Saturday 30th July, 2016 1640
As of midnight tonight I will be unemployed, hopefully not for too long.
Joan returned from work today with the good news that she will in fact teach her Monday class as planned in the morning. I have been clearing cupboards a bit more and we now have three large boxes full of clutter (that’s the 3 Kevin gave me) and tomorrow I will start on the huge ones I bought. They will be lighter seeing as really all that’s left to pack are my kitchen appliances and utensils and the clothes I can’t fit in my suitcase.
I have planned the catering to a T, tonight it’s a roast pork dinner (this time I never burnt the apple sauce) and tomorrow spaghetti Bolognese. The reason for that is because I have some in the freezer, it will only take two pans and I have aluminium containers we can eat out of! Everything I wear tomorrow will be disposed of (a 15 year old pair of M&S trousers, holey socks and shirt and an awful pair of Chinese boxers) as indeed have countless carrier bags of either rubbish or things I have never used in six years. It really is amazing how much junk you hoard “in case”.
Sunday 31st 1600
I am heartily fed up with packing. If it was my choice to leave quite possibly it would be far more pleasant.
Today we went to town. Firstly to get a new strap for one watch and new battery for another. Also my defunct half hunter has been left with the chap to see if he can fix it. If not then it will go in the bin.
The only things I wanted in RT Mart were Guinness (I had a hankering) and a bottle of bubbly. Typically they never had Guinness so I ended up buying German Weissbier instead. The bubbly is for tonight to celebrate/console my last night on campus. Joan wanted to buy some snacks to munch on her arduous 9 hour train journey starting just after midnight on Tuesday. See - even the Chinese don’t eat the food they sell on trains! For anyone unfamiliar, they come round regularly with a trolley with airline style plastic trays. Once on a 7 hour trip to Huainan I weakened and paid 30y for one.
There is a website that is dedicated to shaming airlines for serving the worst in-flight food and certainly the photos look pretty dire. In comparison to train food here they are cordon bleu. in fact the only thing edible is the steamed rice unless you are a fan of tofu, vegetables braised in snot and chicken feet.
So three boxes and a small suitcase are full and I am wondering if I will get away with just the one massive box. I hope so as I am running out of duct tape.
Some lasts today: Last visit to the business street supermarket. Last time charging the bike. Last night Mum gets fed , although she is about to get a bumper harvest - two chicken breasts, a steak and two hamburgers. Last time cooking tonight. Mind you, especially for her it’s her favourite spaghetti Bolognese.
Last night’s roast dinner was divine and I really pigged out. The pork was so tender (having been cooked for four hours) and I made the most of my penultimate proper western food for a while, although doubtless I will gravitate to western style food places during my hotel stay.
A description of daily life in China from the perspective of a Marlerman who uprooted to carve a new life in a foreign field and in the process introduced the Chinese to proper bangers!
Sunday, 31 July 2016
Friday, 29 July 2016
Friday 29th July, 2016 0200 D Day minus 3 days
Yesterday I duly went to the PSB to present my passport for my stay of execution. According to China Daily we are in a heat wave (37C) and people have died up the road in Hefei. I must say it was a bit on the warm side but no problem on the air-conditioned bus.
Until I came out and had a 100 yard walk to the return stop across the road. It did get to me but not as much as my legs did. I don’t seem to be able to walk any distance at all lately without my legs or hips aching to hell and back. For now I am putting that down to being seated for most of the day of late.
When I returned I was greeted by a change in the status of my qualification application. Nothing to shout about (still said it was going through yet now in research) but it did prove the first hurdle had been passed. Fingers crossed it will end in the result I need.
Then I started packing boxes. Books first (and pity the poor souls who have to carry them down eventually) and then a few bits and bobs. I gave up after a while and there is still plenty to do. More tomorrow but not too much as I will need to do two runs to town - one for our dinner and another to actually collect my passport with my new visa.
I have lately been astonished that my ramblings (which I consider mundane) appear to have gathered a large following. This blog goes to four different places, three members -only Yahoo groups and another, completely unadvertised blog site. The latter, because the site itself contains the letters B L O and G together is enough to see it banned in China, although there are a fair few viewers from here. Naughty boys and girls.
The usual headcount for this particular site is on average 15-20 views a day. I am not looking for people to follow, I just do this because I enjoy it. BUT. Over the last three days that average of 17 a day has suddenly shot up to 342! No idea how or why but if you are one of them then you are welcome of course.
The dean (who is no longer my boss in 22 hours) is Joan’s “boss” at her private school. You know, of course I am not allowed to teach outside this school but Chinese teachers can line their pockets with impunity by opening schools and getting students to work for 60p an hour plus unpaid overtime. Joan got sucked in and lacks the courage to say “enough!”
Now it’s bad enough that they told her she would work odd dates and then when she turned up for the first day they told her she was now working even dates with not so much as her bus fare refunded for a wasted trip but the latest is that on the LAST day, Monday, suddenly she will be switched - MAYBE - to the afternoon.
That happens to be the day I leave here and check in to an hotel along with her because she will need somewhere to stay until she goes to the station shortly before midnight. She has luggage. Oh no, she still doesn’t know for sure when she will teach her last class. The plan was that I would wait for her to come back and we would both go to the hotel, maybe rest awhile, have dinner and then later I take her to the train station. If she is teaching after lunch it means falling on the hotel’s good nature to at least leave our luggage until the 1400 check in time. Now I am confident that as a foreigner they will bend over backwards but the point is you cannot arbitrarily tell people they MIGHT change things. I know this is China but for God’s sake, she won’t stand up to them and say she has made arrangements and paid money. And for a whole term she has been paid the princely sum of £100 for three hours a week teaching and about two hours unpaid each week talking to students and parents.
And the students do it because she is the dean.
I paid students to clean my flat, 25 yuan a time and it was rare they spent more than thirty minutes doing so. If I was staying I might (if I was allowed) seriously consider opening my own school and paying the student teachers 25 yuan a lesson and with a schedule they could bank on. I am so angry because as sue as eggs are eggs western students wouldn’t accept this bull.
