Monsoon!

One thing I really like about Dalian is that it hardly ever rains. Although the winters are harsh with a ferocious Siberian wind, the sky is blue every day and it stays dry. Today is a different tale and the rain is pissing down in buckets, turning the badly-drained streets into rivers and making the pavements into a slippery nightmare.
I don't know if it is Dalian's lack of experience with rain, or just Chinese people in general, but everything slides into instant chaos when the heavens open. The roads are clogged with traffic, everyone beeping their horns and generally contributing to a big heaving mess. The me-first attitude adopted whilst driving becomes even more clear, as accidents pile up due to people who refuse to check their mirrors before pulling out. In my office building, staff were waiting at the front entrance with stocks of plastic bags, handing them out to everyone who came in, to store their soggy umbrellas. More staff were working outside, dressed in layers of plastic, sweeping the torrents of water away from the entrance. I arrived for work at 8am, taking a taxi to make sure I got there on time. The place was deserted. I waited for half an hour standing outside the door doing nothing but drinking soy bean milk. Then enough was enough, and I headed to the sanity of Starbucks, where the wifi signal is strong and the chairs are comfy. Unfortunately, I have a student at 10am. And I have to explain an incomprehensible and fist-munchingly boring article to her. But my application to Belgium is almost ready to send, and there will be others to follow.