that don’t work anymore, to do lists that have been crossed off, amended, added and thrown in the bin and the neglected plan in my bedroom.

I’m left holding 200 pages of unrevised notes and the exams are in 11 hours time. With my free arm there is still a backlog of client work to be cleaned up next week. It’s been hard.

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The light bulb in my room has burnt out so I am writing this in the dark. I don’t have time to buy a new one.

Actually, I do have time to buy a new one: I just have to be organised enough to buy it one the way home in the local shop. I effectively plan my time when I work - otherwise my brain gets paralysed trying to prioritise what is important. I do battle with a combination of calendars, to-do lists, post-it notes, flagging important emails in Outlook and an accurately calibrated clock.

I’m trying to get into a routine of sitting down for an hour on Sunday and planning my free time. Yes, I am that boring. Here’s a list of stuff I think about:

• Work commitments
• Study plans
• What I plan to eat
• When to go to the gym
• Church commitments
• What I want to read
• Who needs to be emailed
• When to blog (getting less and less frequent!)
• Fun (probably need more of this)
• Seeing friends (and meeting enemies)

I haven’t planned a time to buy a light bulb yet.

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