Breakfast tonight - French toast, eggs and bacon. Forgot to get a tomato when I was out but no matter. It pains me to say that I will need to check online as to whether I use milk as well as egg for the toast! It has been a while since I made it.
I never went anywhere other than the environs in the immediate proximity of campus yesterday. I did though get charged my usual 3y for a beer. It appears they have two types, both the same ABV, one (for me) is 3y and the other 5y. As there’s not a blind bit of difference betwixt the two I will stick to the cheap one. It’s only flavoured water that helps to pass the time when I leave home anyway, hardly something I clamour for and must have. Now Guinness? Well that’s different!
I did get a surprise yesterday when I went to the office. They have now rendered the teaching blocks, or at least the front of them, a car free zone. There are concrete bollards across all the roads. I got my bike through.
I also saw something on the website which I think I know what it means but can’t be sure because Google isn’t too hot on translating. I suspect all vehicles will now have to have a campus pass, including e-bikes. It seems as though you have to prove ownership, show your licence (don’t need one for an e-bike), provide ID and fill out forms. For starters I can’t fill out Chinese forms and secondly nobody has informed me officially so I am ignoring it until such time as A) I am told about it and B) someone offers to complete the paperwork. Naturally I look just like any other Chinese person and security don’t know who I am, so I must have a pass! I envisage leaving campus one day and them trying to prevent me returning. Given that at various times during the day and night they are fast asleep in their chairs and the entire Japanese army could sneak in it does seem rather pointless.
Anyway when I went to town today, it was plain that they are also trying to stop bikes from transiting the teaching area because they had placed traffic cones in the gaps between the bollards! Fine, I don’t care and am happy to take the back routes but I have images of dozens and dozens of teachers’ cars parked and blocking the other roads when they park and walk to class. I’m not sure this is a sensible innovation. In fact, I think there will be an accident between a car and a bike because the campus roads are not particularly wide - two cars travelling in opposite directions do have a bit of a squeeze to pass.
Anthony has yet to reply to either my email or my text message requesting his assistance in setting up the meal this coming week. Somehow I get the impression I may need to try to do it myself - easier said than done when two out of three don’t speak English.
The weather is gradually warming up, today I only needed my fleece and I find myself longing for days and evenings when a short sleeved shirt is all that’s needed.
I was washing the dishes earlier and glanced out of the window. I espied Joan walking across the car park. She looked my way but gave no acknowledgement so I assumed she either couldn’t see that far or thought perhaps I couldn’t. I waited for her to arrive (thinking she was coming to collect her laundry) but she never came. I saw her pink coat later, heading in the opposite direction so I have no idea what she was doing up in this neck of the woods.
Time now to watch Capt Winkle Brown on the laptop then cook my breakfast dinner. Back to work tomorrow afternoon for one class, Tuesday off (when the buses should be down to 1y a pop) and then Wednesday I meet the last of my new recruits. I must remember to bring the text book home tomorrow so I at least have an idea of what I am supposed to teach!
Oh, and pineapples are back in season so I shall now start eating fruit again.
No comments:
Post a Comment