I blame Joan because she is typically Chinese, hiding behind the “I don’t want to let my students down” argument. I have never let mine down either and I have never had changes foisted on me at short notice simply because those in charge knew what the answer would be. But she fails to grasp it wouldn’t be her letting them down but the ones changing the rota. I am frustrated tonight beyond measure.
In case anyone thinks I am saying this because I am bitter because I am prevented from teaching kids outside of my day job, don’t bother. I have no desire whatsoever, I hate teaching kids and I am definitely not suited for that line of work. If I was capable I could quadruple (at least) my salary by working at kindergartens but ere long there would be an infanticide.
Yesterday I duly went to the PSB to present my passport for my stay of execution. According to China Daily we are in a heat wave (37C) and people have died up the road in Hefei. I must say it was a bit on the warm side but no problem on the air-conditioned bus.
Until I came out and had a 100 yard walk to the return stop across the road. It did get to me but not as much as my legs did. I don’t seem to be able to walk any distance at all lately without my legs or hips aching to hell and back. For now I am putting that down to being seated for most of the day of late.
When I returned I was greeted by a change in the status of my qualification application. Nothing to shout about (still said it was going through yet now in research) but it did prove the first hurdle had been passed. Fingers crossed it will end in the result I need.
Then I started packing boxes. Books first (and pity the poor souls who have to carry them down eventually) and then a few bits and bobs. I gave up after a while and there is still plenty to do. More tomorrow but not too much as I will need to do two runs to town - one for our dinner and another to actually collect my passport with my new visa.
I have lately been astonished that my ramblings (which I consider mundane) appear to have gathered a large following. This blog goes to four different places, three members -only Yahoo groups and another, completely unadvertised blog site. The latter, because the site itself contains the letters B L O and G together is enough to see it banned in China, although there are a fair few viewers from here. Naughty boys and girls.
The usual headcount for this particular site is on average 15-20 views a day. I am not looking for people to follow, I just do this because I enjoy it. BUT. Over the last three days that average of 17 a day has suddenly shot up to 342! No idea how or why but if you are one of them then you are welcome of course.
The dean (who is no longer my boss in 22 hours) is Joan’s “boss” at her private school. You know, of course I am not allowed to teach outside this school but Chinese teachers can line their pockets with impunity by opening schools and getting students to work for 60p an hour plus unpaid overtime. Joan got sucked in and lacks the courage to say “enough!”
Now it’s bad enough that they told her she would work odd dates and then when she turned up for the first day they told her she was now working even dates with not so much as her bus fare refunded for a wasted trip but the latest is that on the LAST day, Monday, suddenly she will be switched - MAYBE - to the afternoon.
That happens to be the day I leave here and check in to an hotel along with her because she will need somewhere to stay until she goes to the station shortly before midnight. She has luggage. Oh no, she still doesn’t know for sure when she will teach her last class. The plan was that I would wait for her to come back and we would both go to the hotel, maybe rest awhile, have dinner and then later I take her to the train station. If she is teaching after lunch it means falling on the hotel’s good nature to at least leave our luggage until the 1400 check in time. Now I am confident that as a foreigner they will bend over backwards but the point is you cannot arbitrarily tell people they MIGHT change things. I know this is China but for God’s sake, she won’t stand up to them and say she has made arrangements and paid money. And for a whole term she has been paid the princely sum of £100 for three hours a week teaching and about two hours unpaid each week talking to students and parents.
And the students do it because she is the dean.
I paid students to clean my flat, 25 yuan a time and it was rare they spent more than thirty minutes doing so. If I was staying I might (if I was allowed) seriously consider opening my own school and paying the student teachers 25 yuan a lesson and with a schedule they could bank on. I am so angry because as sue as eggs are eggs western students wouldn’t accept this bull.
I blame Joan because she is typically Chinese, hiding behind the “I don’t want to let my students down” argument. I have never let mine down either and I have never had changes foisted on me at short notice simply because those in charge knew what the answer would be. But she fails to grasp it wouldn’t be her letting them down but the ones changing the rota. I am frustrated tonight beyond measure.
In case anyone thinks I am saying this because I am bitter because I am prevented from teaching kids outside of my day job, don’t bother. I have no desire whatsoever, I hate teaching kids and I am definitely not suited for that line of work. If I was capable I could quadruple (at least) my salary by working at kindergartens but ere long there would be an infanticide.
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Wednesday 27th July, 2016 1600
D Day -5 days
Having recently spent five days in correspondence with my V-P-N provider and having been instructed to do all sorts of purges, configs and other things to no avail, eventually I asked if they could take over my computer from afar. They could and so a technician had a mosey around to try and fix it.
After he pinged and speed tested around the globe for an hour this is what was said:
I think I’ve found the problem, someone locally is throttling connections to Europe.
You mean the university?
Yes.
Kevin thinks the only ones who can do that are the internet providers (in this case I think China Mobile) but I will soon know if when I am in the hotel on Monday the problem has gone or not. If it has then it’s definitely the school. It seems utterly futile to me because I can connect to plenty of countries outside Europe and access all the sites they don’t like. The only thing it does is stop me getting British telly. Well so far it hasn’t, with perseverance I can often get a very slow connection to the UK for an hour or so, enough to kickstart downloads and then switch to Tokyo for some speed.
One of the drawbacks living here I suppose but I can’t really complain, overall I still like it here more than the UK where these days simply picking your nose breaks half a dozen laws.
I have yet to start packing although just now I threw out the suitcase I came to China with. Firstly it had been scratched to death by the cats (only ever used it four times) and secondly the zippers had seized. We had a bit of a fiasco when I got Joan to buy me a new one but I now have one of a similar size and she benefited from the smaller one, as I think I mentioned.
