Friday 28th February, 2014                   1930

The UK rain has arrived here, although not perhaps in such quantity. It is just utterly miserable.

On Wednesday as planned six of us went to the Sichuan restaurant. I invited Yvonne (Joanna’s replacement as my soon to be new best friend) and Joanna invited three of her roommates - Savannah, Jane and Trouble. Trouble is not her real English name, it’s the one I gave her after the very first lesson nearly four years ago because she was most outspoken for a Chinese student - but a good one for all that.

They were all dying to know what the surprise was I had planned for Joanna except Yvonne who I had to take into my confidence in order for her to remind and confirm with the staff just who it was the magician/clown needed to pick. It was an easy enough job for him as our table was close to the stage so I crossed my fingers it would work. As always we ordered too much, twelve dishes in all but everyone ate their fill of Peking duck, cucumber, lotus root, chicken and so forth.

And then the show started. They loved the Sichuan opera and then the clown appeared and they thought his magic was, well……magic. The moment the rope appeared I said to Joanna “Come with me” and she did. It was perfect, the next she knew she was the star of the show. I hope next week at some point to be able to post a video Yvonne took on her phone of it. More importantly I hope it was a night Joanna will always remember, for tomorrow morning she leaves for three weeks, then she will return briefly for exams and I think to defend her thesis, then she will be off once again until June when she comes back to go through the mechanics of actually graduating. Treating myself and five students to a slap-up meal with drinks cost me 455y but it was worth that just for the surprise.

June is going to break my heart (hopefully not because I have been dispensed with myself!) because all my original 4 year classes will be saying goodbye to here and I will miss them all so much. But there are still some weeks before that happens and of course I have some really terrific new students - who although they will be here for another two years this is their last term with me. Of course, with my first ever students I could not help but form a deep attachment.

Before I left to go downtown though Lucy came to clean the flat and before leaving she announced that tomorrow (now Thursday) was her birthday and would I come to her birthday dinner. Great I thought, that’s tomorrow’s food sorted. So on Thursday after class - Lucy had class until 1710 - I went to the girlie boutique on campus and bought a glass Eiffel tower vase with some sort of scented liquid and an artificial flower in as a gift for her. They even wrapped it for no cost. Sitting with Ollivier at 1730 and not having heard from Lucy I sent a text, thinking she had forgotten about inviting me.

She hadn’t but she has had to postpone her birthday as an evening class was dumped on them at the last minute. Not having anything defrosted and not fancying campus food I was faced with the prospect of venturing out in the damp to get fed. Instead I ended up quaffing some of Ollivier’s recent online wine order (quite nice for the price incidentally) and dinner consisted of three crepes - in my opinion the best he has made yet - and some unidentified French cheese. Not exactly a balanced meal but it filled a hole!

Today I had solid lessons and Mulan (the Chinese major who switched to English) attended Ollivier’s class after lunch and also mine straight afterwards - neither of which she had to as she is now Kevin’s student but I cannot help admiring her dedication - students like that make you want to do more for them, as indeed I do for her. If only they were all like that.

Tonight it’s bangers, mash and peas. Not the meal I planned but at lunchtime when I went to get liver from the freezer for the animals a pack of sausages was firmly frozen to it and I couldn’t separate the two, so I defrosted it all. I wasn’t too pleased to note the campus supermarket now appears not to sell tomato sauce as I have run out but I do have HP so that will do nicely.

Enjoy the pictures and sorry one is a little out of focus. The two photos of the attendees sitting at table are Yvonne on her own and the other is (L to R) Trouble, Jane, Savannah and of course Joanna.

Tuesday 25th February, 2014                           1810

Well I forgot to mention something I saw on the bus. I may have mentioned the latest (idiotic) “fashion” which has still yet to disappear after more than a year, the practice of wearing gaudily coloured glasses that actually have no glass in them.

As I sat watching, a girl close by took out a container of eye drops and proceeded to drop them I her eyes through the frame where the glass should have been. I was left shaking my head in disbelief.

