Yes I am sure some of you think I passed away but I am still kicking and moaning.
Part of my absence was due to being incredibly busy since my last entry - both socially and otherwise - but half of it was down to a terrible accident a few nights ago. I managed to spill almost an entire glass of wine onto my keyboard. The initial effect was to transform anything I typed into complete gibberish (not far removed from the norm some may say) and on sending Kevin a message his immediate reply was to switch off, which I did. He said the keyboard needed washing and drying but of course my skills in that area are nil. I left it off until the morning for it to dry out, hoping that all would be well. Sadly when I switched on again not one key even typed nonsense, the only thing that still worked besides the laptop was the optical mouse so although I could visit my favourite sites I was completely unable to respond to anything or do searches.
With Kevin also busy, as an interim measure I paid 32 yuan for an external keyboard which got me up and running again and the proper one is currently with Kevin, having been washed and dried. He suspects the damage may be too great and the keyboard (rather than me) is deceased, something we shall find out when he has time to refit it. Besides having been unable briefly to post anything online it is not too serious as I can always buy a replacement board if necessary. The last one cost 50y so even if prices have doubled it won’t break the bank.
On Wednesday I was taken for dinner by a friend of Cinny’s. He owns his own engineering consultancy business and wants to improve his English. If I am honest I didn’t really want to accept the job. For starters I am not keen on one to one teaching, much preferring an audience and also it would obviously have to entail evening or weekend work. However Cinny is so good at looking after me I couldn’t refuse. His English name is Jeff, he’s forty and married with a 16 year old daughter. It was arranged for him to pick Cinny and me up in his car for a get to know you meal. He duly arrived and collected just me (Cinny was already in town as it turned out) in a brand new state of the art Audi A8 quattro so he’s not short of a bob or two.
Off we went to a new barbecue cum hotpot restaurant where we were joined by Cinny and his wife. To my relief he doesn’t want lessons, simply wants to practise his English with a native speaker, probably over lunch or dinner (at his expense) at weekends. That’s more like fun than teaching and he’s quite a nice chap which is a bonus. Anyway, four hours later he brought us back and to my surprise when I exited the car he did too and followed me. Bemused as to why (I thought maybe he wanted to see my flat) it all became apparent when he thrust paper into my hand. I had no intention of taking anything for a simple meet and greet session but he was adamant and it would have been churlish to push my point. I did however think that perhaps I may enjoy doing this for the next couple of months, in fact I was quite disappointed when due to business commitments he had to cancel a proposed dinner on Sunday! Damn.
Anyway, I had said I would return to the Sichuan place at the weekend because on Monday the act were returning to Beijing. I asked Yvonne if she was free but she has a part time job flogging milk at Lottemart so she couldn’t. Instead I asked Elizabeth who is in Yvoinne’s class and last term I gave them both the top highest marks of all my students. Why not reward excellence?
I mentioned this in passing to Ollivier who suggested he, his wife and baby came with us and accordingly a table was booked for Saturday night. By coincidence Kevin had also arranged to go with two of his students so the restaurant had a clean sweep of all the foreign teachers in one night and on adjoining tables. Naturally I arranged for Elizabeth to be chosen for the rope trick (see pictures) but this time one of my “brothers” insisted I go on stage myself in order to take my photos. I felt a little uncomfortable because everyone else who tries it is shooed off but what the hell.
The meal was good even though I didn’t fancy a couple of the dishes but Ollivier’s wife (I think) ordered a platter of battered prawns with what looked like crispy sweet corn but wasn’t. I wasn’t interested in the corn stuff but the prawns were delicious! A good night all round and I look forward to seeing the replacement act in due course.
I did have some sad news though which I don’t think I have shared with you. The Japanese restaurant has closed up after seven months of operating. And boy did I have a close escape. I used up all the prepaid credit on my VIP card last time I went and unusually never topped it up, normally I was loading another 500y when that happened but on this occasion for some reason I didn’t and am I glad. It goes to show that even a well furnished place here can be here today, gone tomorrow so I shall be chary of any such prepay cards from now on. Anyway, enjoy the photos, Elizabeth is easy to identify seeing as she is the one on stage!
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