Flipping heck it’s cold today! The sun is shining so it’s a nice day but, as they say, bracing. I did entertain a notion of riding to town after my morning class but seeing as I was frozen just going to the office I changed my mind.
Last night I had half a baguette with the latest ham - it was delicious, a simple pleasure I used to be able to enjoy any time and think nothing of, yet which now is a treat which takes a good deal of expense and effort to make happen. After I had eaten, Kevin came in to collect his lump and I nearly fainted. He had brought me food HE cooked! In more than four years that has never happened before. It was a tuna pasta affair but as I was full I left it for lunch today. I have to say it was different to the one I cooked a little while ago but very tasty indeed. The only thing that let it down was the burger cheese slice which is no real substitute for proper cheese but then, needs must, as they say.
In about ten minutes time I will have all the expensive stuff I ordered online for our western Wednesday in a fortnight and after I have collected it I will meet Ollivier in the office. This will be resumed later today or tomorrow - I am trying to buffer “Escape Plan” on YouTube to watch this evening but with a current internet speed of 9kb/s it may take some time!
Tuesday 2nd 1340
I now find myself looking forward to spring when it will be warm enough not to have to put two coats on. There is something about this place that makes the temperature seem far lower than it actually is - and I don’t think it has too much to do with the very hot summers, it is simply a different kind of cold to any I have experienced in other countries.
The bus this morning had the airconditioning on yet the price was still just one yuan, that will double very shortly I am sure. I made it in time for a breakfast and afterwards did some shopping. I will have to go again tomorrow because I simply couldn’t carry enough. One solution would be to take a taxi back and indeed it may come to that in the coming weeks and months.
Anyway, the salad was pitiful so I could only buy a Chinese lettuce, tomatoes, cucmber, some spring onions (lopped the greenery off them in-store to avoid taking it with me!) and some spuds to boil and put salad cream on. As the time for my first cheese fondue draws near, I find myself becoming inordinately expectant. I love cheese and really hope it is a success, not just with us laowei but also the students. Yvonne is looking forward to it especially, as she was told by a doctor recently to avoid spicy food - not easy in China.
However, when payday arrives I will be skint. I have gone from “comfortable” to “budgeting” in a short space of time, what with the purchase of new wheels, 600y on Taobao and my wine contribution for tomorrow. This is the first time that I have had to provide plonk on a western Wednesday because I have normally always cooked at least the main course. Certainly I could have bought a few bottles of the bargain basement 12.5y a bottle stuff but I thought I would mark it with a presentation box of Great Wall for 200y (two bottles). It had absolutely nothing to do with the “free” gift of a wine toolkit that came with it, I swear! A waiter’s friend (handy for breaks away), a wine stopper (utterly useless as once it’s opened I always finish it) and two other items I have no idea what they are for but hope to find out tomorrow.
I may just not go early tomorrow because if I have a breakfast I may not be hungry by the time dinner is served. It did occur to me though that now Olllivier has a fondue set, at a later stage we could have a chicken and beef one. The dips would be problematic to source or make but I am sure innovation would overcome that.
Thursday 4th 1115
The two items I never knew what they were for in the wine kit were a thing to put in the neck of the bottle which prevents dripping and the ring, well, all Ollivier could think of was that it was to put over the neck for show. But I now have a “travel corkscrew” which will stay in my little suitcase for the future.
As for western Wednesday, I prepared the salad and some boiled potatoes over which I poured good old salad cream. My contribution at least provided a little healthy food because the fondue most certainly was anything but. I admit to having been dubious about it but it was absolutely delicious. I ate more last night than possibly any other of our western meals and could quite cheerfully have murdered Ollivier when the cheese ran out. He had bought the specified amount for six people but even with Carol not liking it, we could have done with at least another third again. Certainly both Kevin and I were still hungry and I am sure we will repeat it in due course. Next time though I will make a more substantial starter.
Before the meal I made a quick trip by bus to town and back for more shopping. As I rode down to the south gate it started to rain and by the time I arrived back ninety minutes later we had sleet. It was freezing and were it not for Pepsi I would have remained in my barracks but she still has to go out. I had a very chilly couple of pints in the office.
This morning it was incredibly cold but luckily one of my students had turned the heating on in the classroom, making it bearable. About twenty minutes after we started a thick fog descended which, after another twenty minutes disappeared as the sun showed its face. Now it is bright, sunny and “crisp”. After last night I need a nap.
1900
Getting seriously cold now and it wouldn’t surprise me if it dipped below zero in the night. Just to cheer me up, I have noticed on the school website that there is a scheduled all-day power cut for Monday. This means I will have to get up early if I want a shower (and I will) because it stops at 0800 and won’t be back on until 1830. Freezing home, freezing classroom. Somehow I think after class I will be taking the bus and a book and spending a couple of hours in McDonald’s. I have no idea why they don’t make the effort when they cut us off for an entire day to actually fix the problem permanently.
After I stopped typing at lunchtime Ollivier came to bring my chair back which he had taken for last night’s meal. If Zorro sees an open door he will dive out, he’s a real lion, lying in ambush for other unsuspecting cats, Pepsi or me for that matter. So the drill is that I put him on top of the fridge or freezer so he doesn’t have time to escape. After today I may well just let him go and live in the cold.
He all but emptied my bathroom beaker, with the result that today I have had to buy a new razor and toothbrush. God knows what he did with them but worse, when Olllivier left he leapt up on my head. As I was going to try and grab forty winks the last thing I wanted was a cat on my bonce, so I lifted him off. As cats do, he tried to hang on, in the process lacerating my left cheek and neck. I sported three plasters in this afternoon’s class, which prompted much mirth when I explained to the students why.
Tomorrow just has to be a better day!
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