On Sunday Linda (who had cried off earlier in the week) contacted me to go to the Japanese place. Initially I agreed but then I suggested I surprise her. She is a native of this city and there was every possibility she was unaware of the Sichuan place and it’s always nice to show you know more than the locals, so that’s where we went.

Linda of course had to bring her cousin Anna (seems par for the course in China for them to come in braces unless you are really close) and for the first time I saw a menu - everything was ordered by others the first time. It is good that the menu is in English and Chinese as well as having photographs of the food, even if some of the translations were at times strange or even on occasion downright blue. I let them order what they wanted but for my part I ordered radish balls (nothing like the red radishes we know in summer) and foie gras. Which from the photo looked nothing of the sort, more a sort of deep fried pate. I thought I would give it a go but when it came, although the crispy batter was tasty, the inside was I think - and this is the only description I can think of that fits - goose gristle and knuckle joints. It was disgusting! I won’t ever order that again, that’s for certain, although Kevin (who went on Saturday after I told him about it) has recommended the dan dan noodles. I will be sure to order those tomorrow.

Anyway, the girls enjoyed the show and I have more or less figured out how during the Sichuan opera the performers manage to turn around swiftly and reappear with a different mask but the clown/magician has me foxed as to how he turns a burnt paper tissue into a dove, nor the rope trick.

Some minutes after the show a chap came and sat behind me at the next table and started talking to Linda. I looked at him - and Christ he is ugly - then asked what he was saying to her and who was he? He is the clown. Ah, an opportunity! Hopefully I have now arranged it so that Joanna will now be the volunteer on stage for the rope trick provided she doesn’t get stage fright. Tomorrow after we arrive I will get Yvonne to come with me to the front desk to get them to remind him - she will keep the secret.

Finally, in class today Mulan (the girl who changed major from Chinese to English) attended even though she is officially Kevin’s student now. She will in future come to one of my classes on Friday (in addition to her scheduled lessons) and on Tuesdays she wants to go to Ollivier’s class to start learning French. I admire her keenness and dedication to learning.

Also in class one of the stories a student told by way of a warm up for the lesson was concerning a dormitory mate who decided to drop out of school. She bade her farewells and her three roommates were apparently sad for hours after she left. Until that is, they realised they could now have more room in the dorm and promptly dismantled her bed and moved everything around! The student who left had a change of heart on arriving home at the weekend (or the parents went mad) and arrived back unannounced yesterday. The first thing she asked was why was her bed in pieces and folded away? Instead of telling the truth the others made the excuse that they were spring cleaning!

Friday 21st February, 2014                          1240

An interesting couple of days.

On Wednesday when I went to withdraw money shortly before going to collect Amy to take to dinner (Anna cried off a few hours before) I discovered that I was still the only one here who hadn’t been paid. Incensed, I withdrew the last of the money in my UK account and fired off a text to Cinny.

The plan had been to take Amy to the barbecue place but en route while we were chatting, the Japanese place was mentioned. Amy had never eaten Japanese food so the plan altered. I had intended on getting off the bus to collect my cigars but couldn’t now because I never had enough money. Cinny had texted me advising my wages were remitted along with everyone else’s so it was the bank’s fault and they were going to sort it asap. The second the bus pulled away from the bus stop by the kiosk I buy my cigars I received another message informing me my money should now be in my account. Great.

Plan B became Plan C. Eat Japanese and afterwards find an ATM, withdraw monies and get a cab to buy the smokes and then take us home. Failing that it was Plan D which was go straight home. Hallelujah - it was there so I collected 700 lardies (only asked for 600 but what the hell, I’ll smoke them) and I was happy again. I wasn’t impressed this time with the restaurant as the chef wasn’t there and had to be summoned and although the food was great, when the time came for the fire ice cream he had gone home! Words will be had next time.

Yesterday the owner of the original kids school called me to invite me to a “gathering dinner” for the start of the new term. It was to be held at a new restaurant and could I meet at the school at six? On the bus, we were halfway there when he called again at five-fifteen - where are you, we are waiting?! I was not surprised in the slightest as it has happened before - I was going to be there at five-thirty anyway but he had said six. For an ex accountant he is highly disorganised.

