No I’m not dead! I haven’t even been busy, just relaxing.
On Thursday I went with Vivian, the girl who approached me about filming, to the Japanese restaurant. Another couple (pictured) came later and sat at the large “hob” table with us. Unusually, the woman spoke good English and even more unusual was the fact she wasn’t a teacher.
There hasn’t been a great deal happening here the past few days although we have had perfect weather in the mid-twenties. That is all forecast to end early this evening with rain on the way. If the predictions are to be believed it looks as if I will get damp on the ride to the little school in the morning and drowned on my return in the afternoon. And I need to go shopping in my lunch break too!
You know the saying that says the Chinese will eat anything with legs except the table? I was sitting outside the sweet pork place a couple of days ago, I like to take Pepsi for a change of scenery although all she does is go and lay hidden in the undergrowth, and two of the fu wu yuans (waitresses) came out. They seemed to be searching for something amid the flora as they skirted the patch. Eventually one of them waded into the waist high plants and started picking something. Curious as to what on earth they were growing for the restaurant in the middle of a dense patch of weeds, I got up to investigate. The lady was picking………..weeds! And yes, they were for the pot.
I have naturally been musing on my eventual move to the new place (once they put a floor in) and also my future prospects for remaining here. If I am indeed to remain here then I am happy to invest my own money in making it “mine” so I went to a furniture shop. A decent dining table with six chairs is reasonable at about 2,000y but their beds were expensive indeed. The school will provide a bed but I was looking to see if I could find a nice soft western mattress. Not a chance - every single one was like a paving slab. Online there is a firm called Slumbermaax which flogs memory foam ones targeted at expats but the mattress alone is a months wages!
I was also considering the living arrangements. I don’t think my idea of a pets corner in one room and shutting them in for the night will work out. For starters I think the cats will wail incessantly to be let out and anyway, the only way I could get all four animals in at the same time would be at feeding time - and of course after dinner the dog has to go out so the felines would all escape. So ok, the important room is my bedroom because I really would like bedding that stays nice for a bit longer than an hour after I buy it before getting clawed. So I lock myself in and the animals out? But there’s another problem, there will only be one aircon unit. Fine when it’s not hot (I have plenty of heaters) but impossible in the summer. Another unit would set me back another months salary whereas having the cats put down would only be 600y. Equally you all know that isn’t an option. Still, it is keeping my mind active trying to think of solutions!
I came across this article yesterday:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24381946
I found it interesting, not because China came top (I knew that already) but that the UK came as high as it did! Waterloo Road would suggest bottom would be more appropriate. And no, I only ever watched one episode and found it so far removed from reality I haven’t been tempted since.
Before I go I must tell you about a toddler, a boy of perhaps two or three years of age. He has a big sister who is maybe five or six and about two weeks ago they came unaccompanied to the campus shops. As they neared me the little boy suddenly stopped dead, stared at me for one second and then turned and buried his face in sis’s stomach sobbing! I was sitting at a table peacefully minding my own business and yet I felt vaguely guilty. During the holiday I have seen the pair every day and get the same reaction, except now the sister has taken to picking him up and carrying him over to me! This induces full blown screaming fits and I am then stared at by students who must think I am a mass murderer.
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