Week 1

Ok, so there's a resort being built in the Southern China city of Shenzhen (Just across from the border with Hong Kong) I've been here for a week and I still don't know exactly what it's supposed to be, but it seems to pay homage to tea - there's certainly lots of it around. Anyway, this resort has a house Pipe band (it's the Chinese, who needs a reason?), and I'm a part of that band.

I had intended to make regular updates to this weblog (weekly or so), but Internet access is sporadic - I am currently using Wayne's laptop (Wayne is another Aussie, which is nice to have someone else who thinks everyone drives on the wrong side of the road!), but it would be a bit rude to keep using this all the time, so another solution needs to be found. In the mean time, a brief rundown on the week or so since I left Australia.

The flight from Sydney was long but uneventful, then a 2-hour drive from the airport to (what will be referred to herein as) The Park - there were no flights into Hong Kong available.
When we finally arrived, I found that my bed had no linen - so I basically slept in my jacket, on this bed with no mattress. Well, I say no mattress because the thing on the bed base hardly qualifies it was that thin and stiff (I've since purchased a foam mattress to go on top, so I can acually sleep at night!).
I was introduced to the rest of the band (Robert, the Pipe Major from Canada; Aragorn and John, the twins also from Canada; Victor, the drummer from Texas, and my roommate; Ashley from Canada, and Wayne and Geoff from Australia) over the course of the next couple of days, and they have shown me around Dongmen (the city), Dameisha (the beach area) and The Park.
The food here is very repetitive, and I've heard some horror stories of what's in some of the dishes, but there is always rice (and it's a good thing I like rice!) and usually some veggies that don't taste half bad. I must remember to thank Mum and Dad for giving me the opportunity to practice using chopsticks.

The music I'm required to play is quite difficult - certainly compared to anything I've played before, but I'm getting the hang of it slowly. Fortunatley The Park doesn't open for another month, so I've got plenty of time to practice. I'm going to be a damn good drummer by the time I'm done here.

Anyway, if I write any more, my fingers are likely to fall off.
Until next time.
Cheers, Captainowie.