So, I haven’t written this blog in ages. I feel bad about it, I really do, but there have been constant excuses. At first, I was enjoying my last days in England. What’s more important than spending time with family? Then I was travelling. A very long journey with very long delays, surrounded by so many people coughing and spluttering, and most of them not bothering to cover their mouths as they did so. I went and sat by the people wearing full niqab’s, as I figured that if they had colds they’d be sneezing into material rather than in the air I was breathing in. Then I had terrible jet-lag and homesickness. Waking up at 4am, I was much more inclined to dye my hair than tap away on my computer (thankfully it turned out okay, though purple with a few pink streaks rather than the five different colours I put in- I don’t know what went through my head). And then I got ill, the kind of ill where your nerve endings feel tense and tender and even wearing a t-shirt hurts. But now I’m left with just a sore throat, and I currently have workmen in the flat, so I really must be writing to look like I am doing something very productive and work-related, so I don’t feel so guilty about being sat at home on a Friday lunchtime.
It’s pretty awkward having the workmen here, as they don’t speak any English. I always feel a bit awkward having workmen around no matter where I am, but it somehow feels worse when all you can do is exchange a hello (after 4 years, I speak about 5 words of Cantonese- don’t judge me). Hopefully they’ll only be here for an hour or two. They’re fitting glass in the sliding balcony door, which shattered all by itself almost 2 weeks ago. No, seriously. I was still in England, and Marc was in Saigon. Apparently it happened because of temperature fluctuations. I don’t know what fluctuations these were, since the weather is always just hot and humid with some rain, except for perhaps 2 weeks of each year in February. But okay, I’m no scientist. Luckily the glass stayed in place with its veiny network of cracks, or we’d probably be trying to get a new sofa and tv too.
I’m just so glad that it’s being fixed, that light will start coming in again to brighten the flat, that I’ll be able to get some air circulating, and that I’ll be able to smoke out there! I had briefly considered smoking out a window, but I was terrified of setting the alarms off. I live in a big block, and I would feel awful if everyone had to evacuate. I think there are about 31 floors, and maybe 8 flats per floor? So somewhere along the lines of 250 flats. Those calculations might be a bit off, I am not about to go and double check the number of floors, or peer around counting the flats. The exact number doesn’t matter. It’s a lot. I did have one roll-up, crouched by the window and blowing the smoke outside, but the fear made it very unenjoyable. And I enjoy smoking, that’s why I do it. Taking away the enjoyment left only the addiction, which made it all pretty depressing. I dug out my vape (electronic cigarette) and used that instead, though a couple of days ago I actually read that the vapour that comes from them is just as likely to set off a smoke alarm as a cigarette, and I’ve been merrily puffing out smoke rings as I sit on the sofa.
So while I sit here, tapping away and occasionally glancing up but trying not to stare, I’ll do some writing. I have a post I wrote weeks ago that ought to go up, two posts that I planned weeks ago that I want to write about, and a post that I wrote a year ago when this blog was just a distant plan. As my teachers used to say, ‘must try harder’. I don’t even have the excuse of teenage angst now. So please excuse what is likely to be a confusing mess of England and travelling and Hong Kong mixed up together; I’m just going to be playing catch-up for the next week, and hopefully gazing out to sea through a newly fixed balcony door.