Last night the plan had been to go to Tongling. Trip Advisor shows an Indian restaurant not far from the train station so I asked Joan to call them and confirm they actually served Indian food. The number is defunct and when she searched online on a Chinese site it turned out it is in fact a Japanese sushi restaurant. Well I wasn’t travelling all that way for sushi when I can get it in the business street so I took her to Old Cologne, the German restaurant.
I have been there a few times but not often, simply because the prices are so high. Understandably of course because most of their stuff is imported. In six years I had never tried their steaks so I thought that before I left I would see if they were any good. Go anywhere else in this city and they will serve you with the plastic ones I can buy frozen in RT Mart.
Stunned by the price of 269y for a T-bone, nevertheless I urged Joan to have one as well as me. I never looked closely. The bloody things were half a kilogramme each! I nearly died. Neither of us could finish but I have to say it was the best steak I have had in China. And of course Mum was the most expensively fed dog in town once we got back with a doggy bag.
Joan loved the homemade German cake, I drank German ale, she didn’t like the spiciness of her Bloody Mary and swapped my black beer for it and then I hit her with Kahlua and coke. That she loved. Mentally I estimated the night was going to come in at around 900y, a ridiculous waste of money given my current circumstances but she is leaving on Monday night and I don’t know when we will meet again. I was pleasantly surprised not to have been charged for everything and escaped with a bill of 700y. Sadly Wolfgang for once wasn’t there so I never had chance to say goodbye. I may go back alone before I leave and have something a lot cheaper than steak though!
The campus is noticeably quieter now and I think perhaps most of those students who stayed to work on projects have now gone home to grab the remaining five weeks of holiday left. Certainly I was the only one waiting for the bus when I made a quick shopping run earlier.
I am now trying to get rid of as much food from the freezer as I can so tomorrow will be cottage pies. Some really spicy sausages Joan doesn’t like are going to Mum, as are a couple of big fish I found right at the bottom which I must have bought when Pepsi was alive. I will empty it if it kills me, although I possibly might put the canned food into a box for onward shipment in due course.
D Day -5 days
Having recently spent five days in correspondence with my V-P-N provider and having been instructed to do all sorts of purges, configs and other things to no avail, eventually I asked if they could take over my computer from afar. They could and so a technician had a mosey around to try and fix it.
After he pinged and speed tested around the globe for an hour this is what was said:
I think I’ve found the problem, someone locally is throttling connections to Europe.
You mean the university?
Yes.
Kevin thinks the only ones who can do that are the internet providers (in this case I think China Mobile) but I will soon know if when I am in the hotel on Monday the problem has gone or not. If it has then it’s definitely the school. It seems utterly futile to me because I can connect to plenty of countries outside Europe and access all the sites they don’t like. The only thing it does is stop me getting British telly. Well so far it hasn’t, with perseverance I can often get a very slow connection to the UK for an hour or so, enough to kickstart downloads and then switch to Tokyo for some speed.
One of the drawbacks living here I suppose but I can’t really complain, overall I still like it here more than the UK where these days simply picking your nose breaks half a dozen laws.
I have yet to start packing although just now I threw out the suitcase I came to China with. Firstly it had been scratched to death by the cats (only ever used it four times) and secondly the zippers had seized. We had a bit of a fiasco when I got Joan to buy me a new one but I now have one of a similar size and she benefited from the smaller one, as I think I mentioned.
Last night the plan had been to go to Tongling. Trip Advisor shows an Indian restaurant not far from the train station so I asked Joan to call them and confirm they actually served Indian food. The number is defunct and when she searched online on a Chinese site it turned out it is in fact a Japanese sushi restaurant. Well I wasn’t travelling all that way for sushi when I can get it in the business street so I took her to Old Cologne, the German restaurant.
I have been there a few times but not often, simply because the prices are so high. Understandably of course because most of their stuff is imported. In six years I had never tried their steaks so I thought that before I left I would see if they were any good. Go anywhere else in this city and they will serve you with the plastic ones I can buy frozen in RT Mart.
Stunned by the price of 269y for a T-bone, nevertheless I urged Joan to have one as well as me. I never looked closely. The bloody things were half a kilogramme each! I nearly died. Neither of us could finish but I have to say it was the best steak I have had in China. And of course Mum was the most expensively fed dog in town once we got back with a doggy bag.
Joan loved the homemade German cake, I drank German ale, she didn’t like the spiciness of her Bloody Mary and swapped my black beer for it and then I hit her with Kahlua and coke. That she loved. Mentally I estimated the night was going to come in at around 900y, a ridiculous waste of money given my current circumstances but she is leaving on Monday night and I don’t know when we will meet again. I was pleasantly surprised not to have been charged for everything and escaped with a bill of 700y. Sadly Wolfgang for once wasn’t there so I never had chance to say goodbye. I may go back alone before I leave and have something a lot cheaper than steak though!
The campus is noticeably quieter now and I think perhaps most of those students who stayed to work on projects have now gone home to grab the remaining five weeks of holiday left. Certainly I was the only one waiting for the bus when I made a quick shopping run earlier.
I am now trying to get rid of as much food from the freezer as I can so tomorrow will be cottage pies. Some really spicy sausages Joan doesn’t like are going to Mum, as are a couple of big fish I found right at the bottom which I must have bought when Pepsi was alive. I will empty it if it kills me, although I possibly might put the canned food into a box for onward shipment in due course.
Monday, 25 July 2016
Monday 25th July, 2016 0200
I have now had an offer from Lanzhou university which is also up near the arctic circle and which I rejected because of the pay. I don’t wish to emulate Kevin by moving and taking less money than I was on when I arrived six years ago, even though Beijing‘s answer apparently didn‘t matter in respect of my getting the requisite papers for that school. I suspect for his second year he will be on more and I must remember to ask him when I see him on the 3rd August for dinner. He will be back briefly to collect the lovely Vivi and jet her off to his house in the Philippines for a holiday. Reminds me of taking Joan on her first flight because Vivi is a virgin in that respect as well.
