Well it is the end of the week long holiday here in China and after the weekend things will get back to normal - not that I have figured out what that is yet. I have been spending some time with those staff and volunteers who did not go home for the holidays so I can learn as much as I can. They have taken me to the movies and to the main square which seems to be the place to go in the evening. very lively. Getting 20 disabled people, half in wheelchairs across town is a long and challenging journey and an education to me.

This is such a difficult place to understand. Poverty sitting directly beside wealth. In the same block you can have apartment blocks (called villages and mansions here!) where there is no division between rich and poor except in the amount and quality of possessions people have. Cheap clothes shops next to Gucci stores. French bakeries next to tiny fruit and veg shops. For all intense and purposes a capitalist and consumer society with the gap between rich and poor being pretty enormous.

I am told there are a lot of Brits here but you don;t see them walking about, or on the subway or busses. I assume they drive around in cars. The staring as I walk through the 'village' to work and back is getting a bit wearing now. Although a couple of people have attempted to speak to me but language remains a bit of a barrier. I must try harder! I buy a lot from the supermarket so I don;t have to try to speak Hanyu (Mandarin Chinese) but I will use local shops more when I feel more confident. I have been invited to an expat drinks reception but the cost is 2 days wages for me so I am weighing up the options. I have however figured out the busses (of varying quality) and subway (very easy to navigate) so I will do more exploring of the city.

Canyou, the organisation I work with is very good but I am still struggling to understand the structure or what they want from me. Perhaps there is no structure and that's what they want! They seem to want a lot of things to happen very quickly but I am sticking by my VSO advice and taking things slowly. More discussion next week will hope I help. I also have to get my residence visa next week. Interview at local, then district, then city police station; then form filling at government centre. They certainly want to know what you are doing here.

Missing family and friends but am skyping with family on Saturday. On the plus side I have found a shop selling painting canvasses so I might start painting to relax. I have resolved to find a toaster - even though my flatmates think that eating a sandwich or eating fruit at breakfast is weird. I am determined to have a fried egg butty tomorrow. This will be after being woken up by the music played across the village at dawn. Haven't a clue whether this is very noisy neighbour or something official.