The restaurant is indeed new and was absolutely packed. To my initial dismay I was informed it was a Sichuan restaurant so I assumed everything would be volcanic. Not so. One of the dishes packed a powerful punch admittedly but the lotus root was sweet and they even did an unauthentic Peking duck. But it wasn’t the food that made me want to return again. At 1850 every night they put on a show. I’m not quite sure what was going on because two of the performers had antelope horns but it was terrific and afterwards a clown/magician came out to entertain the children. They also have two rather portly gentlemen as greeters dressed in traditional Sichuan costume with whom I was photographed and someone has already commented that were I similarly attired we could be mistaken for three brothers. True, as you will see.

A superb evening and before leaving I booked table 101, a ringside table, for next Wednesday evening. It will be Joanna’s last week until she briefly returns in June to actually graduate so I really want to spend as much time as I can with her and make it enjoyable. Trouble is, the minimum cover for such a table is six people. So Joanna is inviting three of her friends (all my students from her class) and I have invited Yvonne who is my new internet shopper. I am keeping mum about the show because I hope it is as much of a surprise and delight to them as it was to me.

Monday 17th February, 2014            2000

Back to work today and my goodness what a wrench. Despite my intention of getting an early night I wasn’t tired enough until two and had to get up at eight. That took monumental effort I can tell you. In fact I am half asleep now and the hell of it is that I don’t need to wake until midday tomorrow.

My first class was my best one, the ones who helped me move but as today has been freezing and wet and no aircon was fitted in the holiday, today I had to conduct classes all togged up. The second class was one of my larger three year lots but as I don’t have a proper lesson the first class back from a long holiday it wasn’t so bad. Just as well I don’t do a proper lesson as they have no course book for this term. I have given them the option of choosing their own topics or simply carrying on with units from previous books we never covered. Up to them as long as they let me know what they decide by the weekend.

Even today nobody has been paid still and from memory this is the latest it has ever been. I have told Cinny something needs to be done fast because I am down to 240y (two days survival money)and after that I starve.  I have a very small amount in my UK account after twice withdrawing sums because of precisely this but I fail to see why I should have to yet again plunder it, especially as the school is now back up and running. If we are not paid tomorrow then my complaints will be escalated. I am supposed to be treating Linda to a Japanese on Wednesday and it’s my turn to pay.

I did have one ray of sunshine in an otherwise dismal day (both weatherwise and personally) in that I bumped into Joanna as I was about to come home from the campus shops. She is only here for two weeks and then will leave until her graduation in June. I will be sure to take her to dinner at least once before she leaves but if I am honest the thought of her leaving gives me melancholy. I will miss her dreadfully. And I wish I was thirty years younger.

Tomorrow a downpour is forecast but at least Kevin has taken his class back from me so I only have the one early afternoon lot. We currently have some confusion because one of his students told him his two Wednesday morning classes are my old students. Naturally he was hoping I would take them from him (as it stands I have 12 lessons a week as against his 18 although after 7 weeks that will reduce to 14) but despite his protestations I am adamant they must be his because their start date was 2011 and my two sets started in 2010 and 2012 so as far as I am concerned they are his. The trouble is, we can’t figure out who they are so we will only know on Wednesday morning. I hope they are his because if I have to reclaim them there goes my free Wednesday! Watch this space.

Tuesday 18th          1915

Well the forecast deluge transmogrified into snow. Thankfully by the time I had to teach after lunch it had started to thaw and cars had made clear tracks I could ride my bike on without falling over.

Sadly though Linda has begged off from tomorrow night (usual excuses, it’s too cold and she has a cold) but I am sure we will go for dinner at a later date, for some reason she does like me and it is always her that asks me out rather than the reverse.

The pay saga just gets better. Apparently the school remitted the monies to the bank yesterday - still five days late - but I still haven’t been paid. Even betterer, I now find Kevin and Ollivier have been paid so I am probably the only one who hasn’t! If it’s not in my account tomorrow then I may well stage a sit-in at the accounts department.

Saturday 15th February, 2014                2100

This could very nearly have been a complete waste of a day. As it was, although I was kicking my heels for most of it, at least something happened.