Saturday morning was the usual round of chats and games with both kids and teachers and by God it was boiling even halfway up a mountain. I had to take a small towel to mop my brow occasionally and at one point thought I was going to collapse - and not from dehydration because they kept me supplied with amber nectar throughout. I saw a snippet from one of the “teachers” (Prof Wu’s volunteer students) who had written on their website about her student - they post about their ten day experience ands their assigned pupil. It starts “We had a visit from our plump foreign friend”!!! I think I would prefer fat bastard…………
That surely WAS my last visit unless they ask again while I am in the hotel although it would be nice to think that I will end up somewhere handy to visit Chizhou in the summer in the future and maybe do a few swansongs there. The “lasts” are piling up thick and fast with exactly a week today remaining until I leave my home.
Since then little has happened, Joan and I have eaten simple meals of steak and onion French stick and last night a salad. When it is 37 degrees with a “feel” of 47 outside somehow a roast chicken dinner doesn’t seem appropriate.
Mind you, the aircon in the flat is playing a blinder. We leave all the internal doors open at night bar the kitchen and bathroom and set at 26 it really keeps the place cool. Walking out of the door into 97F (or “feel” of 120F) does tend to smack you in the chops though.
Yesterday afternoon after Joan came back from work we went to express some of her stuff back home. She had spent days using my washing machine to clean it all (why she couldn’t have done it steadily rather than intensively is beyond me) and we took the bike because - unbelievably - a laowei knows where the express despatch places are and a Chinese doesn’t. Her case was 12kg and cost 60y after discount to send to the far north of the province, which I consider reasonable. I may get away with 200-300y for my stuff when (and if) the time comes. That was probably another “last” - the last time I will ride a bike around Pingtian lake.
It was boiling but of course on the bike we generated wind and so I tanned a little, wearing nothing more than the sunglasses I bought on Saturday night to replace the ones I forgot to retrieve from the mountain school, other than clothes of course. Joan on the other hand brought an umbrella (utterly futile to even try to deploy it at 30mph) and a baseball cap and she spent the entire time crouching in my shadow on the bike because of course Chinese girls have to keep their skin just two shades whiter than anaemic. Heaven forbid they get a slight tan. She thinks I can’t see what she is doing behind me but I even know when she is texting.
This afternoon we are going to the police to check the papers I have for my visa extension are in order, that gives me just enough time to correct course if necessary. Then off to buy a bigger suitcase after my 120/160cm error (Joan is now the proud owner of the one I bought the other day!), bit of shopping and then maybe a cottage pie.
Tuesday however the plan is to go and investigate the Indian restaurant in Tongling. Only just found out about it so no idea although I will get Joan to phone to check it exists and that they do in fact serve Indian food.
I have now had an offer from Lanzhou university which is also up near the arctic circle and which I rejected because of the pay. I don’t wish to emulate Kevin by moving and taking less money than I was on when I arrived six years ago, even though Beijing‘s answer apparently didn‘t matter in respect of my getting the requisite papers for that school. I suspect for his second year he will be on more and I must remember to ask him when I see him on the 3rd August for dinner. He will be back briefly to collect the lovely Vivi and jet her off to his house in the Philippines for a holiday. Reminds me of taking Joan on her first flight because Vivi is a virgin in that respect as well.
Saturday morning was the usual round of chats and games with both kids and teachers and by God it was boiling even halfway up a mountain. I had to take a small towel to mop my brow occasionally and at one point thought I was going to collapse - and not from dehydration because they kept me supplied with amber nectar throughout. I saw a snippet from one of the “teachers” (Prof Wu’s volunteer students) who had written on their website about her student - they post about their ten day experience ands their assigned pupil. It starts “We had a visit from our plump foreign friend”!!! I think I would prefer fat bastard…………
That surely WAS my last visit unless they ask again while I am in the hotel although it would be nice to think that I will end up somewhere handy to visit Chizhou in the summer in the future and maybe do a few swansongs there. The “lasts” are piling up thick and fast with exactly a week today remaining until I leave my home.
Since then little has happened, Joan and I have eaten simple meals of steak and onion French stick and last night a salad. When it is 37 degrees with a “feel” of 47 outside somehow a roast chicken dinner doesn’t seem appropriate.
Mind you, the aircon in the flat is playing a blinder. We leave all the internal doors open at night bar the kitchen and bathroom and set at 26 it really keeps the place cool. Walking out of the door into 97F (or “feel” of 120F) does tend to smack you in the chops though.
Yesterday afternoon after Joan came back from work we went to express some of her stuff back home. She had spent days using my washing machine to clean it all (why she couldn’t have done it steadily rather than intensively is beyond me) and we took the bike because - unbelievably - a laowei knows where the express despatch places are and a Chinese doesn’t. Her case was 12kg and cost 60y after discount to send to the far north of the province, which I consider reasonable. I may get away with 200-300y for my stuff when (and if) the time comes. That was probably another “last” - the last time I will ride a bike around Pingtian lake.
It was boiling but of course on the bike we generated wind and so I tanned a little, wearing nothing more than the sunglasses I bought on Saturday night to replace the ones I forgot to retrieve from the mountain school, other than clothes of course. Joan on the other hand brought an umbrella (utterly futile to even try to deploy it at 30mph) and a baseball cap and she spent the entire time crouching in my shadow on the bike because of course Chinese girls have to keep their skin just two shades whiter than anaemic. Heaven forbid they get a slight tan. She thinks I can’t see what she is doing behind me but I even know when she is texting.
This afternoon we are going to the police to check the papers I have for my visa extension are in order, that gives me just enough time to correct course if necessary. Then off to buy a bigger suitcase after my 120/160cm error (Joan is now the proud owner of the one I bought the other day!), bit of shopping and then maybe a cottage pie.
Tuesday however the plan is to go and investigate the Indian restaurant in Tongling. Only just found out about it so no idea although I will get Joan to phone to check it exists and that they do in fact serve Indian food.
