Chocolate, Germans and India.....!

Last few days have been really busy. My Indian friend (Sreenivas) has been over for a week now and I have been taking him round some of the sites an sounds where we live and beyond. He has loved it (I think) and has especially liked the cold - or at least experiencing the cold. He has never experienced anything under about 7 degrees! It's been very cold fog over the last few days which has been fun for him - he couldn't wait to scrape the Ice off the car yesterday morning!

It's so hard to crack on with normal life when you have someone like Sreeni over. He seems to add as a second conscience - not because of anything he does or whatever - but just because he is there and what I know about him reminds me of the need to just keep thinking about the tension between living life with lots (here) and often a little (in India). I'll give you and example...went to Birmingham with him the other day. I have got most of my wife's presents but just wanted to get here a little packet of Thorntons sweets. Picked them up and was standing in the queue to get them and caught Sreeni's eye looking at a huge liquid chocolate mountain by the till. I had not even noticed it but when you do and he is there too you think "what the hell are we doing??. Many do not even have a meal the next day and here we are in the UK melting chocolate into a fountain so that we can play stupid games with it with marshmallows on sticks......!" I get really fed up with it all but then have to be honest, at the same time I but into it all - especially at Christmas time....anyone else feel like this??

Arghhh!! enough of my mumbles/grumbles... Even though all these issues are flying round my head we are having a good time. We had a really good time up in Birmingham. Saw the German (Frankfurt) market up by the town hall, the Ice Rink that is out by the ICC and a whole heap of other stuff. Sreeni had his first taste of fish and chips and liked it..

Went to Bristol today to see our good friends the Nash's. See Jez's blog at http://bigtallgeezerwithagoaty.blogspot.com/. Went to the Explore @ Bristol (http://www.at-bristol.com/explore/default.htmbristol.com/explore/default.htm) which was very good, even though we only had a couple of hours there. Got back after that to set up for a party we had at our house with about 30 friends

Oh... and fianlly, just to really freak you out as to some of the stuff that goes on in my world, I have just been mailed a very Christmassy treat!! Check out http://www.sundog.net/carolofthechins/flash/index.html

No doubt will be a bit busy for the next few days but will blog if I get time with some Christmas musings!! Have a good break if you are having one...