(before you read, don't worry - this is no grammar lesson )

Well, today has been one of those strange days here in the UK. First of all, 柳杏 admitted that she had misplaced her ring this morning and was worried about not finding it again. Thankfully we had a little faith and it turned up in the end, and we also have hopefully chosen the appartment that we would like to rent the next time I come to Beijing in August. So all that was good, and I felt happy about choosing it and looking forward to going back to Beijing again and seeing her.

It's been a thoroughly miserable week here in the UK - it's May, but it's been raining and cold all week. We tend to observe that in weather like this, people get depressed more and I think it's definately true. When I got back from university this afternoon, my housemate Mike left the house without saying a word or even acknowledging me - at first I asked myself "have I offended him / said anything stupid to him?" but I think 柳杏 is right in that he is unhappy at the moment, and the weather is probably compounding it.

I suppose I feel a little out of touch with Mike and I've been trying to empathise these last couple of hours - he's going through difficult times emotionally (his love life is . . . complicated, to put it simply) and he has now finished his degree, so it must feel to him somewhat like an ending. He's finished all his work, submitted all his essays . . . all he has to do now is wait for his degree and then choose his job path. All this without any real foundation - I know that he suffered a lot at his last break-up and he's really just coming to terms with it now. We're going out for a few drinks tonight with a couple of other friends too, and I hope to get back in touch with him (emotionally) and help him through this. I like to think that I'm a good listener, and I'm someone who tends to see the best in everyone, so I'm hoping that I can try to make these last few weeks as enjoyable as possible for him.

It also made me reflect upon how lucky I am. My life at the moment is very busy with lots of things going on, but it is in no way as complicated as Mike's. I'm busy 100% of the time with my degree work, exams, teaching English, learning Chinese, and doing TEFL administration/assignments - but at the same time I have no pressing emotional issues; I am in a fantastic relationship which I hope lasts forever and I would do anything for; I have good support from my friends in both my engineering class and in my TEFL group; I get much enjoyment out of learning Chinese and teaching people English. My life now seems like some sort of grand build-up; I will graduate this time next year, and then start my real life with 柳杏. This period just feels like I'm sorting out one last little bit of an essay before giving it in - I feel so close to finishing but I know that I've got to work hard in this last bit to make it as good as I possibly can.

So I suppose all I've done here is mumble really! The rain is still falling, and the thunder that we were expecting has not arrived yet. Hopefully after tonight Mike will feel better, hopefully I can support him and help him to cheer up a bit and hopefully we can spend a good last few weeks together. The rain reminds me of a song lyric from the British band Pink Floyd:

"The rain fell slow, down on all the roofs of uncertainty;
I thought of you, and the years of all the sadness fell away from me."

The slow rain here can sometimes be depressing and make you feel uneasy and uncertain. But I know that with the support of friends, family and romantic partners, we can live life to its fullest extent and forget about the melancholy and the sadness.

Thanks for listening . . . normal service will be resumed when the sun is back out again!