Friday 18th March, 2016             0240

Late again but no classes today, just a shopping run and an English Corner in the evening - unpaid of course, just for the students.

Being English (and I hope this also applies to British), if I make arrangements to do something then if a later request comes in I refuse it or ask the previous people their opinion and depending on what they say, that’s what I will do. Long-term readers will recall the infamous day the university demanded our presence for a grand meal with all the leaders at two hours’ notice and all three foreign teachers refused because we had arranged a western Wednesday. Mind you, we were never invited out again! But the principle was there and it is important.

Anyway, and this has annoyed me greatly, as I think I mentioned, Alice has been cleaning for me gratis. The deal was I would cook for her and her roommates on Tuesday and Friday. Of course as you know I cooked on Tuesday. I then received a request to attend an English Corner on Friday between 1800 and 2000. Whoa! I am supposed to cook enchiladas for Alice and Co! Dilemma.

I explained to Alice that I had been invited to the student party but as I already had arrangements with them they took priority, however if I cooked a little later (I thought perhaps I could spend an hour at the student do and leave) would that be ok? No, go to the Corner, Saturday is fine.

Great. I can keep everyone happy.

Tonight she told me she can’t make it on Saturday because the class is having a last get-together before they all leave prior to returning to graduate! Well that’s all well and good but they decided it TWO days in advance? I am now in the position of having asked and been told to agree to the Corner and although I know the girls involved in the Enchilada Episode will be free tomorrow I can’t now renege (having agreed) on the Corner.

It really is most frustrating here in that the culture is (I almost wrote “seems to be” but no. it IS) dump previous arrangements at will if you prefer something else - a bit like when people in the UK used to book tables at six restaurants and cancel five once they had decided where they were going to eat. It really is an abominable attitude, had they said they could only do Friday then I would have turned down the Corner because previous arrangements took precedence.

Yes, sure, I will host them for enchiladas after Alice gets back from Shanghai but that’s not the point. They need to get a sense of social values. It’s not just the youngsters because since we all refused a grand banquet due to prior arrangements and two hours bloody notice (I had been cooking half the day and spent 300y on the food)  and even after the senior faculty members were apprised of the reason why (everyone else bar the foreigners knew about it days before and we could have rescheduled had we known).

Westerners do not simply drop everything at the drop of a hat unless they truly have no engagements and feel like going out and stupidly I adhere to that and expect my students to do likewise. I can’t blame Alice and her mates, of course not, the dinner after that for most of them will be the last time they ever see their classmates, I fully understand that.

I can only be thankful that I was going to buy the ingredients later today.

I cooked myself a simple dinner of pasta, peas, tuna and Linghams chilli sauce tonight. However when I pulled out the pack of frozen peas from the freezer I could feel they weren’t particularly frozen. Oh Jesus! Don’t tell me the bloody freezer has packed up!


No it hadn’t. The sodding cats had trodden on the extension button and cut off the power. By the softness of the stuff at the top I would say it happened at least two days ago. And people in the UK worry about power cuts wasting their freezer food….

Kevin’s bill for his car when he went to collect it last night was 2,700y (for the tow, something else and a new ECU shipped  from Nanjing). When he arrived they fitted the ECU, turned the key and …………nothing. The problem? A loose fuse holder! They fixed that, removed the new ECU and refitted the old one, refunded him 1,700y and he was on his way so apart from an hotel stay the episode cost him 1,000y plus the inconvenience and bus fares but he is back on the road.

I was rather hoping to take Joan to Wuhu during Qing Ming but she has declined, in fact she declined even a short visit to Tongling for pizza which I have to say saddened me. Too much studying is counter-productive but try telling a Chinese student that! I only wanted about three hours all up. She assured me after her April exams she will see me more - at present this place is a shower room and place to dump off laundry for her - and I really hope that will be the case. I miss her and it may be that we have a few short months left together and anyone who has been at sea or moved home any distance knows it is never the same again after.