Sunday 16th October, 2016                         1530

I can’t believe I forgot to include this the other night.

The route to the pizza lunch my class treated me to entailed a relatively lengthy bus ride of about 20 minutes to a position close to Wanda Plaza. I’m not sure where we went eventually and I don’t think it was Wanda but hell, it WAS a big Mall. One of those where you need a gold or platinum card if you actually want to shop instead of eat or go to the cinema.

Anyway, we had to cross the road to get to it. A three lane one way circular road. I have a habit of watching the traffic lights rather than the pedestrian green or red man. If the traffic has red then it stands to reason the walkers get a green. I also, even when the street is one way, tend to look both ways just in case, especially in China.

I do realise having an e-bike is dangerous, three accidents in six years, two of which drew blood, two broke bones and one which could so easily have been the end of me. Surely walking is by far the safest option?

Well a quick glance at the lights as they turned red, another in the wrong direction just to be sure and yet another at the pelican green man. I strode out confidently ahead of all my students, who were either busy chattering to each other or had only just become aware we had the right to cross.

“Ey! Ey! Ey!” was all I heard from the woman on a pedal cycle before she smacked into me. Going the wrong way up a one way and way too small for my swift check to have spotted. Now of course I outweighed both bike and rider combined but as I have aged, so my balance as gone. She either didn’t have any brakes (common here) or Him up top was looking out for me (babies and drunks and all that, and I confess to having started on the jing jo on the bus) because I felt no pain and remained upright. In fact, seeing as this occurred in front of students who I have previously admonished when they treat me like a child crossing a road by loftily informing them that I have crossed roads for 60 years in 47 different countries, it merely made me want to rip the cyclist’s head off.

I satisfied myself with a mere “Wrong side of the road!” and carried on crossing. Well you have to don’t you? I’m an OC, I was a ruffy-tuffy sailor and even if I were hurt (which I wasn’t) I was damned if I was going to let on in front of my students!

So folks, don’t walk - its just as dangerous!  

Just to cheer me up last night an old student now in her 3rd year in Chizhou texted me this (sic)

“we all kown you want to stay and talk.with us, but we can't.so ,we will always remember what happiness you brought”

Highly effective method for producing melancholy on a Saturday night! Last year she ran the Lingdian Society. I must have been a Godsend  to her because there were many occasions when Richard or Juliette or both couldn’t go to their functions. Amazingly I managed to attend them all and as the leaders of the society only come from sophomores, she now being a junior no longer has to worry about it.

I’ve been busy today. Two loads of washing (still not merely a case of throwing gear in and forgetting about it until it’s finished, although Brenda is supposed to be coming one day this week hopefully with pipes) and as I type, a rather large tray of bread pudding rising nicely in the oven for tomorrow‘s class.

Dinner tonight? Well that’s where I came over all lazy. I decided I didn’t have the impetus to bother chopping mushrooms, tomatoes etc to put in my omelette so I am making one I haven’t before - just egg and cheese. With cheddar on the way from Taobao I thought I’d use some of the ready grated mozzarella. It should be ok  with peas and chips?