The repairman came in the early afternoon, took one look at my water heater and cluttered off. He called Cinny later and I was phoned by her just as I was about to give up and go out. Could I wait a little longer as he was coming back. In fact two of them came the second time. They opened the unit, decided it was fine and then took the breaker out - which was scorched where the live feed entered.

One of them left to get a new breaker and while he was gone and I was making small talk with the other chap whilst neither of us could understand the other, Kevin arrived with his drill. He had come to drill holes through my window  frame and the one on the landing so we could thread the extension cable through them I use to charge the bike. Due to the extensions utilising locking screws and moulded plugs this involved severing the cable and afterwards him soldering and taping the wires but  at least now both windows can be closed properly, making the place more secure from intruders and more importantly stopping the icy draught the cats have endured since I moved in. His reward was a frozen beef stew he can eat tomorrow!

Thankfully the new breaker sees the water heater working again at least for the moment. I am dubious as to how long that will last because it seems to me that there must be something wrong with the heater to have done that in the first place so I shall wait and see how long before it packs in again.

Almost everything is now open again on campus as the students return in hordes, in fact I had to queue for ten minutes in the supermarket this evening. I didn’t stay long because neither of the two cafes I normally use had any beer yet or I would have tarried awhile in the hope of seeing some of my students again. As it is, so far I have only seen Vivian and that was only in passing. Anyway my neck and shoulders are killing me today for some reason and I need an early night to try to get back in the habit of getting out of bed before midday.

Kevin went to try to sort out our teaching rotas but they were closed today. I have that class of his and one of his students looked at his timetable and told him two of the classes on his list were 3 year students of mine. From 2011. They are only being taught for 7 weeks and I said it was impossible they were mine because they had all graduated. Then it dawned on us that these must be the ones who returned to do another two years to get a higher qualification, they were given no oral English for their first year. I have agreed that if he takes his lot back I will take one of those classes so the status quo remains the same. I just hope if it happens the new class can be slotted into when I want it, without ruining my two days off midweek. We will find out on Monday.

Oh yes, Qing sent me messages telling me Helen (the Moldovan who came to dinner with the guy from Brixton at new year in Tongling) had left him because he was always beating her. The first time I met him (when I went to meet her parents) I told her I didn’t like him and thought he was a bad person. I am certain she didn’t believe me but now she knows I was right. She will I hope have no further dealings with him.

Tomorrow I have loads to do to get ready for Monday. I need to spend a while in the supermarket getting prices for The Price Is Right, rule up new attendance pages (which had I thought about I could have done ages ago) and try to  dream up more exam topics - only about 60 to go!!

Valentines Day  2014                     1830

Well actually, here it is not Valentines Day but instead the lantern festival - here much later in the year they have what they call a Lovers Day, 11th November I think.

Yesterday wasn’t good for much with snow everywhere. Whilst the roads on campus were ok for cars an e-bike was an entirely different proposition. I really didn’t fancy chancing my arm with Pepsi aboard travelling to the outside supermarket but I did go to the campus shops to check if we had been paid at the cash point. We hadn’t and so seeing that as to my delight our own supermarket was open I withdrew most of the remaining cash in my account in England. My guess is that we will all be paid on Monday and I hope the foreign teachers are not the only ones putting in complaints about this unacceptable and cavalier attitude towards peoples’ money.

Anyway Kevin returned late yesterday afternoon bearing a couple of sachets of gravy for liver and bacon casserole, some Twinings teabags and a box of mixed herbs when I had requested mixed spice! I was not the only one glad to see him back, doubtless today when he went to the bank to sort out the 10,000 yuan someone put in his account by mistake a month ago they will be happy. Mind you, he seems to have profited 49y in the process even though he was ninety minutes in the bank.

Last night at about eight I heard yips and barks from our new family and looked out of the balcony window to see the shutter was once again pulled shut. I saw no sign of mum and assumed they were all shut in together and so left it until what has become the norm, Pepsi and my midnight stroll. Certainly mum was glad to see me to liberate her, for she immediately bolted around the corner to one of the two pups who had not only been excluded but is too small yet to even scale the steps down which he or she came to be outside in the first instance. The pup was soaking wet and freezing cold in the slush so immediately I took it inside where mum started licking it dry and offering her body warmth. I shudder to think what would have become of these little things had I not been here this holiday. One thing for sure though, mum and I are now best friends!

