Back in Shanghai

Well, I arrived back in Shanghai almost two weeks ago and am only now just posting about it. I had an awesome time in the USA, but consumed far too much beer and food (delicious, fattening, giant-portioned food) so am now exercising like crazy to try to lose some of the weight I put on over there. Basketball is making up the majority of my exercise plans - I'm playing 4 on 4 for two hours at least 3 times a week. Last night I managed four hours before making my way home exhausted. Great fun, but I'm just not as young or fit as I used to be, so it's hard keeping up with the guys that I'm playing with who are mostly 7 years younger than me.

Life in Shanghai is pretty much exactly the same as it was when I left it - still heaps of work to do (although we are further along than when I left which is a good thing), still plenty of places to see, still stinking hot. Thankfully the summer is almost over, because I'm getting tired of being dripping with sweat by the time I get to the office in the morning. Once it cools down a bit, I'm planning on doing some more travelling around China - I think I'll make some day trips to some of the locations nearby like Suzhou and Hangzhou since I haven't managed that yet. The year is slipping away quickly!

I had a chat with my boss in Melbourne last week and it looks like I won't be staying on past Christmas. I'm scheduled to leave China on December 24, and while there is absolutely no way that the job I'm working on will be finished by then, my Australian company is putting its collective foot down and stating that I am not to return to live here next year. This suits me just fine - I am enjoying my time here in China, but am definitely missing life in Australia. I imagine I'll make a few trips over here next year, but they'll only be for a couple of weeks at a time, which is much more appealing than staying here for an extra 6 months or so.