Ni hao!

So Wednesday night is Mandarin night. A full three hours of trying to master a language that has approximately 60,000 characters (or so they think, nobody actually knows!) due in part to the fact there are four different tones which can make the same word mean VERY different things!!

I'm in the middle of a 10 week course which should result in me having a vague idea of basic greetings, asking directions and ordering dim sum. (as you can probably tell I have no ideas of grandeur when it comes to my skills!)

This week we learnt how to introduce ourselves, say where we're from and ask after one another's well being.



Jokes aside it really is such good fun! Ming (our teacher) is a hard task master as she literally doesn't stop for the full three hours but she likes a good laugh (yes that is a picture of her laughing and not showing off her fillings!)



The other guy is David. He's an accountant and has real trouble saying the number 4 which phonetically sounds like the first part of the word 'sew'er.

More updates to follow and if there's anybody working for W+K Shanghai (or the like, those are the only guys who I can think of with an office out there) who are looking for an energetic digital planner, here I am!