Tis the Season

For the flu.

After a grueling ten-week half term term filled with marking, marking and more marking, I bid a three-week farewell to the PRC and boarded a flight to nations more discerning in their chicken part consumption. Since Paul's health has taken a turn to the more dramatic, this means ten days in London followed by ten days in Michigan. Thank Buddha for my tendency to hoard frequent flyer miles.

I boarded the BA flight from Shanghai on Saturday, generally dubbed the 'Dulwich flight' due to the mass migration of staff and students back to the motherland, with a minor cough in tow. I'd been lugging around a pollution-induced cold for roughly three weeks--imagine a sneeze behind the nose that never quite comes to fruition, a tickly throat that never quite blossoms into a cold and you get the gist of it. Sadly, as per usual on holiday, things ripened into a full-blown cold. Yesterday, a low grade fever and flu-like symptoms came out to play. I've been marooned on the couch for something like 48-hours; I don't handle idleness very well. Just beyond my window is a world of London I want to explore--Oxford Street and mince pies, mulled wine and the National Gallery, carol services, Borough Market.

It's almost like my body is responding to the clean air.  It hates it. And considering China is currently experiencing some of the worst pollution it has ever experienced, I really have to wonder.

I've become annoying in my desire to escape. Paul, bored of my moaning, took me on a journey to Tesco. The ten-minute walk there exhausted me. Inside, screaming babies, people speaking english, the self check out not working, all drove me to new levels of crazy. I reckon there's a degree of reverse culture shock going on, something I really wasn't expecting.

In an attempt to occupy myself, I'm resorting to blogging. Unfortunately, I've migrated my photos from Google+ to Google+ photos and in the process don't entirely understand how to upload images directly from my phone to the blog. If anyone knows how to do this, please feel free to leave me a comment below. Otherwise, this whole process of blogging various  journeys in going to become rather tedious.

In short, bah humbug. I'm ready to feel better now.