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The Best Laid Plans Are Apt To Go Astray

@7 May 2001

Hi Thor,


It's the last day of my long holidays.You know, for Labor Day, I have seven days off. That's really a good way to promote traveling. No wonder it is called "holiday economics". I had planned to go to Lianyun Gulf which is located in Zhejiang province, but I had to cancel it because I couldn't buy tickets. How I wish I could have the holidays later or earlier than others. [note for readers: For the last couple of years the Chinese government has been declaring some fairly generous holidays for salaried workers. They have discovered that this leads to a great upsurge of consumer spending, which boosts the economy. It also means total transport chaos, when tens of millions of people try to travel simultaneously. The idea of granting regular, staggered holidays to individual employees would quickly seem like an inalienable human right, so it is politically more attractive to make grand, one-off gestures of "generosity" from the Executive. Thor]

I have suddenly found that it's somewhat difficult for me to write in English, perhaps because I don't write or speak it often enough. In fact I have to read or write in English every day during my work. But all of this stuff is relevant to the business, or to be exact, to "letters of credit" or all kinds of business documents. The worst thing is that L/Cs ignore English grammar.

I miss my school life very much. When I was at school, I didn't need to worry about my life and so many things. I just read and wrote. I liked the school wall which surrounded the whole school, separating it from the crowded city. We talked about novels, interesting things, difficult problems in maths, and some handsome boys... But what we are talking about now? Who is of benefit for me, who would be promoted, and how to flatter our bosses.. I couldn't even find a good friend. I had thought I would meet my new good friends when I began my work life. My mother tells me it's quite normal, because that is life. Everybody must earn their living. We have to ignore friendships which are not important any more..

Best wishes,

Cindy*                                                                                                             [* Rebecca has changed her name to Cindy]

"The Best Laid Plans Are Apt To Go Astray " copyrighted to Thor May 2001; all rights reserved

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