The teaching schedules for the coming term are out and Kevin is not happy! He has a full complement of 8 classes (16 lessons) per week whilst I have 7. That in itself is not enough to provoke his sadness but 10 weeks into the semester I will lose two of the classes as they graduate, leaving me 5. Despite being informed to the contrary I have my three year students for their final term. Even that is not enough to make the green monster appear. What has done it is that he has no days off during the week whilst once again I am only working three days! I have Mondays and Wednesdays off. Of course that may change if I am given large classes (unlikely as the new students will all be 4 year students) and I split them. Olivier on the other hand only has TWO classes! Nice work if you can get it………….
Well, it seems I won’t be returning to Anqing again this holiday. Yvonne told me this morning that her younger sister has just received her admission papers for another college so when she packs up her temporary job she is going to help her prepare the things she will need and then accompany her to her new school, returning here herself the day before term starts. A pity because I was looking forward to going and another meal in that restaurant but that’s life in China.
Speaking of life here, the campus shopping centre has been destroyed. Not literally of course but through Vivi we have learnt that every single shop/restaurant/hairdresser etc with the exception of the supermarket has upped and gone. All the furniture and equipment has been removed and every door has the same sign on it. In Chinese it says closed until further notice and that they are up for rent, highest bidder wins. Apparently a firm in Anqing owns the leases and decided to push up the rent so high that the incumbents had no choice but to leave. Even for China that seems a bizarre way of doing business and I am wondering if they have shot themselves in the foot and many of the shops will remain unoccupied. No doubt the coming weeks will tell either way but it may mean I need to find another pet barber and move my “office” off campus.
Last night Ellen, Vivi, Kevin and I went to a new fish restaurant. I think I was invited because they have a promotion on at the moment whereby if you spend 100y you get six beers free! There were none left when we had finished. We shared a hotpot of blackfish which was very nice and they even do some small spring rolls - not something you see often here. Of more interest to me was another new place next door which seemingly does sweet and sour chicken, however I get a feeling it will still have the skin and bones attached. Only one way to find out.
Kevin is also not happy for another reason. He needs a new passport. It still has three years to run but because of all the travelling he has done he has no space left for visas. When I renewed mine a year or so ago it was simply a matter of paying the fee and posting the application to Hong Kong, who then cancelled my old passport electronically and forwarded it to London. London then duly sent it back via FedEx (and a student on the number 29 bus) to me here.
That has all changed now. You have to go to one of the British embassies here (or get someone to go on your behalf) with your old passport and application and the nearest to here is Shanghai. He now faces long train rides (flights are expensive) and at least one night in an hotel in Shanghai due to timings and the same again when the new passport is sent as he has to collect it in person as well. Quite why they changed the system I have no idea but thank God mine is valid for another 8 years. Shifting sands have got nothing on life in China!
Ok, shower time now and then a ride to town to get some shopping. I have threatened to make chilli mince and potatoes for all of us tomorrow.
2000
By virtue of the fact that I left rather late this afternoon, my “meal”, far from being something reasonably healthy, was a vegetable free McDonalds. How in hell’s name they STILL can’t find another reputable supplier this long after the scandal broke beggars belief. And for once the place was really busy (they are not exactly in a prime location here) so I don’t believe the stories about their profits crashing. Sure, there will have been a blip for a couple of days but KFC is still doing well as well.
Sitting off campus having a pijou with Pepsi I couldn’t help but notice that the nights are already starting to draw in. It was dark at seven. I sat there musing on whether to get a new bike this year or not and weighed it up against available money and what else I had thought of doing such as buying a fryer, curing salt (sodding expensive) for ham and other western food items I am low on. The former would probably set me back 2,500y and the latter all told about 2,000y. I could do both I suppose, I shall see after term starts.
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