Generally in the recent past
I've no idea whose reading this, so here's a quick run down of what I've been up to of late.

I graduated in 1999 (sounds like the start of my CV) and went to Australia and that general area for a year and it all seems like such a long time ago now. Came back to the UK and did a few different jobs before moving to London  (East Sheen, above a butchers to be precise, which may not sound to glamorous but the house was/is real nice although the location is not exactly ideal for me as a vegetarian) and doing a few more different jobs.

Eventually I did get a job I actually wanted to do, working for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) who do some damn good work in some damn hard places and (get ready for free advertising) if you want to know a little more about them, head to their website by clicking just here 

Then I just had enough of London life and the general attitude of people in my beloved homeland (although I am quite sure it is my attitude which was the real problem!). At this point most people would probably go on holiday. Sun, sea, rest, relaxation, recuperation and all that sounds like a good start, eh? Oh no, that's far too easy for me. I decided to put away my drinking shoes and head off to try my hand at teaching a bit of English in China. Yes, that would be just what I needed to recharge the batteries in the tranquillity of the most mysterious of countries. Little did I know...

I ended up at East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) in Shanghai. Well I was told it was in Shanghai, but I actually had the dubious pleasure of ending up in Jinshan. Technically it is in Shanghai, but in terms of lifestyle it might as well have been on the moon. And with the general abundance of chemicals and petrol (Shihua, the town I was in, translates to English as 'petrochemical') one misplaced, still burning cigarette would probably send it there. It was a real experience and you can find out a bit more about it by going to the First time in China page.

Being in China gave me a lot, but by far and away the best thing to come out of my time there was finding my girlfriend Jewel, who some have you met and others might not have heard about.

As wonderful as this was (and still is) it did make going back to England all that more difficult. But I still went. I ended up back in the UK for 4 months, working for WWF (yes, yes now's the time to get the wrestling gags out the way because you all know that WWF are the World Wildlife Fund any WWFers please forgive that last statement) and catching up with family and friends. Had a real good time and kept my mum happy by being back for Christmas (couldn't stand to be away from brussel sprouts for another year).

To put it bluntly, I'm still a right royal lazy gyt who has no motivation to get a real job and face responsibility, although they might not be the only reasons for me being back in China now. When I left I made a promise to Jewel that I would be back for the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) that tends to be at the end of January (the lunar new year) as it's the most important time for family for the Chinese. Equivalent to Christmas for us Westerners. So here I am .