Let the Chinese lessons begin .......

Yes, this foreigner will learn Chinese.

I'm already sticking to my Chinese New Year resolutions - I will learn Mandarin and will learn it well! Yesterday, I headed into downtown Wuxi to make the first step in this new adventure - I purchased a Chinese text book and will begin my lessons tomorrow night. It was hard knowing how to find a good Chinese teacher, but luckily I was introduced to Grace, Kiki and Justyna's teacher. I'll begin with one lesson a week and see how it goes from there. The hardest part will be staying motivated after a long day at school. I need to remind myself that most of the children in my class are doing this all day long, trying to think and learn in a foreign language - if they can do it, so can I!

Getting fitted for my new wardrobe. Choosing fabrics.

My other Chinese New Year's resolution is look after myself better, physically and mentally. So, what better way to begin than with a trip to the tailor to have a new wardrobe fitted. I have a feeling that visits to the tailor - along with massages, flowers and cleaners - will soon become another little luxury that will be hard to give up when I leave China. It was so much fun choosing the styles of dresses, skirts and jackets from magazines and explaining them to the tailor (whose English was very good). After being fitted, we headed to the fabric market where there were so many beautiful materials to choose from. For my first visit, I settled for the re-creation of an existing jacket (but in cashmere thank you!) and dress and made a quick on-the-spot design of a wrap skirt in a very funky fabric. For the three items, it will cost me about $130, including materials and labour. Not bad! Kiki and her (and now mine too!) Chinese teacher, Grace.

Fairy floss at the bookstore. Not even a minute after this picture was taken, the police came along and all of a sudden there were no street vendors where there had been about 10 before!

To finish off the weekend, I headed to Amy's place to welcome her back and celebrate various items of gossip with 2 bottles of Australian red! What a great way to end the holidays! It's back into it now, with a lovely grey, wet and smoggy (or hang on, maybe it's fog?!) day to welcome us back to term 3! I am thinking of everyone back at home with the heat and the fires.