Today the snow on the roads has melted completely so I bussed downtown. It was fine outbound but all the buses going in the opposite direction were full of people standing. That meant a taxi home. The students are starting to return and in fact I noted something an hour ago that is typical of China - a girl locked out of her dormitory block standing with her suitcase and two others locked in and sending frantic texts for assistance.

In town I bought meat plus some veg for me to make a pork stew and then I went to the Lotus Branch for a pizza. I would have gone shopping at the commercial centre and eaten at the barbecue place so I could see Melinda but for the fact I wanted to be sure I could get liver for the animals and my best chance of that is Lottemart. Melinda is being rather coy about coming to lunch with me, saying she doesn’t want to until she passes CET4 as her English is not good. I am trying to get through to her that considering my job it might just be a good idea to spend some time with me to help her achieve that.

As for the water heating, it was a bucket job again today. Cinny contacted the vendor on Thursday evening and they are going to send someone to repair it (if they can) but said that as today is lantern festival they might not get anyone to come. As I had every intention of going to town today I indicated Saturday would be a good day. I hope they do indeed turn up.

Thursday 13th February, 2014                 1330

Yesterday it was a bucket of water I had heated on the hob with which I had to clean myself. At my age I can really do without sitting on a closed toilet seat chucking containers of water over myself. To make matters worse, when I went to withdraw cash from the hole in the wall I couldn’t because once again I hadn’t been paid.

That discovery was not well received and as it was four in the afternoon I sent Cinny a message  registering my anger at not only having no hot water but also no money. This time though it is not just the foreign teachers, it’s everyone. She never saw my message until 1930.

By that time I was nearing the end of the Japanese meal with Avril, who declared the food the most delicious she had ever tasted. She was like a puppy on a polished toilet seat, taking photos of the mushrooms, cream puffballs, curry, steak, prawns etc and of course the fire ice cream and banana. Trouble was, when I nodded to the chef to give her the surprise they had neither bananas nor ice cream! In fairness, someone rushed out to try to get some but came back merely with bananas. He fried them and tried to serve them up but I was having none of that - I wanted the flames!

Avril lost no time in posting an entry with the pictures on QQ (China’s Facebook/Twitter substitute) because she “wanted to show off and make her friends envious”. It’s always nice when someone else appreciates your choice of restaurant. Towards the end I had a text from Cinny apologising for not seeing the message earlier but that now the repair man was on his way. Not much good when I am downtown though. It was arranged that he would come at eleven this morning.

He and his sidekick arrived at eleven-thirty - punctual here - and accordingly pronounced the water heater as deceased. There will be no hot water again today for now Cinny has to contact the shop which sold it to them for a replacement under warranty and who knows when that will arrive. I had toyed with the idea of threatening to go to an hotel at the school’s expense but considering they are being seen to actually do something about it I will suffer - plus I always have the (admittedly inconvenient) option of crossing the road and using the old place although with no heating on I think sitting on the loo with a bucket is a better option, even if my gas bottle is getting depleted!

It was snowing whilst we were eating so all thoughts of walking to the bus stop a mile away vanished so with half of my remaining monies Avril negotiated for a private car that had stopped to tout for business to take her home and then me for 35y. She again wanted to pay but this time I put my foot down.

Once again today I awoke to a couple of inches of white stuff everywhere and once again last night I had to let mummy dog in to see her pups. The roads look rideable so I shall go out soon to see if I have been paid and if not use the last of my cash to buy a bottle of wine. I can take some from my UK account but I don’t like doing it as you know, because I have no way of replacing it.

And finally, more on my strange little dog. She is perfectly happy to go out in rain any time of day or snow at night but not in daylight. Both mornings that we have had no snow but everywhere was blanketed from the night before she has refused to go out for her morning pee, instead holding her bladder until absolutely necessary. The thing is, she only takes a few steps on the landing, looks down through the window on the ground floor, sees what it’s like and will not go any further. Strange she may be, stupid she is not!

