Danwichmann

Had it in both Korea and China. I was surprised the UK didn't already have it in place, seems a pretty standard thing to have! Was very useful in Korea when I got two minutes warning of an earthquake and could get the kids outside. In China I mostly get warnings about the weather, which are almost always unnecessary.

Malala says hi, plus kids all over the place that make dangerous journeys across rivers or landslides to reach school. But probably the only place where you're likely to the victim of a random shooting at school.

I would say nothing against the rules, rather than nothing wrong.

Mostly HGV drivers who sleep at the services overnight and have a lot of time to kill. Years ago I worked at a motorway service area, the fruit machines always did a lot of business.

Well, they are pretty small

Yeah, my Hindu wife has never quite managed to explain the logic of it to me, but suggesting eating beef has her reacting the same way most people would to eating cat, but buffalo is fine apparently.

Because the UN isn't just a club for the west.

That seems about right. The goat there is absolutely vile, you either get a lump of fat or a bit of old leather. Either way you have to chew on for 20 minutes before swallowing (or subtly pass it to the dog)

Beef/Yak is not the most popular meet in Nepal. It's about 80% Hindu so beef is only available in a few tourist places and Yak meet is only in the sparsely populated mountains. Buffalo is fairly widely eaten so maybe they are including that as beef or yak.

China are saying they have objects off their coast and ready to shoot them down. Either some deflection or an interesting twist.

He's probably just too cheap to buy a test so never saw one.

That's weird because they certainly have them across the border in Nepal and the markets normally look pretty similar. At least half the stock in a typical Nepali phamarcy is normally imported from India.

PayPal. I want to pay for a race. PayPal is the only payment option. Try to log in, it's first time since I've been in China. They want to call or text me, but only have my old mobile number from the UK. There is no 'don't have access to this number' option. Just a dead-end. Unable to pay, can't do the race. It's happened to me before with them, had to set up a new account with a new email, but I'm not doing that every single time I want to use PayPal. Useless.

There a a far fewer overweight people in China than the west. I'm sure the number has risen with McDonald's and KFC everywhere but it's still relatively small. They all do sport at university, and I think I far higher proportion of people here stay physically active through adult life. And while there is plenty of fast food, relatively healthy Chinese food remains king. Tobacco is definitely a problem, especially among workers. On the other hand, alcohol consumption is lower. A big proportion of students don't drink at all and much of the beer is around 3% abv (fortunately for me there is still a decent craft beer scene). I see China as a really healthy place overall, although that is only based on what I've observed personally.

Why? It never happened to me.

I'm quite happy to eat them 3. Problem solved.

It's that the one from NZ? Remember it was £1.50 with a student card in Walkabout during my student years.

I'm ebjoying this chocolate stout from Richkat in Shenzen. However, 8.2% abv before dinner may be a mistake. Edit: I've moved on. This is 10 times better. A hint of sweetness but so smooth. Another edit as I gradually sink into a happy, relaxed drunk stage. This is Ye Brewing Nightingale Lava Cake Imperial Stout. 8.5% again and I'm definitely starting to feel it.

McDonald's in China seem to be phasing out the touch screen order terminals and forcing you to order via the app. Except the app in Chinese only, doesn't load properly and last time I managed to order in it, the order was placed in a different restaurant to the one I was in. The machines were so wonderfully simple, the app is worse than my normal point and smile method of ordering food.

Total opposite for me. I live on campus with a bunch of students mostly 18-22 years old and absolutely love it. It's great to hang out with people so energetic and who actually still have loads of optimism about life, instead of the teachers who just complain about everything. Occasionally it makes me feel old, but mostly I feel younger

And boosters aren't being offered regularly. Most people I've spoken to haven't had one for 12 months or more, so basically no protection. My WeChat time line is full of sheep (sheep and positive are the same sound in Mandarin) and pictures of thermometers showing temperatures. It's still almost impossible to buy paracetamol, so they're just going to have to suck it up for a while.

That isn't how it looks from the inside. There are lots and lots of cases for sure, but I'm not seeing a lot of evidence of high numbers of people getting seriously ill. If course, China isn't always the most forthcoming with information

China has got rid of almost all the restrictions now. I guess about a quarter of my students in Guangdong are currently positive, but mostly with very mild symptoms. Restaurants and malls are quieter now than during lockdown because everyone is trying to avoid getting sick. A lot of people haven't had booster vaccines in a long time, and it is almost impossible to buy paracetamol etc at the moment, so it's going to be a rough few weeks here.

My wife absolutely insists that I write on her Facebook every birthday. I now insist on including her age in the post.

I use it occasionally for job interviews, still seems to be a thing in the world of ESL teaching. But that is literally the only time I use it, and it's so infrequent that I end up resetting my password every single time.