As so often happens to me here, yesterday turned out to be very different from what I had planned!
My idea was to get up early at eight so as to be at the military closing parade, go for a much-needed haircut, shopping in town and be back in the early afternoon to relax for the rest of the day.
Yes, I got up and arrived at the stadium for the parade slightly late (just late enough to have missed the anthem) and sat in the stand to watch the march past. With between three and four thousand “soldiers” in platoons of 110 or so and with one platoon marching past while the following one marked time, it took quite some time. I couldn’t help but notice there were students out of step and out of line. One boy looked as if he was strolling though the park. They would never have passed muster in a real army but then of course they started training completely raw and it had to be done in just nine days because they lost a day due to rain. Also, they don’t simply march past. They have to chant something whilst marking time and before actually going past the leaders, and when they get there they have to change from a simple march to the Chinese version of the goose-step. All things considered, I think the army personnel don’t make a bad fist of it given the numbers under their tutelage and the limited time they have. I was reminded of my time at HMS “Conway” and the length of time it took us to get it right and the considerably smaller platoons.
It did rather stir my emotions though. Sitting there at my age watching thousands of young, eager students with four years of university life ahead and the rest of their life, hopes and dreams stretching before them certainly made me want to turn the clock back.
Once it finished I went in search of Barry Manilow to get my ears lowered. He wasn’t there and because the barbers shop is now off campus I decided to hell with it, one of the others can do it. My hair is hardly difficult to cut, I just want it really short and with a new lad doing it I decided to replicate the cut I was given in Huainan - short back, sides and top. I don’t thing he could believe his luck as it took him about five minutes with the clippers and he was finished!
Off to town after that, with the usual road rage I get when idiots try to kill me, bit of shopping and then a burger for lunch. As I sat eating my burger, the rest of my planned day was thrown into disarray. Carol sent me a text asking if I wanted to go with her to the cinema. Well there’s no way the bike will do two return trips, one of them two-up, on a single charge so after ascertaining I would get about two hours to plug it in, I agreed. Two hours isn’t enough to fully charge but I hoped it would be sufficient and Carol is quite a petite girl.
So just after two we set off. Regular readers of my blog may recall that after my experience watching Titanic where all the Chinese made such a racket that I couldn’t hear the film I swore “never again”. I was banking on a Friday afternoon not being busy, coupled with the fact this was a Chinese film. Carol assured me there would be English subtitles and told me it was a true story about a child who was taken from two divorced parents and their subsequent search for the kid. After some years they did find him.
Unfortunately when we bought the tickets we found we had eighty minutes to wait before the next screening. Beer time. The nearest place was the barbecue place on the floor below. I knew they wouldn’t have any food available but hoped I could just buy a couple of bottles and pass the time. No problem they said but when I asked how much (it’s all you can eat and drink when you eat there so I had no idea what they charge for pijou) I was told because I go there so often I could have them free. I had intended to take Carol there for dinner anyway after the film so that made me certain. I thought it was a nice gesture.
Anyway the cinema had very few patrons and it was actually quiet by the standards here. The only problem was, the film was two hours long and the subtitles were in Chinese! I did though get the gist of what was happening. Carol seemed to enjoy herself because she scoffed the most enormous tub of popcorn imaginable! Unfortunately on this occasion I was the one doing most of the disturbing, for I still have a residual cough from my recent cold.
Afterwards we went to the barbecue place for dinner. Rather pointless for me, having had lunch I wasn’t hungry but Carol, as have so many other slips of girls here, astounded me with the amount of nosh she can put away. She ate enough for both of us! I on the other hand ate sparsely, envying her appetite whilst trying to get my own money’s worth by taking advantage of more beer. I think that is the longest time I have ever spent in that restaurant, certainly over two hours so it was nearly nine o’clock when we left.
Thankfully (because I only had a shirt on and she a cardigan) it was a perfectly warm night so we had a pleasant ride back. When we got back Carol said she was going to the hot water house so I said I would take her. We got her flasks, went there and when she had her water for the dormitory (they have to pay! I didn’t know that before) I took her back and then came home. The power gauge was the lowest it has ever been so the bike wouldn’t have taken us much further.
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