Friday, 22 July 2016
Friday 22nd July, 2016 0020
A few quick words before calling it a night. I need to adjust again to getting up early, which I will explain later.
Joan and I went to town in the morning, lunch for her and then she was charged with buying me a suitcase alone. Alone because I didn’t want the stallholders to see my face and inflate the price. Long story short, I told her maximum combined dimensions of 1.2m because of airline rules, she returned with one bigger, I said sod it I would take a chance and despite my forcefulness she went back to change it. At that I got annoyed and went to the supermarket while she walked in the opposite direction, texting her to say once I had shopped I was off back to school. I was fuming. She met me at the bus stop with a compliant case.
When we got home it was immediately apparent that it was smaller than my existing (now destroyed by cat claws) case and so I checked online for the limits. 120cm is for CARRY ON baggage, checked bags are about 160cm so I cocked up and Joan was right. I can’t be right all the time!
The agency sent me a message to see if there was any news from Beijing. Rather pointless considering they would be the first people I contacted after I had any information but to give the lass credit, she is really trying to earn her commission on this one and I won’t knock that.
However, she has found a school that is interested and regardless of what Beijing says, can transfer my residence permit and foreign expert certificate. At first glance the offer would appear to be very nice, the usual benefits (apartment, utilities, round trip annual flight paid etc) and nigh on double the wages here for 20 teaching hours as opposed to my maximum here of 16. Twenty hours is a bit much these days but I can manage.
Except.
It is an “international” school (for which read private) and although they are the types which, were I a decade or so younger, I would consider simply because there is good money to be earnt, there are red lights. Big bonus is the fact there are no “office hours” (for that read sitting around when not working doing stuff all just because the school wants to think they are getting their pound of flesh). Well I won’t do office hours anyway, not unless there’s a bar and a quiet bed close to hand.
So far so good.
Where is it?
Urumqi.
Home of the Uighyurs. Where all the Muslim attacks have been happening here. Incidentally also in the far northwest of China which is a bit chilly in winter to say the least. Not to mention a 40 hour train journey from here for 1000y or a 7 hour flight for at best 1700y and as far as I can ascertain no western restaurants.
Joan tells me her friend was there and wasn’t allowed to go out, SWAT teams/army with assault rifles were assigned to protect him/her outside the accommodation. Very reassuring but I would prefer it if it were possible for me to have my own rifle (or preferably a .44 Magnum) with which to protect myself and walk around freely.
Will I take the job if it is offered?
Well if push comes to shove it is of course in the frame. When you have seen a lot (and had an entire platoon pointing their Lee Enfields at your heart during an attempted coup) and are in the autumn of your life, you tend to be fazed quite so much by such things. Do I want to take it? As much as the high salary is most tempting, the two things that deter me are the high workload and the bitterly cold winters. The danger aspect is not worth considering - just look at Europe at the moment.
I have asked to see the contract and to be able to wait for the response from Beijing as I would prefer the Changzhou position and the agent is going to call them tomorrow to see when we should have a reply.
No sooner had I finished that exchange than the phone rang. Professor Wu of the charity mountain school wants me to go there on Saturday. As usual they will pick me up at an unearthly hour so I really need to adjust my sleep pattern seeing as an early morning for me of late is after nine. This will surely be my last ever stint up at that wonderful little school and sadly I have no companion this time to accompany me.
A few quick words before calling it a night. I need to adjust again to getting up early, which I will explain later.
Joan and I went to town in the morning, lunch for her and then she was charged with buying me a suitcase alone. Alone because I didn’t want the stallholders to see my face and inflate the price. Long story short, I told her maximum combined dimensions of 1.2m because of airline rules, she returned with one bigger, I said sod it I would take a chance and despite my forcefulness she went back to change it. At that I got annoyed and went to the supermarket while she walked in the opposite direction, texting her to say once I had shopped I was off back to school. I was fuming. She met me at the bus stop with a compliant case.
When we got home it was immediately apparent that it was smaller than my existing (now destroyed by cat claws) case and so I checked online for the limits. 120cm is for CARRY ON baggage, checked bags are about 160cm so I cocked up and Joan was right. I can’t be right all the time!
The agency sent me a message to see if there was any news from Beijing. Rather pointless considering they would be the first people I contacted after I had any information but to give the lass credit, she is really trying to earn her commission on this one and I won’t knock that.
However, she has found a school that is interested and regardless of what Beijing says, can transfer my residence permit and foreign expert certificate. At first glance the offer would appear to be very nice, the usual benefits (apartment, utilities, round trip annual flight paid etc) and nigh on double the wages here for 20 teaching hours as opposed to my maximum here of 16. Twenty hours is a bit much these days but I can manage.
Except.
It is an “international” school (for which read private) and although they are the types which, were I a decade or so younger, I would consider simply because there is good money to be earnt, there are red lights. Big bonus is the fact there are no “office hours” (for that read sitting around when not working doing stuff all just because the school wants to think they are getting their pound of flesh). Well I won’t do office hours anyway, not unless there’s a bar and a quiet bed close to hand.
So far so good.
Where is it?
Urumqi.
Home of the Uighyurs. Where all the Muslim attacks have been happening here. Incidentally also in the far northwest of China which is a bit chilly in winter to say the least. Not to mention a 40 hour train journey from here for 1000y or a 7 hour flight for at best 1700y and as far as I can ascertain no western restaurants.
Joan tells me her friend was there and wasn’t allowed to go out, SWAT teams/army with assault rifles were assigned to protect him/her outside the accommodation. Very reassuring but I would prefer it if it were possible for me to have my own rifle (or preferably a .44 Magnum) with which to protect myself and walk around freely.
Will I take the job if it is offered?
Well if push comes to shove it is of course in the frame. When you have seen a lot (and had an entire platoon pointing their Lee Enfields at your heart during an attempted coup) and are in the autumn of your life, you tend to be fazed quite so much by such things. Do I want to take it? As much as the high salary is most tempting, the two things that deter me are the high workload and the bitterly cold winters. The danger aspect is not worth considering - just look at Europe at the moment.
