Tuesday 31st March, 2015                 1615

Yesterday Anna went to town armed with my passport to try and get me a replacement medical card. People sometimes wonder why I vent my frustration at things here which could be so simple yet are made so abjectly difficult.

Apparently the new all singing, all dancing “one card” could take up to a year to obtain, during which time of course I would be unable to use the money on it for medicines, dentistry etc. So she attempted to get me a temporary card. That of course would be too simple. Put bluntly, the people there simply had no idea about how a foreigner got a card in the first place and even less idea about how to issue one. A huge problem was the fact that since the original card was issued I have been issued a new passport - that completely short-circuited the system. I am still without a card and the only good news I had was that the card has not been used by anyone else and the money is still there. I can’t use it though.

Today my Prague No 1 arrived at long last. With a view to making bacon instead of ham for a change, I searched the internet for methods and came across a different site to the one I referred to when making ham. Now this stuff is expensive at 236y a pound (£24) and the original site stated 1/3 cup each time, so as you can imagine it didn’t last very long. This new site says two teaspoons! No prizes for guessing which recipe I will try for the bacon - if it works it will make it a whole lot cheaper.

Our weather here has gone mental yet again. We have had dismal wet and cold days and yet today we have sunshine and thirty degrees. Naturally, as I am going away at the weekend, heavy rain is forecast. I shall ignore the predictions and hope that they are wrong once again.

My “gorilla gait” with the crutches improves daily and the speed is up, thus reducing my concerns about being able to get to the train on Saturday fast enough in the time allotted between them opening the gates and it leaving. It would be nice to think by then I can throw away the supports but much as it would delight me I think my hopes are set too high.

Thursday 2nd April, 2015                         1730

Yesterday I experimented with not using the crutches. Well I used them to get to class but then when I finished I simply carried them downstairs. Emboldened, I went to office number six for a beer and collared Ollivier on his way to the gym for his torture session. After cajoling him into having a beer and then a second, he decided that after all, perhaps he should give the gym a miss.

Having made a chilli on Tuesday and not eating any of it for various reasons (Joan came to help early as planned, Anna came early - not planned - Mulan never came home at all and Ollivier never went shopping for my baguette as promised) I had left enough for me to have last night but with a jacket potato. When Ollivier mentioned the new Korean restaurant that was opened a week ago nearby (and my having failed to locate it on Monday), my curiosity was piqued.

I donated the chilli to Ollivier and his wife and decided instead to try the Korean place. A rather odd set-up it has to be said, for I was the only customer, outnumbered six to one by staff and friends of the boss. No beer either but they did go and buy some for me elsewhere when I asked for it. They have pictures of the dishes, a limited selection admittedly but that’s often no bad thing, and I asked what was in each one. To give them credit they did warn me off one dish as it would be too spicy for me and eventually I plumped for a chicken dish with red sauce and what I assumed were rice cakes. For those unfamiliar, rice cakes look like chips but they are rubbery and naturally made from rice. I love them and they are very filling, They WERE chips! Oh yes, come to Papa!

Soggy from the sauce but what a nice meal, the portion size was too small for many but too much to me. They also do deep fried chicken and chips (not stupid spindly French fries) so I shall try that too another day. Definitely another eating haunt I shall use, just a pity about the lack of a fridge for beer. And get this, the “boss” is one of the school’s female students! Her folks are wealthy so set her up in business (glad they did) and as yet it would appear most of the trade is delivery on an e-bike to campus dorms but that is one restaurant I don’t want to see go down the pan in a hurry. Speaking of which, the last time I went to hospital I noticed activity in the empty ex-Japanese restaurant, must keep an eye on that as well.

Anyway this morning I decided to go to town shopping. Anna is looking after my place and the cats while I am away at Qing Ming so I needed pet meat and also a nice juicy, meaty bone to welcome Pepsi back, who I will be collecting on Tuesday. No point in getting her earlier for two days and putting her back, it would just be cruel.

I went minus crutches to the bike garage to get a new light switch as it was hit and miss whether the headlights worked, then to the chemist where I had to use my own money to get medicine (no bloody card) and then a Big Mac which I didn’t really want. Then RT Mart for meat and some small baguettes for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow while I squat in my classroom. God did I struggle. Ordinarily, what I bought would have only merited a basket but I simply had to take a trolley so I could lean on it to get around the store. I was so glad to eventually sit on the bike and ride home. Having said that, this being my first outside excursion since the accident, I felt afraid the entire time but thankfully made it unscathed.

I had an hour’s rest before class and stubbornly eschewed the crutches again. By the time I got to the fourth floor I felt sick and I can only hope a night’s sleep will repair the pain. As we are approaching a long weekend for the students I gave them a treat by offering them a film instead of a lesson. There were, unsurprisingly, no dissenters and so they were treated to Tarzan. Well half of it that is, because we had a violent thunderstorm and as so often annoyingly happens here, when it hit we lost power. End of film, so they will need the second half next time I see them.

I won’t be posting tomorrow and I have no idea if I will have the time or inclination to do so from Wuhu so for me I hope I have a good Qing Ming and for those who celebrate I hope you have a good Easter. I refuse to be syrupy and say happy holidays!