Friday 18th July, 2014             0230

I know, silly time to still be awake.

I was right not to hold my breath last night, for I indeed dined alone. Qing is a very strange girl indeed and one who doesn’t understand the courtesy of sending a simple text to confirm or deny. No matter, it was cheaper and yes, I did go to Pizza Hut flushed with success at being able to eat as much as I did the night before. It was a relief to actually eat normally (by my standards) because if I am honest thoughts of the big C had been running through my mind with the inability to eat lasting as long as it did. I don’t regret staying an extra night (costly though it was) because the rain and being crippled rather sealed the decision rather than her phone call.

This morning the maintenance man held off on the drilling until eight but had I been able to tell which room he was in I would have gone and cheerfully throttled him. I think the only peaceful and good nights sleep I have had in China have been when I stayed in the Hefei Hilton with my friend Steve. In fact, Chinese hotels can be (and often are) even louder than here on campus.

At least the capsules Amy brought me yesterday had worked by the evening and another pre-emptive one before bed last night saw no repetition in the morning. It was actually quite warm when I left the hotel but when I got to the bus station I found I was the only passenger on the bus! Considering the driver probably owned the vehicle I felt for him. Despite his crawling all the way out of Tongling and tooting at everyone he saw standing at the roadside he only managed another five passengers. With the fare at 20y (£2) apiece for a one and a half hour journey, it cannot have been profitable because fuel here, although only about 73p a litre, is more expensive relatively speaking than the UK. I can only hope for his sake that he had more luck on the return trip.

Pepsi looked rather sorry for herself when I collected her and to be honest I can’t blame her. She had her annual vaccination (or naccination according to the little book) and off we went. I know her well enough to know that as soon as I get to open spaces I need to let her off for a run, I swear she saves up her pee and poo until she is desperate because every time she needs to evacuate everything as soon as I liberate her. Can’t be pleasant crapping in a cage and it sitting half an inch beneath your feet so I don’t blame her. As always the vet gave me a worming tablet. Completely unnecessary but as she is so thin and she presumably hardly eats any of the dry food they give her because she is used to meat at home, understandable. She certainly doesn’t have worms, not with what I give her.

To my astonishment the campus supermarket is still open, as is Meile the student café on campus. I bought a handy-sized suitcase with wheels and telescopic handle today for 128y which I will use on my upcoming longer break. Handy to know I can at least get some egg and tomato if I am desperate as well from the café. Those two being open is a first, certainly in five years to my knowledge.

Tomorrow I shall go shopping for pet food and I have decided to make spaghetti Bolognese for the girls and also Vivi if she wants some. Saturday I thought I might take them to Donna’s restaurant in the hope curry is back on the menu. I haven’t decided yet. Sunday could see me treating us all to hamburgers. I bought some Australian burgers online, I have dill pickles and burger cheese and I will want an early night as my train leaves late morning. Yes, I will be taking my first train (other than the Maglev) in China.

1750

I rode to town at lunchtime with the temperature well into the thirties. That’s not too bad except it is quite humid. Whilst on the move it is fine but when I stop I start to leak. I picked up this month’s supply of cigars and did a quick shop for two nights food for the animals and ingredients for Bolognese and headed back home. I will be shopping again on Sunday (I need to take Pepsi to be incarcerated the day before I leave as I daren’t leave the bike at the station for ten or eleven days and dogs aren’t allowed on the buses. If it was a certainty I could get a taxi FROM campus then she could have another night here. Anyway on Sunday I will buy a fortnight’s worth of cat meals and prepare them into daily portions - the girls have no idea how much to feed them. Come to that, neither do I really now I am down to two moggies. Still no sign of Pooh.

Vivi isn’t coming for dinner tonight because when I sent her an invite she was on the way home but later when I was having a beer in Meile, to my surprise in walked Anna, who you may recall came to one of our western Wednesdays not so long ago. She is coming instead to make up a foursome. Although my bedroom is lovely and cool with the aircon, cooking in the kitchen in the summer is like being in a furnace! Definitely another shower before bedtime. At least I remembered to turn Ollivier’s a/c on so the actual eating should be comfortable.

Saturday 19th          1400

Anna’s teacher made her team have a late rehearsal. She made the finals of a national English speaking marketing competition and leaves for Wuhu tomorrow, where it will be held. Accordingly, she apologised and said she couldn’t come to eat so the rest of us tucked in - the girls far more heartily than I. Just as we finished I received a text from Anna asking if we were still eating. When I said we had finished she said she didn’t want to come and cause inconvenience. I brushed that aside - I didn’t want to freeze the leftovers in the pot and so told her to come and I would put more spaghetti on.