I have asked to see the contract and to be able to wait for the response from Beijing as I would prefer the Changzhou position and the agent is going to call them tomorrow to see when we should have a reply.
No sooner had I finished that exchange than the phone rang. Professor Wu of the charity mountain school wants me to go there on Saturday. As usual they will pick me up at an unearthly hour so I really need to adjust my sleep pattern seeing as an early morning for me of late is after nine. This will surely be my last ever stint up at that wonderful little school and sadly I have no companion this time to accompany me.
Tuesday, 19 July 2016
Tuesday 19th July, 2016 1715
Planning anything here is often pointless. On Sunday John from the little school called and invited us to dinner. Joan wasn’t too keen as she felt a little unwell but I cajoled her into coming - anyway, I needed her to find the restaurant!
We had a pleasant (if somewhat rapid in true Chinese fashion) meal in the company of John, his wife and son plus we were joined by Cassandra, Kevin’s friend. On the way to the restaurant Joan suddenly realised the number 7 bus now no longer goes past the Dong Rong hotel, which it had been doing for quite some time due to road alterations.
This presented her with a problem getting to and from her job. It would have meant a taxi to the station and then a bus with the reverse routine on her return. She commented that she wished I had booked the Baisui hotel opposite the restaurant, it being on the 7 route. I had only booked two nights (through Vivi, who knows someone who gets a discount at Dong Rong) because I promised the school I would evacuate on the 1st and Joan’s train is on the 3rd, albeit not long after midnight on the 2nd. Thereafter I have booked elsewhere at a cheap price for 7 nights.
I like the Dong Rong, it’s quiet and with huge rooms and beds but it is double the price. I mulled it over yesterday morning and while she was at work changed our booking to the Baisui against my better judgement. This was mainly due to reading Kevin’s review after he stayed there last December, in which he was scathing.
Last night I asked Joan if I was reading the map correctly for the hotel I would stay in after she leaves Chizhou and discovered it was close by her work, meaning she can walk it in five minutes! I just cancelled everything and rebooked for 9 nights in the Jinghao hotel instead at less than 120y a night!
Fish and chips had to be deferred last night seeing as the liver I had bought had sat in the fridge for two days, so we had liver and bacon casserole. It was ok but I prefer lambs liver to pigs. Needless to say I made far too much so Mum got a decent meal into the bargain. She is also getting the rest of the liver which I boiled just now. She actually does quite well because often when I go out I see the remains of food others have left her as well.
Today lazybones Joan didn’t want to go to town and I didn’t think I could carry much shopping so I didn’t go either. When I woke up this morning my right wrist and outside of my hand were agony. Gout or “ordinary” arthritis I know not but even now after taking a pill they are still sore.
I saw Anthony on campus and I mentioned the fact that I may well have to leave my belongings in boxes in the flat seeing as I have no idea if I will have anywhere to send them to. He has very kindly agreed to organise that for me once the new term starts and I shall get the cost to him once I know how much he paid. He reckons the parcel people won’t come to campus now because there are so few students.
And the office IS open! After the bugger signing to me the other day they were closing, yesterday I took a mooch around the business street area and found a few other eateries still open and was stunned to see my watering hole was too. They didn’t have any cold beers because I hadn’t been for a while and I’m the only one who wants them. I told them to have some for today, which they did, and I had a couple after I had my final Chizhou haircut in one of the barbers I also found still doing business.
So a quiet day today apart from yet another power cut this afternoon. I will venture to town tomorrow, safe in the knowledge that today the wages went into the bank and I am now for the first time in the position of having slightly more money to my name than the amount I entered China with six years ago. At least amidst all the uncertainty there are the occasional happy moments!
Planning anything here is often pointless. On Sunday John from the little school called and invited us to dinner. Joan wasn’t too keen as she felt a little unwell but I cajoled her into coming - anyway, I needed her to find the restaurant!
We had a pleasant (if somewhat rapid in true Chinese fashion) meal in the company of John, his wife and son plus we were joined by Cassandra, Kevin’s friend. On the way to the restaurant Joan suddenly realised the number 7 bus now no longer goes past the Dong Rong hotel, which it had been doing for quite some time due to road alterations.
This presented her with a problem getting to and from her job. It would have meant a taxi to the station and then a bus with the reverse routine on her return. She commented that she wished I had booked the Baisui hotel opposite the restaurant, it being on the 7 route. I had only booked two nights (through Vivi, who knows someone who gets a discount at Dong Rong) because I promised the school I would evacuate on the 1st and Joan’s train is on the 3rd, albeit not long after midnight on the 2nd. Thereafter I have booked elsewhere at a cheap price for 7 nights.
I like the Dong Rong, it’s quiet and with huge rooms and beds but it is double the price. I mulled it over yesterday morning and while she was at work changed our booking to the Baisui against my better judgement. This was mainly due to reading Kevin’s review after he stayed there last December, in which he was scathing.
Last night I asked Joan if I was reading the map correctly for the hotel I would stay in after she leaves Chizhou and discovered it was close by her work, meaning she can walk it in five minutes! I just cancelled everything and rebooked for 9 nights in the Jinghao hotel instead at less than 120y a night!
Fish and chips had to be deferred last night seeing as the liver I had bought had sat in the fridge for two days, so we had liver and bacon casserole. It was ok but I prefer lambs liver to pigs. Needless to say I made far too much so Mum got a decent meal into the bargain. She is also getting the rest of the liver which I boiled just now. She actually does quite well because often when I go out I see the remains of food others have left her as well.
Today lazybones Joan didn’t want to go to town and I didn’t think I could carry much shopping so I didn’t go either. When I woke up this morning my right wrist and outside of my hand were agony. Gout or “ordinary” arthritis I know not but even now after taking a pill they are still sore.