Tuesday 11th February, 2014                 1400

Thankfully the snow which fell and settled on Sunday night, although still present on the grass, melted away from the roads, allowing me to ride the bike to the south gate to take the bus for my evening rendezvous.

Accordingly, in mid afternoon I showered. When I finished I stood for a minute or so under the warm water with my eyes closed and was given such a fright I feared I might have a heart attack. There was a loud bang as the electric water heater blew up a yard from my head. The breaker had cut out twice in mid-shower last week but it was a simple matter then of simply resetting it. This time it blew the electrics for the entire flat so I had to go outside in the cold in my bathrobe to reset the main breaker.

Whatever happened to the heater is terminal as it will not work at all now. Cinny is coming to campus this afternoon and will hopefully get an electrician (or school bodger) to come and look at it. Meanwhile I can’t shower - in summer I might just consider taking a cold one but with temperatures now below freezing, no way Jose.

So that was bad thing number one.

I duly caught the bus and walked to the Japanese restaurant to await the arrival of Avril. There were no customers but I thought possibly it was because it was early (only 1800) but it was conveyed to me that the large hob was broken. Great - part of the experience is watching the fat chap cook in front of you and I like surprising my guests with the banana and fire ice cream thing, that was now off the menu. They showed me the things they could do in the back kitchen and in fairness had I been alone it would have been fine but not what I had planned for Avril. I said no I would come back another day when the hob was fixed and asked for a beer whilst I waited for my companion to arrive and also to think where else we could go which was on the house. Bad thing number two.

Avril turned up and found out the hob wasn’t broken at all (the thought did cross my mind to ask them if I could have a crack at cooking!) but the fat lad was on holiday. He will return today or tomorrow so I said we will come back on Wednesday. In the end we went to the barbecue restaurant I ate in last week. A waitress I had noticed on a previous occasion had kept looking and smiling at me did so again this time. I have now given her the English name of Melinda and have her phone number. Unfortunately she works every night until nine o’clock so if I take her out it will need to be for lunch. She does have a lovely smile though.

Avril accompanied me to wait at the bus stop and yet again there was an interminable wait in the deep freezer. It ended with her hailing a cab - and prepaying the driver - to take me to school despite my protests. Actually I’m glad she did for I would have waited until this morning because on the return journey I never saw one bus, neither were there any waiting outside the school. Yet they never post temporary altered timetables at the stops so even the Chinese get caught out at spring festival. Crazy. Bad thing number three.

So I am currently waiting for Cinny to contact me although much longer and I will go shopping regardless. I have swept the flat (it needs to be done daily really as the wood floor shows every speck of dust) in preparation but, lazy swine that I am, I still haven’t scrubbed it. Instead I have forewarned Lucy she will be doing it when she returns. Just the sweeping gets my back aching so bending down with a brush would probably kill me. I WILL get a long handled scrubber at some point.

Anyway, here are three photos, one I forgot about of Amy’s extended family in Tongling and two of the puppies I have been trying to keep united with mum. Apologies for the poor quality but it was pitch dark under the stairwell so all I could do was point and hope.

Sunday 9th February, 2014                 1700

On Friday I ventured to town, mostly from necessity as I was low on meat for the creatures and also because I was too lazy to bake bread so I could use some of the tinned foods I stocked up on for the holiday. I have a cupboard full of baked beans, spaghetti, ravioli and other goodies, all of which make a perfectly good meal for me when plonked on top of toast but I haven’t used a single tin!

So I went back to the barbecue restaurant I had been taken to on Thursday because although it is not cheap at 59y per person in the evenings (apparently 10y cheaper at lunchtime) the sushi they had was delicious. Thankfully they had it again on this occasion. I arrived quite early, just after four and they weren’t ready for the evening session but I could wait for ten minutes with a beer until everything was in place. I was given a table and settled in but then two boys came in and jabbered to the waitress with much consternation on both sides. The result was that I was politely booted off my table and moved to another one opposite, the reason being the lads were two of a party of twelve who were coming and my previous table was one of three all together and the only spot which could hold that many.