My God was she hungry! She polished off a portion of the size the other two had had and then (in Chinese) whispered to the others that she was still hungry! I put some more spaghetti on.

I think she consumed an amount equal to the three of us combined! Nothing left to freeze though.

As she is clearly not eating enough on campus (she doesn’t like the food in Meille and doesn’t want to bus to town) I invited her for dinner tonight in town. Due to her prodigious appetite I thought it prudent to take her to the all you can eat barbecue place! Later in my bedroom Christma Cheng sent me a Skype message. We have chatted online occasionally for a few months and I thought she was one of Kevin’s students. She isn’t, she is studying at Dalian university and she initially contacted me as she is a friend of one of my students, who gave her my phone number. So now I will take Anna on the bike and if all goes well we will meet up with Christina and have a threesome for dinner. I feel a tad guilty about not inviting the other two but temper that with the knowledge that I am sure I will cook for them again before the holiday is out - I have already promised to make them my chilli shepherd’s pie after my return a week Tuesday.

So for now it’s off to the shop and give Pepsi some warm air (33C now) and then rendezvous with Anna at five.

Sunday 20th         1130

“Oh I’m so scared, can you go slowly?”

Those were the first words spoken by Anna (who presumably had never ridden pillion before) as we set off from campus. I only have two speeds on the e-bike, full ahead or stop. Not that I am a boy racer - with a top speed of 27mph, hardly - rather it is because I find it difficult to balance at low speeds. I am pleased to report that within half a mile the fear had evaporated to the extent that she kept moving on the saddle, becoming a danger herself!

Now Anna is a girl who is seriously wasting her life and I told her so. She rarely goes to town, preferring to spend her free time in her dormitory. As a result she had never seen Pyngtian lake, the mock ship hotel that has yet to open or anything else for that matter. She didn’t even know where the commercial centre was, which was where we were headed.

We arrived a little earlier than five-thirty (the agreed meeting time) and I sent a message to Christina to let her know we were outside KFC ready and waiting. As it happened she had arrived even earlier and was waiting for us inside and emerged to find us on getting the message. She is an IT major and considering she is not studying English her command is surprisingly good. Her dream is to go and study for a masters degree at a London university and there is little to stop her other than perhaps not applying herself sufficiently to her studies. Her parents own a small company so I imagine the fees could be found from somewhere to send her. She and Anna hit it off from the start and indeed they were both excellent company for the evening.

My decision to go to an all you can eat place was vindicated seeing as they both consumed colossal amounts. Whilst I marvelled at their capacity they were in turn amazed at how little I eat. I did though feel full on departure and if they didn’t then there is something seriously wrong with them! We had a lovely evening with Christina agreeing to come with me to the mountain school when I return to play my games on the 31st.

As we left at 2030, the air was nicely cooler than when we had ridden to town and thankfully there was no evidence of insect life to collide with my eyes or fly into my mouth on the ride back. In fact there was the odd spit of rain, which was most welcome. Anna was concerned the “Auntie” in charge of the dormitory would “scold” her for being late. I said I would have her back by nine and she said that was when they locked the dorms in the holidays. And these are adults!

Additionally she said she needed to go and get some hot water in her flask for her morning wash. That WAS going to make her late. Indeed, when we went to “Flask Central” on the other side of campus to her dorm, the hot water house was locked. There then ensued a trip to my place whereupon I filled her flask from my shower and despite her protestations I gave her a ride to the dorm, which was indeed locked. She told me I needn’t wait but I explained that if the Auntie saw me outside she would blame me and not Anna for waking her up. As far as I know she wasn’t berated. She left three hours ago with her teacher and team ready for the contest tomorrow. I will attach a photo of the two girls last night, Christina is on the left, Anna on the right.

I will be showering shortly then taking Pepsi to the vets for a 10 day stretch, followed by a pet food shop. After that I may well have a late lunch so as not to need dinner this evening and on my return I will need to start packing. I have drawn up an idiot list in the hope that I won’t forget anything vital this time.

I am viewing my first train trip with some trepidation because I will be alone. Silly really because I manage the bus trips perfectly well even though neither the stations nor the buses have the destinations signed up in English and from my online research I gather train stations do.

This does mean though that the blog is now suspended for about a fortnight. Although I will have my laptop with me I have decided to take a break for the duration. On my return though I intend to travel to Huainan in the north of the province, which will hopefully provide some good material to write about.