I saw Anthony on campus and I mentioned the fact that I may well have to leave my belongings in boxes in the flat seeing as I have no idea if I will have anywhere to send them to. He has very kindly agreed to organise that for me once the new term starts and I shall get the cost to him once I know how much he paid. He reckons the parcel people won’t come to campus now because there are so few students.
And the office IS open! After the bugger signing to me the other day they were closing, yesterday I took a mooch around the business street area and found a few other eateries still open and was stunned to see my watering hole was too. They didn’t have any cold beers because I hadn’t been for a while and I’m the only one who wants them. I told them to have some for today, which they did, and I had a couple after I had my final Chizhou haircut in one of the barbers I also found still doing business.
So a quiet day today apart from yet another power cut this afternoon. I will venture to town tomorrow, safe in the knowledge that today the wages went into the bank and I am now for the first time in the position of having slightly more money to my name than the amount I entered China with six years ago. At least amidst all the uncertainty there are the occasional happy moments!
Sunday, 17 July 2016
Sunday 17th July, 2016 0200
Well today never turned out as envisaged. There was an emergency visit to the hospital.
Joan returned from her teaching job (for which the Dean pays her chimney-sweep boys’ wages) and asked me to look at her legs. I am always happy to do that as they are indeed rather nice and I had a bit of a problem in identifying what exactly I was supposed to be seeing. She wanted to go to hospital.
Little red spots.
Now in fairness she is a mosquito magnet. She clearly smells great to the buzzing beasts whilst my scent is an effective repellant as they daren’t even try to sample my blood (perhaps I should bottle it and give it to her to rub on) and she complains of mosquitos when I am unaware any are even present.
This of course was nothing to do with them. Of course, being young and finding something is not the same as it was yesterday with your body, she feared the worst. My immediate response was that it was nothing and then after further reflection I offered to get her some antihistamines in case it was an allergy. I thought perhaps she had used too much soap in the laundry, however unlikely.
Notwithstanding, and not feeling in the mood for cooking, I did say that if she wanted to go to hospital I would accompany her and we would eat in town a day earlier than I had planned - I don’t want to cook every night.
And so it came to pass that we saw the dermatologist on the 3rd floor of No. 1 Peoples Hospital. His verdict was the same as mine, nothing wrong. Of course the Chinese are very similar to Americans in this respect - they don’t feel the doctor has done right by them unless they are prescribed some medicine. In this case it was vitamin C! Well to be fair it can hardly do any harm even if it was just a sop.
I don’t want to embarrass Joan unduly because it seems to be the norm here to panic at the first sign of anything untoward, in contrast to western people who tend to put it to the back of the mind, sometimes until it is too late to be treated. I recalled the case of Kiki with her sty and her insistence on going to hospital, being prescribed expensive medicine and then told to return in a week for an operation. No matter what I said she wouldn’t listen. I explained to her what would happen, that it would burst on its own and lo and behold, before the “operation” (doubtless 100y for the doctor to pop it with a needle as I used to do as a child) it resolved matters itself naturally.
If I went to see a doctor every time something wasn’t quite right I probably might as well move in.
Anyway I didn’t need to cook because we went to a barbecue restaurant. Normally I eat sparsely there but tonight I ate (for me) a lot, in fact about a quarter of what Joan did. I ended up so full that I felt slightly nauseous although I did find a little room at the end for some ice cream.
Now get this: She has to give dictation on QQ (like Facebook) to her students at 2040hrs for 20 minutes each night. She started to fret that we wouldn’t be home in time for her to access the course book, although we made it with 13 minutes to spare. So a social life seems to be out of the question as far as the Dean is concerned, even during holiday time. And the best of it? It is unpaid!
So the fish and chips will have to be tonight but by going where we went I could buy some liver in the supermarket downstairs for a casserole on Monday - I promised I would make liver & bacon and I haven’t had that in probably eight years. Hope I don’t cock it up!
Well today never turned out as envisaged. There was an emergency visit to the hospital.
Joan returned from her teaching job (for which the Dean pays her chimney-sweep boys’ wages) and asked me to look at her legs. I am always happy to do that as they are indeed rather nice and I had a bit of a problem in identifying what exactly I was supposed to be seeing. She wanted to go to hospital.
Little red spots.
Now in fairness she is a mosquito magnet. She clearly smells great to the buzzing beasts whilst my scent is an effective repellant as they daren’t even try to sample my blood (perhaps I should bottle it and give it to her to rub on) and she complains of mosquitos when I am unaware any are even present.
This of course was nothing to do with them. Of course, being young and finding something is not the same as it was yesterday with your body, she feared the worst. My immediate response was that it was nothing and then after further reflection I offered to get her some antihistamines in case it was an allergy. I thought perhaps she had used too much soap in the laundry, however unlikely.
Notwithstanding, and not feeling in the mood for cooking, I did say that if she wanted to go to hospital I would accompany her and we would eat in town a day earlier than I had planned - I don’t want to cook every night.
And so it came to pass that we saw the dermatologist on the 3rd floor of No. 1 Peoples Hospital. His verdict was the same as mine, nothing wrong. Of course the Chinese are very similar to Americans in this respect - they don’t feel the doctor has done right by them unless they are prescribed some medicine. In this case it was vitamin C! Well to be fair it can hardly do any harm even if it was just a sop.
I don’t want to embarrass Joan unduly because it seems to be the norm here to panic at the first sign of anything untoward, in contrast to western people who tend to put it to the back of the mind, sometimes until it is too late to be treated. I recalled the case of Kiki with her sty and her insistence on going to hospital, being prescribed expensive medicine and then told to return in a week for an operation. No matter what I said she wouldn’t listen. I explained to her what would happen, that it would burst on its own and lo and behold, before the “operation” (doubtless 100y for the doctor to pop it with a needle as I used to do as a child) it resolved matters itself naturally.
If I went to see a doctor every time something wasn’t quite right I probably might as well move in.
Anyway I didn’t need to cook because we went to a barbecue restaurant. Normally I eat sparsely there but tonight I ate (for me) a lot, in fact about a quarter of what Joan did. I ended up so full that I felt slightly nauseous although I did find a little room at the end for some ice cream.
