The weather is getting cooler and twice this week I have worn fur lined gloves to classes. I don't need them on for very long and of course one can't work well in them. Just using chalk on the blackboard would be impossible with the thick gloves. But my hands do get cold and the fur lined gloves that I bought in Haining last semester will be put to good use.
This morning I woke to a thick fog. A really thick fog. It is hard to see the bridge that is over the canal just near the foreign teachers' apartment block. I wonder if they will have exercises this morning as I think it would be impossible to see the instructor.
It is Friday and I have two classes this morning. A strange subject - "Newspaper Reading" - my focus is on English language, and I start each lesson with news from around the world. Today's focus is on the former President of Taiwan who has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering and embezzlement I think. In any case, it doesn't appear much in the news here, but everyone seems to know about it.
Another story is about a baby born here in China with 8 toes on each foot, and five fingers and no thumb on each hand. I thought it rather odd the way it was reported on the China Daily website,
as it refers to the lack of "thumbs."
The Chinese do not refer to "thumbs" - they just have five fingers on each hand and they are numbered from 1 to 5, not with the names that we give them. Like the days of the week - numbered from 1 to 7, and the months of the year - numbered from 1 to 12.
The pea souper fog is so thick you'd have difficulty seeing your hands in front of your face today!
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