Knock It Off

There has been some scepticism expressed by a few of our regular readers (all two of you) that there can not be that many onions available to the residents of Harbin. So to put your mine at ease, please accept the following photographic proof of how onions have taken over the streets of Harbin. They are peaceful for the most part as long as you don't spook them. We found that if you tip toe through the onions, you can avoid many nasty incidents. Just makes you want to cry, doesn't it?

Guchi, Tommy Hilfinger, Dioer, Channel, Nikee, Faberg, all brands that are readily available on the streets and in the markets of Harbin. Students tell time with the Bolex Oysters that can be found on many of their wrists. But if you think this kind of thing is just for those expensive name brands, think again. You can also find Mr. Kleen, Sarah Lee cakes, Crust Toothpaste and the ever popular Krapht Dinner or KaiDee as it is affectionately known as here. We want for little here in Harbin.

Thanks to the kindness of strangers Nonie and I were gifted with a voucher for one night
with breakfast at the five star Shangri La Hotel here in Harbin. We quickly booked ourselves a room for Saturday and quit living Chinese for 24 hours. No Chinese spoken here, just English! Traditional North Americanesque food (Salmon Fettucinni for Nonie and Fish and Chips for Brett)! English TV News (Sadly only BBC and CNN) and the piece de resistance HBO showing movies we had already seen. We may do this again if we find living Chinese becoming wearisome. It was a nice escape. We also enjoyed the first snow squall of Harbin winter from the comfort of our 15th floor, centrally heated suite with a fully stocked mini bar. Returning to the real world the next day, Nonie made a new friend along the way. In a city of 9,000,000 you would think ducks would have something better to do then accost people on the streets. Don't get me started on those crazy gangs of chickens.

For the last few weeks, the students have been preparing formal presentations for class. So this past week, we have been listening and listening and listening some more. With more this week. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Some have been very inventive while others culled directly from the internet. More on that another time.