In a fog

Crikey - I've been back 10, no, nearly 11 days now, and I'm still not in the right timezone.

I'm not usually susceptible to jet-lag, but I think a particularly long and arduous flight (a two-leg affair, with a midnight layover) followed by a couple of days of smoggy sunlessness when I first got back to Beijing may have got the better of me this time.

Well, that and the ongoing stresses of being in China once more (e.g., drivers and pedestrians running into me on a daily basis, and then scowling at me as if it's somehow my fault), being jobless, having had a big wedge of money apparently stolen from me by incompetent financial institutions... Yes, tougher souls than me might have had some trouble sleeping under these conditions.

Also, I must confess, there has been rather a lot of compensatory partying going on: VERY late nights, and far too much beer and whisky. In the space of barely a week I've had a couple of catching-up-with-old-friends sessions, my 10th Chinaversary, a wetting-the-baby's head session with my favourite new dad, an engagement celebration with a young Brit making a return visit to the bar, a farewell party (extended over three or four days), a 'welcome back!' session with another short-term returnee (my favourite-ever barman, back for a couple of weeks' holiday), and... a wake (which was at least the earliest night I've had in the last week, since grief and whiskey left us all too exhausted to continue much beyond 9pm).

The rest of this week is looking pretty arduous as well...... culminating in a day-long 5th birthday bash for my best-beloved bar, 12 Square Metres, on Sunday.

After that, I definitely need to take a few weeks off....