Onwards and Upwards
I swear I used to be 177cm tall. But these days I’m a solid 176. 🤷♂️
This won’t do. My life has shrunk enough over the last 3 years, I refuse to let the same thing happen to my height. 😡
So I got myself a fresh new haircut, and now I’m up to 178. 🙌
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Piazza Privilege
This post is about privilege. Today we decided to use our tiny balcony to pretend that we were in an Italian piazza rather than stuck in our Shanghai apartment. This weekend we made a feast out of the fanciest cheeses and cold cuts from our fridge. We’ve recently watched Dune, The Power of the Dog, West Side Story and CODA, all from the comfort of our (increasingly sagging) couch. And we’re surrounded by neighbours in our compound who have been very kind and supportive to one-another throughout these harsh few weeks of confinement. Even though we’ve lost our freedom for a total of 56 days and counting, we’re still luckier than 99% of people in Shanghai.
Living for so long in China starts to make you a little inured to the all-pervasive miasma of state power. So your messages of support over the last couple of months have not just been a massive morale booster, but also a useful reminder that this hasn’t been ‘normal’, and there is such a thing as individual human dignity. Having said that, it has been a little uncomfortable to read comments about our “bravery” and “endurance”, when in fact for the most part we’ve been able to wallow in the luxury of denial and disassociation. That’s the power of privilege, even in times like these.
We’ve certainly had our lows. This whole time, Denny has been working from home with a broken hand. And while I’ve been telling myself that I’m functioning fine, my body has been telling me that I’m not. One day let me regale you with all the fun and creative symptoms it came up with. But for now, I’m taking a cue from the weather and am starting the week with a sunnier disposition. Parts of Shanghai are supposedly opening up this week. No doubt there will be many days of continued false hope and confusion before this means anything to us. Until then, I’ll be in my Italian piazza. Finché c'è vita c'è speranza.
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Retail Therapy
I’m feeling crap about the state of the world right now. So the only antidote I know to momentarily ease this existential angst is to post photos of the latest trend in China retail: brand names that sound like someone clearing their throat. 😷
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My First Post-Lockdown Haircut
Life in Shanghai is slowly returning to something nearer “normal”. I just had my first haircut in 6 weeks, in a salon that was allowed to accept 3 customers at a time, for quick 30-minute cuts.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is panic-buying toilet paper and stealing hand-sanitiser from hospitals. 🤷♂️
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“98 Years Old”
I bumped into this amazing 98 year old lady.
I know this because the only Chinese I could understand her say was “I’m 98 years old”.
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Coffeeshop Flags
In case you STILL didn’t think I was a nerd... I spent twenty minutes in Costa Coffee testing myself on the identity of these flags. And I got them all correct. 🤓🤓🤓 (Answers below.)
Answers from front to back:
Niger, Bahrain, Lesotho, Micronesia, United Nations, Cape Verde, Cuba, Turkmenistan, Marshall Islands, Bangladesh, Guyana, Panama, Macedonia, Maldives, Lithuania, Uzbekistan, Finland, North Korea, Guinea, Austria, Djibouti, Sao Tome e Principe, Cook Islands, Mongolia, Bhutan, Mali, Venezuela, Russia, Iran, Liechtenstein, Scotland, Somalia, Sweden, Bahamas, Andorra, Australia, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, France, Brunei, Morocco, China, Germany, Chile, Kenya, Sudan, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Ireland, Samoa, United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Chad, Fiji, Greece, South Korea, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Spain, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, El Salvador, Singapore, Bulgaria, Canada, United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Liberia, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, Dominican Republic, Burundi.
And here are the flags that I always find most difficult to differentiate:
🇸🇳🇲🇱🇬🇳 (Senegal vs. Mali vs. Guinea),
🇲🇩🇦🇩🇹🇩🇷🇴 (Moldova vs. Andorra vs. Chad vs. Romania, I don’t even know the difference between Chad and Romania),
🇵🇱🇮🇩🇲🇨 (Poland vs Indonesia vs. Monaco. Monaco is longer than Indonesia.)
🇮🇪🇨🇮 (Ireland vs. Ivory Coast)
🇻🇪🇪🇨🇨🇴(Venezuela vs. Ecuador vs. Colombia)
🇱🇺🇳🇱 (Luxembourg vs. Netherlands. NL blue is darker.)
🇸🇮🇸🇰 (Slovenia vs. Slovakia)
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