I confess I never ate much of the actual barbecue fare, just some peppers, wings and streaky bacon (although the sushi took a beating) but I discovered it is not just all you can eat for the price but all you can drink as well! I have resolved that next time I go there I will ensure I am as thirsty as hell - I don’t cost these places much by way of food so I may as well get my money’s worth!

Once again, on leaving I was caught out by the buses. They were certainly running but they were few and far between so after a half hour wait I gave up and decided on a taxi. I even offered a free lift to a young lady who was also waiting but she declined and opted to wait for the bus for some reason. Maybe she thought I was evil.

Saturday was a day for staying put and only sallying forth to get daily essentials for it was sleeting for most of the day, today it has been out and out snowing, although very small flakes. It has settled on the trees and grass but mostly the roads are just wet. There are a few isolated spots where there is slush to catch out the unwary bike rider and the forecast says between now and tomorrow morning we should get between four and six inches. Can’t see it myself but you never know.

I took Pepsi with me as usual to the outside shop, it appears although she doesn’t mind going out in the rain she is none too keen on snow. So far today she hasn’t had a number one or two but there will come a time when she will have to and she had better not do it inside! Anyway I got to the shop, loaded my basket and yet again discovered I had left my wallet at home! I take it out of my rear pocket at home as it is uncomfortable when sitting but I really could have done without forgetting it today, the snow stung my eyes whilst riding even at low speed. I returned and got my money but then bought two days worth just in case.

I will go out tomorrow evening, snow or not, because I have invited Avril (ex Apple) from the little school for a Japanese. My loyalty card there still has 300y on it which I had been saving for when Qing came but as she is now back at work in Beijing there is no point.

As I finish this entry I can hear cats crying for dinner in their room. They are wasting their miaows because seeing as they haven’t finished last night’s duck gizzards I am doing pork leg bone which only the dog will eat. As for me, the bread is baking and I am going to have a bacon sandwich with some very expensive but very real bacon. And it will do for something on toast for dinner on Tuesday.

Tuesday 4th February, 2014                    1930

Yesterday was a miserable wet and cold day and one on which the only time other than “walkies” I ventured out was a waste of time as the supermarket had closed early.

Today was worse. No rain, just a cold wind but I woke up to find that after months of being left alone by it, arthritis had returned with a vengeance in my ankle and I couldn’t walk. I did sense it returning before I went to sleep and probably should have popped a pill to ward it off but I didn’t and I paid for it this morning.

It was particularly annoying because I wanted to get the living room floor swept, scrubbed and mopped. It is a disgrace at present due to cats puking and spreading sawdust from the litter tray then wandering around spreading it while I was away. I should have done it yesterday but I was too tired.

So after a painful hobble to the spare room to locate anti-inflammatories I took one and waited an hour but nothing happened. So I took two strong analgesics which eased it slightly but left me feeling nauseous - I wasn’t happy as this took away any inclination I may have had to do some things on the laptop for work instead of the cleaning. I couldn’t even do my laundry because hanging it up to dry means getting up on a chair as the hanging bars were installed too high. At least in the old place there was a handle to lower and raise them.

Thankfully a couple of hours ago things became tolerable and hopefully tomorrow it will be a memory. To make sure I will certainly take another tablet before I turn in.

Thursday 6th                         1630

Yesterday’s forecast dry day turned out to be another cold and wet and miserable day so once again I stayed home.

Last night I stayed up far too late, drank far too much and only woke up at eleven this morning. As soon as I turned my phone on a text arrived sent hours before asking me if I was free for lunch. At 1215. No way was I going to even feel slightly human until 1230 so I agreed to twelve thirty, had a shower and some hairs of the dog before being picked up. Sadly yet again I never thought to take my camera for we went to a barbecue restaurant and there were five adults and two toddlers in the group. I never ate much - I rarely do - but it was fun. The adults were the owner of the school I was Santa for and his wife plus another teacher from another school and her husband. Her husband is a major in the army and by coincidence he is in charge of the military freshman training for our university. If I am still here after the summer I may well see him when the next freshmen go through their paces if he doesn’t drive a desk.

