FOG! I can't see my hand - 100% humidity, sweating too!!!
The fog was thick this morning! 100% humidity and I walked to Aushan supermarket at 8 am! The fog was starting to lift a little - yes, almost all fog (not pollution). Only a sweatshirt over top of a short sleeved shirt. Had to pick up some pi jiu - Carlsberg beer!!! At only 5 Yuan per bottle, I can buy 5 (600 ml) bottles for 25 yuan which is the cost of ONE draft of Carlsberg at Utopia Jazz bar! So the Orpheus (our lounge on the floor) or my room sufices for a first (or second) beer BEFORE going to Utopia! Laughing!
THEN, I decided to take some things to the office - finally graded the homework for the past week and want to get it returned today and Wednesday along with new assignments, etc. I ONLY wore my short sleeved shirt and came home sweating profusely!! Spring's sprung - 70s for the high and 50s for the low!
Also needed to pick up some fruit, especially bananas for today's breakfast. 6 bananas, 3 tangerines, three small sweet mangos, two LARGE mangos ... for 21 yuan - that's less than $3!! Nice!
Still trying to figure out whether I can find an employer willing to pay me more than I am making now. I have to account for the fact that gas/diesel fuel prices have not risen to reflect the global market yet - therefore, inflation in one way or the other will impact me over the next year. My expectations are 10% but I will figure in the current market inflation rate of 7% (although last month was 8.7%!). Mostly I pay for food and housing so those are the only prices that impact me, which is why I expect that MY CPI will increase by 10%.
I don't know yet, maybe I will try Beijing after the Olympics. Maybe another school in Shanghai or SILC will offer more. Just trying to figure out what "socialism with market characteristics" means. Maybe I will end up back in the U.S., but that is really my last choice, at the moment. I expect that I will spend at least one more year here in China. Maybe after that another country, maybe the U.S., maybe China - that's the future and, as we all know, we didn't expect the U.S. economy to "TANK" so quickly (but bubbles tend to "pop" hard!). So we'll leave the future to the future and get back to preparing for the midterm exam and the two weeks leading up to that.
THEN, I decided to take some things to the office - finally graded the homework for the past week and want to get it returned today and Wednesday along with new assignments, etc. I ONLY wore my short sleeved shirt and came home sweating profusely!! Spring's sprung - 70s for the high and 50s for the low!
Also needed to pick up some fruit, especially bananas for today's breakfast. 6 bananas, 3 tangerines, three small sweet mangos, two LARGE mangos ... for 21 yuan - that's less than $3!! Nice!
Still trying to figure out whether I can find an employer willing to pay me more than I am making now. I have to account for the fact that gas/diesel fuel prices have not risen to reflect the global market yet - therefore, inflation in one way or the other will impact me over the next year. My expectations are 10% but I will figure in the current market inflation rate of 7% (although last month was 8.7%!). Mostly I pay for food and housing so those are the only prices that impact me, which is why I expect that MY CPI will increase by 10%.
I don't know yet, maybe I will try Beijing after the Olympics. Maybe another school in Shanghai or SILC will offer more. Just trying to figure out what "socialism with market characteristics" means. Maybe I will end up back in the U.S., but that is really my last choice, at the moment. I expect that I will spend at least one more year here in China. Maybe after that another country, maybe the U.S., maybe China - that's the future and, as we all know, we didn't expect the U.S. economy to "TANK" so quickly (but bubbles tend to "pop" hard!). So we'll leave the future to the future and get back to preparing for the midterm exam and the two weeks leading up to that.
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