Saturday 8th September, 2012        1600

Early morning today and off to teach brats on the first day of their extra school. Thirty-one in the first class, all new faces yet I swear they must have spoken to older hands because not only did they know what to expect by way of games, knew the “sound effects” I use, but and particularly misbehaved boy certainly knew he was getting the chalk duster patted on his head long before I got to him. If only I could buy a Taser.

I had an hours break before the next class so went to the bank and afterwards sat having a drink to pass the time. Had I known of the break I would have taken a book. Anyway, when I left to walk back to the school, as I approached the only public toilets I am aware of here, I saw a girl emerge and start walking the way I was going. She looked very familiar from behind - no, NOT what you think! - because of the way she walked and her very square shoulders  which would so very much suit epaulettes. I called out from twenty feet astern, “Bessie”” but got no response, so I turned up the volume and this time she turned. It was indeed her. She had heard the first time but didn’t believe anyone was calling her by her English name - what are the chances of it being her foreign teacher in a city of 1.6 million and not even being in a busy place?

I won’t say what she had been doing (not in the toilet of course) but suffice to say she knows it was wrong but she made 300y for an hours work, sadly it is all too common here. And no, it doesn’t involve sex. Anyway, we chatted briefly and when she found out I was going to teach a lesson she asked if she could see the school. I agreed and suggested she come to the lesson, had lunch with me after and then I gave her a lift back.

The class comprised about thirty students, all new, but this time beginners who knew as much English as I know Tagalog. As I had Bessie and the class teacher sitting in along with four mums, I wasn’t even going to try on their first day. Games it was. The picture game, but of course nobody knew the answers in English so I ended up relying on my two translators to tell me when someone gave a correct answer. I think everyone enjoyed it and hopefully the next time I see them they will have learnt some words.

We left, I bought some cigars and then we went to Ke Bi Wang for lunch. It was packed and there was a long queue of people standing patiently with trays waiting to even put them on the “slidey” counter to be served food. Shortly before we actually got to rest our trays on said counter, two completely unconnected men came and took trays from just in front of us. Here we go again, thought I. I asked Bessie if they were pushing in and was told “maybe”, so I asked why none of the dozen or so Chinese people in the queue behind us hadn’t complained. “They won’t, they are Chinese”. Ok I said, their time is more important than everyone else’s so maybe one is the mayor and the other a high-ranking government official (not that I gave a hoot)? I don’t know, she said. Yes indeed they intended to push in, only this time they never dreamed a barbarian would embarrass them in public. Oh yes, they both couldn’t speak English and both feigned indifference and ignorance. But of course I had a secret weapon - Bessie! She translated for me that they should go to the back of the queue whilst the others behind us listened and watched. I spotted more than one wry smile from the patient ones. After, Bessie said “you are so brave, I would never dare do that” and I pointed out that it doesn’t take bravery at all, just anger that someone else thinks they are better than you - especially in a Socialist country where allegedly everyone is equal. Two years ago my doing that would have ruined my appetite, now I don’t even think about it. Those two just might think next time they try to push in - or at the very least check no laoweis are about!

We rode back on a beautiful afternoon not marred by rain, there was a quarter of an inch forecast, and I dropped her off at her accommodation block, rode up further and shouted for Robin then went down to the shops for a drink and to do my shopping. Forget the shopping, this is the Great Influx. Unless I wanted to wait at the checkout for an hour it was “forget it”. If it is still the same tonight I will go outside to shop. Anyway, I sat at an outside table watching all the newbies and their parents buying buckets, mops, noodles etc and then decided to see what the queues were like in the supermarket. No chance, so I walked back to my table. I was about fifteen feet away from it when I felt the first drop of rain and in those few feet got utterly drenched as the sky emptied. A quarter of an inch? More like two inches and in the space of five minutes! All gone now of course, and probably no more to come until tomorrow, I just hope it doesn’t spoil May’s dinner plans for Sunday.

2245

Well I did cave in and took a nap. The alarm went off and I didn’t know if it was Easter or breakfast time. What I did know however was that the rain had returned because there was thunder every few seconds. Great, I had left my shopping until tonight. The one thing about the rain here though is it either lasts all day, buckets for five minutes or teems for an hour. It was the latter so I simply waited awhile and took the mutts out after it stopped.

When I got to the shop quadrangle - overused phrase I know and mostly employed to describe teenage bedrooms - it looked as if a bomb had hit. All day there had been makeshift stalls promoting everything from noodles to toothpaste with free food samples being given out (sadly none of them edible as far as I was concerned) and of course this produced empty cardboard boxes. You can imagine what the deluge did to them. Although the sales people cleared most of the cardboard even now it resembles the outskirts of the old Wembley stadium after an England match.

Before I go for today, I just remembered something that happened in the small hours this morning. I have a huge red circular washing up bowl which has featured in some of my pictures - mainly with animals curled up inside. Nowadays it simply takes up space and usually the cats jump in and out occasionally, shifting it around the place as they launch into or out of it. I think Sky propped it up against the wall when she was cleaning and I left it there. I was awoken at some point in the night by a strange noise. Anything in my home unidentified is cause for alarm and usually means the cats are doing something I don’t like, so alerted, I turned on the bedside light.

What I saw was the upturned bowl careering around the room like a demented giant Galapagos tortoise. Guessing one of the cats had dislodged it whilst underneath and become confined  I did a quick visual head count and concluded the guilty party was Pooh. This is the cat who figured out how to open cupboards, the bathroom door and turn keys to access locked wardrobes so I figured he would suss out how to escape. I didn’t bother getting up, and he did so very quickly.