Anyway, as they have been so kind and generous to me I have now agreed to “volunteer” for a couple of hours once a month. Despite my saying I really wasn’t cut out for teaching kids I was told all that was required was to get them to play act some simple scripts from a book. That I can do, especially with help from a Chinese teacher.

So we are set for more rain for days on end now with sleet on the cards tomorrow. I may however bus it to town, today is the last day of the week’s national celebration so even if I go late afternoon I should be able to get a bus back in the evening. We start back a week Monday - that will be both a wrench and a relief - and I still have 78 exam topics to dream up for the inspection plus the 14 activities to last the term, of which the latter I have two which will require an hour or so in Lottemart before we return and the others I have no idea!

Sunday 2nd February, 2014              1845

As always with Qing nothing went as planned. She called me late Saturday morning to tell me she would be late back. Her family was going to another city, they had woken early but were greeted with thick fog and therefore delayed their departure from seven until ten. Would I wait for her? In two minds but only because I was mindful of having to get back here in time to collect Pepsi. I agreed - her ETA was 1400.

After thinking it over and receiving another call near that time that the car had broken down I suggested I stay a third night provided I would ultimately see her. Of course I forgot I never had enough clothes or medicine for an extra day! We eventually met at five and went to dinner, where she had invited Eric - a coloured chap from Brixton - and his other half Helen from Moldova. We went to the restaurant her mother works at and to be honest, considering the previous day’s consumption had been pot noodles and bread rolls that were disgusting, I thoroughly enjoyed it because I got to have the special fish dish again. Sadly, she hurried me so much when she arrived at the hotel because few restaurants are open at present and those that are close early, I forgot to take my camera.

We parted on the understanding that Qing would come and meet me at 1030 this morning and we would have an early lunch before I departed. That plan (as indeed ALL my plans this trip) went up in smoke when she got home and her mother informed her that this morning they were going to visit the grandparents. Damn. Now I don’t even know if she will come to school for a visit.

So I rose at 1000 feeling awful and tried to make myself feel human again before leaving. At midday I checked out wondering when the last time I felt so exhausted was. I had cancelled today’s trip with the headmaster of the small school and got Qing to call the vets to extend Pepsi’s incarceration. God I was tired - and still am.

Outside, vacant taxis were non-existent. I waited at the roadside. And waited. And waited. Then a private car stopped and in Chinese clearly asked me where I wanted to go. Qing had sent me a Chinese text to show a taxi driver to take me to the bus station so I showed it to the chap and asked how much. A cab would have cost maybe 12y, this fellow held up five fingers. I jumped at it. This is something that happens frequently  in Russia when people want to supplement their income by giving lifts.

Ripped off again. The five fingers apparently signified fifty rather than five yuan!  By that time I was just resigned to anything that was happening, every trip I take costs far more than I envisaged and this was no exception. And anyway I still needed to get to the station.

At least my return journey only cost 20y as opposed to the 300y getting here. As the centre of attention on the bus I had Chinese people trying to speak to me in Putonghua, which of course I can’t use. Then one chap came up and asked if he could sit next to me to translate, his job entails communicating with people abroad for a medical supplies company. I had rather hoped to sit alone but as it happened the bus eventually filled to capacity later on so it made no difference. It made the journey pass quicker but my idea of having a snooze was out of the window.

The good thing is the temperature was lovely at 22C so when I got back I went to McDonalds for a quick bite (no way was I cooking tonight), picked Pepsi up - who was happy to see me I am glad to report - and we stopped off near the fish shop on the way home for a beer. I was just so weary that we only stayed an hour and came back to cat litter everywhere in the living room and three distinctly unamused cats who had run out of food, aside from the pigs lung which even in hunger they had refused to touch. Won’t buy that again!

All animals have now been fed and I will go and check on the mum and babies a little later when I take Pepsi out for her last outing. Tonight though I am looking forward to a quiet night with no fireworks waking me up or loud conversations outside my door disturbing me!