Well after constantly crying and keeping me awake (I did manage to grab his scruff at one point but failed to drag him from the ceiling space) Tigger finally got himself out at 0230. Fingers crossed, he has yet to repeat his mistake and I was able to cancel the maintenance man, just as well as I must have had a temperature. Although I never slept well I had really bad dreams and never got out of bed until my failsafe alarm went off at noon.
And boy did I feel awful.
So awful in fact that when I had my first class at two and only twelve of thirty students turned up (eighteen were rehearsing for the big show) I couldn’t have been more pleased. Film time but not of course until the lucky twelve had gobbled down the thirty pieces of bread pudding I had made for the whole class. So much for looking after your mates!
The next class only had three missing but by then I really only wanted to be back in bed so they were treated to half of “Avatar”. Well, half of them seeing as most of the buggers think I can’t see the glow from their phones reflected on their faces when they decide to watch something Chinese. I really didn’t care, I just wanted it over.
Afterwards I went to the business street to buy soap and jing jo and had a very swift beer. Normally I have two but Andrei had asked to borrow one of my pipes for a prop for their act. Having not used them for damned near six years I knew they were dusty and also that the mouthpieces were in different bags in my home so I needed to come up with the goods. Luckily I found the Falcon and a bowl, the more impressive Sherlock types would have taken longer seeing as the stems are in unknown locations.
It was only then that I decided to try and watch the show. I don’t do it for any other reason than they are our students and I know they put months of rehearsals into it. I also knew my absence would be noted. So I went.
I was guided by a student to sit right down the front on the left. Armed with Halls Mentholyptus (the first sign of a coughing fit and I was going to leave to avoid spoiling it for others), my camera and my “medicine” I duly plonked myself down, only two minutes later to be approached by Daniel (a Chinese administrator) who basically ordered me to sit with the leaders of the department in the centre seats. That can only have come from the new dean so fair play to her for that.
It was sad that in my final year here I was not to take the stage (although as it transpired, on the night I wouldn’t have had the best stage presence and would probably have had convulsive coughing) and it saddened me hugely. Never again will I sit in that auditorium nor entertain the students. My students.
Now I have to say that Joan asked me about the show afterwards. I think it is the worst I have seen. Why? It’s put on by the foreign languages department and for me certainly 95% of it was in foreign languages. Aside from Andrei and Juliette, the rest bar one song was all in Chinese! It dismays me that they don’t do the entire production in the foreign languages they teach here - why the hell do they have to do Chinese?
Needless to say most of it was incomprehensible to me. Andrei and Juliette did something in French and the only two words I understood were Manchester and Alors. They had subtitles on the screen but only in bloody Chinese. Whether it was well received by the natives remains to be seen.
Joan had simply informed me that she was “helping” with the show as part of the student union. She never said she was part of the fashion show and I was damned annoyed to look up on stage and recognise her in a burglar striped T-shirt strutting her stuff. It was all so quick that by the time I turned my camera on all I got was her back. She knows I am not best pleased.
Oh and I cancelled my Monday class and even got a student to tell the Auntie not to bother unlocking the classroom because of the speaking contest. Well tonight I got the scripts and also the information they decided to change the date but they don’t know when!
Typical China. Never take anything as written in stone.
Oh good heavens!
The worst thing possible has just happened. I heard a high-pitched yapping just now, went to investigate and a very (very) young black puppy bolted in. He or she is now in my bedroom tucking into some of my home made ham. I really hope I don’t tread in anything it deposits when I wake up for my senior visit to the toilet in the dark.
I really don’t need a dog this close to leaving!
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