Bird Flu warnings, the Dorm closing down and other assorted news..........

H7N9 Bird Flu:
It's Saturday January 18 and I am really enjoying my second week of holidays from teaching.
It was interesting to hear announcements in the Shanghai airport and on the plane - both to and from Hong Kong- about the H7N9 "Bird Flu" outbreak in China. These announcements basically warned of the flu outbreak and instructed  passengers to seek medical help if a fever, chills or other flu symptoms appear.
There was a young East Indian couple sitting in front of me flying home to Shanghai. That poor boy coughed and sweated and generally looked quite ill. I was quite concerned and I almost informed the cabin crew to make note of the passenger in 35K. I didn't though..................So far, I have gone back to coughing since returning to Shanghai. I realized this morning that I did not cough ONCE in Hong Kong- so I am chalking it up to the pollution here.

Chinese New Year/Spring Festival Travel Plans:
My Russian friend Victoria took off for Bali yesterday. We are to hook up at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on January 28. We will stay in Malaysia for 6 days and then fly to Singapore for 3 days- then home on February 5th.
There are two reasons for the short stay in Singapore- it is very expensive and even cutting costs by two, it will be a lot of money. Singapore has the largest number of millionaires per capita in the world.
The second reason is that Vicky's Russian passport prevents her from staying more than 72 hours in Singapore without a "special Visa". Among the many interesting things I've learned here is that one's passport really determines travel and employment opportunities! Victoria gets very angry when she lists the places she is NOT allowed to travel to- or work in. Wow. For the first time, it feels liberating to come from such a benign country as Canada!
No one knows about us. No one cares about us.

The Dorm shuts down for Chinese New Year/Spring Festival:

As specified in my contract, the Foreign Teachers get moved out of the Dorm for the holidays. In typical fashion, each of our "translators" have slightly different pieces of information about this move. The one "constant" is that we move out on January 24th. WHERE we move to - and WHAT the facilities offer- and WHEN we move back to the Dorm. Sigh..................
I have been told that we will be housed at the Wisdom Hotel on the grounds of Shanghai International University of Business and Economics- about a 10 minute walk from the Dorm. I have also been told we will be housed at the Shanghai International Studies University (SISU- our affiliate) "Guest House"- about a 7-minute walk from the Dorm.
There is confusion about access to cooking facilities and laundry facilities, too. Honestly, I HATE the idea that I might have to eat all of my meals out. I LOVE cooking Western Food here in the Dorm for a change from Chinese.
And  NO ACCESS to laundry facilities is even more troubling. I guess I will find out in 6 short days.......................