Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Posting Postponed

I've been wanting to post an entry about my visit to Zhuhai city last Sunday, but for two days now, every time I try to upload a photo I get an error message. At first I'd assumed the problem was my sometimes-iffy Internet connection over here; but I checked the Blogger help boards and found out that everyone else was having the same difficulties. I don't know how long the situation will last—the Blogger crew said they were working on it, but that was, as I said, two days ago—but rather than try to describe the sights of the big city in prose only, I figure I'll just hold off till the problem is resolved.

In the meantime, I'll just mention that I ate my dinner last night to the strangest musical accompaniment I've heard here yet. I find myself pretty much tuning out the intermittent concerts that are broadcast by loudspeaker throughout the campus—usually early in the morning and before mealtime—when they consist of nondescript Chinese pop songs. I haven't heard any Chinese-language renditions of American tunes since the first few days of the semester, although very occasionally they'll throw in an unexpected original version of a song from our shores: I've caught a Dean Martin mambo number, as well as the oldie "Rhythm of the Rain" (by the Cascades, I think). But yesterday around dinnertime we were treated to a rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," performed in English but by unmistakeably Chinese singers. It was disconcerting but not entirely unwelcome, as it served as an early reminder that I'll need to start my Christmas shopping before I leave here in December.

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