Every day
(Windmill on shore of Jinji lake, Suzhou, China)
On a walk with Susan, we passed so many pieces of public art, sculptures and miscellaneous offerings, like this windmill on the left. It seems to have no purpose other than to delight the passerby with its jolly mosaics and twirling sails. It isn’t even possible to climb to the top, just possible to detect a whiff of the postmodern on the air.
Since arriving back into China a week ago, it feels like so much has happened. I’ve been working everyday on plans and work for a new illustration portfolio so I can apply for jobs here as an illustrator / artist / designer. Whilst I’m gearing myself up to begin teaching, it is a means to learn, meet people and give back to China rather than as a stopping point in my career. I would rather be drawing! I have converted the dining room table into my workspace – the study room looks as if an enormous hamster has inhabited it; it is littered with Ying’s papers and other effects, so I salvaged my stationary for a move to a clear table. The more pertinent problem with the study recently is that a wall of glass separates me from the outside, thus the room is a full ten degrees cooler than the rest of the flat. Fish Face the tiger and I occupy the living–dining area for several hours a day.
A really common question friends have asked back home is, “so what do you actually do each day?” At the moment, daily routine runs along these lines;
6.30am: wake up, shower, breakfast with Ying, watch BBC news.
7.30-8am: Ying leaves for work, I begin answering emails, writing this, updating various things, begin drawing, etc.
11am-12pm: I realise I am ravenous and make lunch, read, watch news or other trash.
1-2pm: venture out to meet friends, shop for food, go for exploratory walk.
3-4pm: return home and tidy, launder, draw, email, skype, read or whatever needs done.
5pm: hungry again, so it’s snack time, then continue working.
6.30-9pm: Ying arrives home and we cook or go out to eat, then either work, go for massage, watch a film or rest.
10pm-12am: bedtime.
Quite often, I have to lie down or take a brief nap since (especially if I don’t see anyone) I’m often working eight or ten hours a day. I’m not the average ‘tai tai’; this Chinese name apparently means ‘wife of the boss’ or ‘partner of working man’ and I don’t fit the role of non working, shoe shopping, lunch taking, manicuring, massage taking, liquid lunching ‘kept woman’ very well.
Yet.
hihi, good, that you know, how to keep yourself busy, but being a taitai is not THAT bad
no time for skype?