Saturday 25th June, 2016                 0020

So Thursday saw me see my last student officially, rather aptly her English name was Summer, given that it was a roasting hot day. In fact the saddest moment came when I was left alone with my thoughts after she left.

I had to collect my bag and make sure I left nothing behind because never again will I set foot in that classroom. Six years of utter dedication gone and aside from actually keeping the job it was largely for nothing. Or was it? Of course not. I gave the paying customers (parents and students) their money’s worth. I can only hope I have left a lasting impression on some of my students (around a thousand now) and in some way helped to mould them. I hope they will remember me as much as I still remember my own teachers who helped shape me in my youth.

So then I went to the office. Halfway through my second and what was supposed to be my final bottle I was stunned to see a foreigner walk in.

He was succeeded by Anthony who of course just happened to be passing by right where my bike was parked and where I drink every day. What a coincidence. No hint of him wanting to dump the new laowei on me of course!

Said new laowei is Daniel from Minnesota. So far seems a most amenable chap but my crown as the fattest teacher on campus hasn’t just been knocked off, it has been ground into the dirt. At the last weigh-in I was 88kg. He is 125kg! The staff in the office were clearly whispering about him and they thought I was fat! That does not however decide how good a teacher he may be.

I stayed for a few more beers with him and had to beg off giving him a lift on the bike because not only didn’t I think with our combined weight of nearly a quarter of a ton it would defeat my bike on the hill back but I wasn’t confident of my ability to actually keep the damned thing upright either. He went for a walk.

Friday the power cut went ahead and thankfully the translation was right and it affected another part of the campus. I went shopping and later treated Dumpling to a roast pork dinner for her last time to clean up. Unfortunately when I took the pork out of the oven, having not used a tray, just bacofoil, I ended up with the boiling butter down my belly and on my feet and it bloody well hurt. The dinner, I am happy to say, was fine and Dumpling tucked in with gusto. Sore tummy in the morning methinks.

I will not mention the UK referendum other than to say I am pleased.

Daniel went to RT Mart today and texted to say he couldn’t find spaghetti, sauce or fajitas. Well they have wraps if that’s what he meant plus the other two. How on earth he missed them AND the alcohol section is beyond me but I have said I will take him tomorrow.

Joan sustained a minor injury to her ankle a day or so ago and tonight asked if I had any ice cream. Well, that’s what aspirin sounded like when she said it. Why? She showed me. The graze has become infected and she has been crushing aspirin and putting it on the wound! Thankfully I have a good stock of medicines in-house and so she is under strict instructions to take antibiotics because otherwise she could be in trouble. I will inspect it again tomorrow night  because if it starts tracking it will be off to the hospital we go.

Yesterday, having sent a concerned message to the recruitment agency regarding my documentation and why couldn’t the new university apply pressure, I had a reply to say that Beijing issues the foreign expert certificates and they are the most important thing in order for provinces to be able to issue residence permits so it would be no good. I then commented that Beijing must have therefore issued me six of those already so why suddenly now would they decide not to and for the agency not to leave me out on a limb with no bloody job.

They replied that it won’t happen, there are other provinces with different criteria (Inner Mongolia being one!) and they will ensure I find a place. Forgive me for thinking rationally but if Beijing issues the FECs then what bloody difference is it going to make with other provinces???