Hi everyone. I hope you are well and happy. Greetings!

I am reading a huge amount of literature on the Stasi (hence the picture) and the East German state, both in English and German, trying to get a sense of what living in that time was like for people in different spheres of life - why people behaved the way they did. There is a great deal of literature and internet information available, all of which I am finding fascinating. I started this as background reading for a novel I'm writing, based partly on reminiscences and stories of the Stasizeit (the Stasi time). Now, however, it's deepened into a genuine interest for its own sake. I've also watched Das Leben der Anderen (the Lives of Others), set in the 1980s in East Germany, one of the most thrilling and moving films I have ever seen. I can heartily recommend it.

My Chinese knowledge continues to be based on vocabulary about detectives, solving crimes and murder. All of these topics will, of course, come in very handy one day. I've nearly finished 镜子坡道了The Mirror crack'd - or something along those lines.

For the last three weeks I've been on an intensive exercise course and have done a small amount of walking every day. From the back door to the front of the house, sometimes over the road to my sister's house - and back again. This may not sound like much, but it's more than I've been able to do for about a year now. The pain is still intense, but the increased exercise is not causing greater pain. Fingers crossed.