The Future (未来)

I took another trip to Liverpool today thanks to having half term off. It was nice to once again be in the town and still feeling strangely at home in it.

Anyway, on the train there there were two girls of around GCSE age sitting next to me bemoaning the fact that they had to learn basic Chinese in school, which I found very intriguing. Learning Chinese was unthinkable in my day, my school couldn't (and probably still can't) offer Chinese even if you wanted to do it. In fact since we had compulsory Welsh doing another language such as French say was entirely optional unlike a lot of schools which have a choice of French or Spanish say. I'm glad to see that Welsh has become a bit of a bigger agenda in schools now, though I'm sad to see the additional pressure it puts on teachers who just don't seem to be getting the resources to do it.

Back to the topic, I found Chinese interesting as it reflects the fact that China is growing as an economic and political power and I guess people are preparing for the time when it may one day rival America. If that is the case my generation will be stumped if Chinese becomes more of a trade language. These factors were lost on the benefactors as they couldn't see any particular reason for them to go on holiday to China! I also find it amusing as I am a fan of the TV series Firefly in which the characters frequently switch to Chinese while talking, also in anticipation of China becoming a potential superpower.

Liverpool was nice and this time I got to see more of the shopping area and not just the bar scene as last time. We checked out the new shopping centre in Paradise street and it is, I have to say, awesome! It is a two level area stretching out with walkways crossing across the first floor and connecting to other buildings. The great thing about it was that the shops are all in close proximity like a shopping centre ought to be, but there's also sky above your head and a breeze blowing through so there's none of that nauseating feeling you get after being in a shopping centre too long. The design of the place is fantastic - one of the bridges has a twisting design, but is entirely smooth inside and the two layer concourse is a delight to see. Even the parking is awesome, with a gray floor and black rectangles denoting parking space instead of the boring old white lines. There's plenty more being built with multiple architectural designs around and it looks set to rival even the Trafford Centre. The in-city location is also very convenient. It unfortunately lacks many guy shops, but will hopefully get more accesible stores in sometime soon. In the meantime it's well worth going just to see it.

Word of the post: Transient –adjective

1.	not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory.