Sunday 12th July, 2015                      1215

Amazingly my Mother hasn’t made a panic phone call to see if I perished in the super-typhoon that hit Ningbo yesterday. Perhaps the knowledge that I am nearly 400 miles inland and that typhoons “die” once they make landfall is now embedded. Mind you, I do still get calls about earthquakes as far from me as Rome is from London.

Having said that, aside from a few spits yesterday we have had no rain. The forecast online (never to be trusted) is however saying that come Thursday we will get a good drenching of two inches an hour in the middle of the day. Doubtless that will change every time I look.

I haven’t had to resort to drastic measures for taking the bus yet. Most students have departed although some are staying on to do projects (there are would-be quantity surveyors out every day and this must be one of the most surveyed campuses on the planet) so this morning I went for breakfast and still got my preferred seat on the bus despite younger, fitter bodies sprinting past me to get on first.  

I could only manage half my meal because yesterday I had a really bad stomach. I am not sure whether that was caused by eating too many enchiladas the night before (a normal portion for most people), or Sarah’s (Mulan’s sister) cooking for lunch - it was spicy - the same day. It could simply have been due to the events of the day before.

I had gone to bed very late and was awoken with the enquiry along the lines of was I going to be on time? On time for what? You promised you would come to my summer school.

I had thought that was for yesterday and I had fifteen minutes to get up, showered, dressed and ride 20 minutes to it. I detest being late but if you are going to be there’s no point in turning up looking as if you’ve been dragged through a hedge and stinking to high heaven so I arrived at eight-thirty. More than early enough to put in an appearance for the parents to see me both in the morning and afternoon for enrolment. Not that I will teach there, I have though said that I will go a couple of times to play games with the kids - apple bobbing, egg games etc.

It was then I discovered Mulan has roped in her sister Sarah to run the school in Maya along with the younger but oldest of the brothers, John. She on the other hand is running a SECOND school in Dongshan, their hometown! I have to say that regardless of Kevin’s low opinion of her, I admire her entrepreneurial spirit and acumen. She has forked out 14,000y for the hire of the premises (the one in Maya is an ex-restaurant) and I wish her every success. On the Maya operation alone I guess she has recouped the rental on both (from what I could gather from the leaflets she had printed the fees for the summer per child were between 500-680y) and of course she has the teachers - all students - to pay after that. They seem to be diligent and I noticed when some primary school kids decided to set off for home alone they were stopped and held until their parents came to collect them. They are of course in the care of the school and God forbid something should happen to any of them.

This weekend sees the semi-final and final of not just Wimbledon (come on Federer)  but also a six-week long speaking contest in the city at which Kevin has been a judge along with three others, two from Shanghai.

Mulan entered and was disappointed to achieve a mere 89.5 which I thought was nonetheless a highly credible score given the fact she never started university life as an English major, instead changing major after the first term. She was eclipsed by Anna who scored 94.5 and came top yesterday. Considering not only had she not written her speech until nearly midnight Friday but also wrote it on the wrong topic that’s not bad! With a little assistance from me on how to make a slight tweak at the beginning to make her speech fit the topic, it seems to have worked.

The speech wasn’t finished until 0230 and I stayed up to check it for her but had to cry off when she wanted me to listen to her recite it. I was just too tired and remember I had forgotten I was supposed to be up at six! Maybe that caused the tummy upset. She on the other hand stayed up all night memorising and practising the speech although I gather she slept all day at the venue except when she was on stage!

Today is the final and I think the topic for the impromptu speech is Apricot Village. Anna of course self-doubts at every opportunity and said she will fail. I simply told her not to beat herself before she even tries. I can do no more.

1330

Breaking News:

Mulan didn’t get a placing in the final. Anna came first!

Her prize is 2,000y and a free holiday in South Korea, although her text said “free travel to Korea”. I am guessing that’s Chinglish for a free holiday. I really hope the organisers don’t renege on it because the uptake for entries wasn’t the avalanche they expected.

But well done Anna! I am really proud of you!

Monday 13th                            1900

Back to the weather forecast - now the deluge is predicted for Saturday. I should stop looking and just look out of the window.

Now I was going to finish this entry last night but a funny thing happened to me on the way home……….

On Saturday when I rode home my bike mysteriously lost power. It slowed to a stop then the digital display went blank and the alarm farted. I have had e-bikes now for five years and they NEVER break down, the odd puncture and in my case regular accidents and hospital visits but never once have any failed to proceed as Rolls Royce like to term it.

Not being the most mechanically minded of people I sat for a few seconds on my motionless chariot and then opened the seat. The main breaker had switched off. I reset it and away I went and promptly forgot about it.

Until yesterday. No problems going to the bus and back but when it came time to go to the business street (yes the supermarket and some of the restaurants appear as if they may be staying open for the first time ever this summer holiday) the damned thing conked out twice. Kevin turned up for a beer and suggested I Cellotape the switch. Good idea but one which doesn’t work, it simply stops the switch from moving but the gubbins inside still cuts out the power. It’s almost exactly a mile from the business street to home and I do not exaggerate when I say the bloody think conked out every fifty yards on the way back. I am not the sort to push a heavy bike uphill (or walk for that matter!) so it took ages.

Joan very kindly called the repair shop (at nine at night) and arranged for a home visit. It was out of the question to try to ride it to the repair shop in town. They tried to get out of it, suggesting we replace the breaker ourselves but wisely she informed them that neither of us had the wherewithal - which was entirely true.

I was rudely awoken at nine this morning when the chap turned up. It took less than ten minutes to replace the unit and yes it worked. Cheeky buggers charged 15y because although the bike is only 8 months old they said the part only had a 3 month warranty. I could have argued but given the other work they have carried out FOC that I fully expected to pay for I couldn’t grumble.

At the same time all this was happening Joan was translating for Kevin. His removal men had arrived to transport the bulk of his worldly goods to Huangshan. He got a great price for two men and a van, it is two and a half hours drive from here (8 hours on the train though!) and they charged 800y (£80) all in. He took his car with them and carried the breakables, he had to go there to the new university to collect his passport and new residence permit, he is leaving for Blighty on Saturday.

Talking of passports, I am going to Hefei and the summer camp on Sunday for four days. Being one who doesn’t like to leave much to chance when it comes to travel arrangements I sent a text to Cinny to ask if there was any news. It was bad, my passport and foreign expert certificate would not be back until next week at the earliest.

That meant no Hefei - can’t register in an hotel without any ID - so I sent a message to Bonnie the policewoman who works where we apply for our documents but so far no response. Then I sent one to Sally at the foreign affairs bureau, the one who got me to do the TV show. I should have my passport and certificate for Friday now. However, far from the delay being any fault of the authorities, it would seem that the university’s foreign affairs officer (who only days ago I lauded for improving greatly), despite having had my passport and stuff for two weeks, hasn’t even submitted the applications and documents! This is China………..

Oh yes, nearly forgot. Joan ordered a secondhand camera online for me. It was the same as the one I lost and only cost 135y. Result eh? Not really. What actually arrived was not a Nikon, it is a Sanyo. So far no real problem. Until I checked it and found that rather than having a rechargeable battery I have to use two AA batteries! It not being worth it to pay up to 50y to send it back I have decided to keep it and hope it actually takes photos. Without an instruction book so far the only things I have managed to do are set the language as English and the time/date.

Whew, that was a long one!