Now get this: She has to give dictation on QQ (like Facebook) to her students at 2040hrs for 20 minutes each night. She started to fret that we wouldn’t be home in time for her to access the course book, although we made it with 13 minutes to spare. So a social life seems to be out of the question as far as the Dean is concerned, even during holiday time. And the best of it? It is unpaid!
So the fish and chips will have to be tonight but by going where we went I could buy some liver in the supermarket downstairs for a casserole on Monday - I promised I would make liver & bacon and I haven’t had that in probably eight years. Hope I don’t cock it up!
Friday, 15 July 2016
Friday 15th July, 2016 1630
Yesterday was again raining but I went to town shopping, with a view to stocking up on medicine since my temporary medical/social insurance card was about to expire. It’s a pain (although free) to renew because it involves getting off the bus, walking a while to a building, doing it and then getting the same bus route to the shops afterwards.
Without purchasing two years supply I had no hope of exhausting the balance so I decided to wait and see where I end up. If it’s somewhere close enough to here for me to return during holidays to visit Joan then no matter, I can simply renew it (only lasts 3 months) and replenish my stocks. However, this being a large pharmacy, I wasn’t prepared for them to say “mayo” when I asked for allopurinol (common preventative medicine for gout). I know plenty of Chinese people suffer from it so I was as stunned as when the same happened a few months back when they had nothing for diabetes either.
Mind you, RT Mart hasn’t had any chicken breasts or breaded fish fillets for two days now either!
Miss Yin seems to be completely divorced from me now, not that we had that good a relationship in the first place. I needed a letter from her to support my application to the PSB (Bonnie) for my extension - a simple matter I assume of something signed by her and with the official stamp saying she was aware. Quite what it has to to do with the school since as of the 30th I am nothing to do with them is beyond me. Anthony was no help, suggesting I texted her as she can read English but not speak it. How does that work?
No reply after two days so now Anthony will be receiving an English version of what I think is required, which he can translate and get Yin to sign and stamp. I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies in that everything has been paid to me bar this month’s salary which is late but according to the website they are implementing new procedures and they have announced a delay for everyone. I just hope they remember me when they get around to it.
Today Joan and I went to get the other document Bonnie needs to issue my stay of execution, a residence form from my local police station where I have been registered for the last six years. We took the bike because I have no idea which bus goes there.
We found it eventually and of course not a soul spoke English, hence Joan was there. Now bless her cotton socks but Joan is not only Chinese (respect and blind obedience having been drummed into her from day one) but she is also very young and I of course don’t expect her to have the confidence to challenge “authority” (although she does with me and with regularity! But then I do encourage that in my students) .
So we ended up with no form, outside and with Joan telling me we had to go to another police station. Which one, I asked? I don’t know for sure but you need to take the number 7 bus and I can ask. Hold on, sounds suspiciously like the PSB and Bonnie, who told me to go to Maya - where we were!
Ok, back inside to tell them THEY sent us there in the first place. I don’t know whether there are too many regulations, they don’t deal much with foreigners or what but of the dozen or so officers (a dozen police in a village??) there I don’t think their collective knowledge extended to being able to pass the Gaokao (college entrance exam) between them. Andrei and Juliette did warn me after their encounter shortly before they left for Paris.
I decided it was time to call Bonnie, she would sort it out for me. Except her phone just rang and rang until I got the “no answer” time and again. Joan in fairness was getting pissed off, whether with the police or me at first I wasn’t sure - after all she never asked for all this aggravation. At one point she protested that I was getting angry with her but I wasn’t, I was fuming at the police who were absolute bloody idiots but I needed her to know I was reasonably sure of my ground and that I was where I should be for the paperwork.
Just when I had given up on Bonnie she returned my calls, she had been on another phone. Hallelujah! Hand the phone to Blofeld and suddenly things started happening! Twenty minutes later we left with the form I needed. I wanted to ask for a note stating no criminal convictions during my stay (CRB checks now becoming the norm here) but after that hassle I decided I would try and get one from Bonnie when the time came.
We rode back to school to get the bus to town, could have used the bike but this close to the end I really don’t want to chance it and of course I have to think of Joan. Anyway the buses always have seats now the students have gone.
Ke Bi Wang for lunch where even I ate something and Joan as always ate like a trencherman - she had earnt it and without her I would have gotten nowhere.
I am going to attempt chicken curry this evening (SHE can work the rice cooker!) and I hope it is better than my last effort - I have never used curry powder before and prefer to use the individual spices but they are not readily available here. I have some frozen paratha and will try them. Tomorrow I wanted to introduce Joan to fish and chips with bread and butter and salt and vinegar, hence my little rant at the start about the breaded fish. I did however get two cod fillets (at a cost) which I will bake. She has never had malt vinegar and knows not how our vinegar differs from Chinese versions, which are more suited for dipping your dumplings into.
And so the waiting game continues. We will both stay at Dong Rong Resort hotel for two nights, she is leaving in the small hours of the 3rd and I have booked a further week at another hotel in town. A “boutique” room (whatever that is) at a terrific price, costing me just 830y for 7 nights. If I don’t know my future by then I am in trouble.
Yesterday was again raining but I went to town shopping, with a view to stocking up on medicine since my temporary medical/social insurance card was about to expire. It’s a pain (although free) to renew because it involves getting off the bus, walking a while to a building, doing it and then getting the same bus route to the shops afterwards.
Without purchasing two years supply I had no hope of exhausting the balance so I decided to wait and see where I end up. If it’s somewhere close enough to here for me to return during holidays to visit Joan then no matter, I can simply renew it (only lasts 3 months) and replenish my stocks. However, this being a large pharmacy, I wasn’t prepared for them to say “mayo” when I asked for allopurinol (common preventative medicine for gout). I know plenty of Chinese people suffer from it so I was as stunned as when the same happened a few months back when they had nothing for diabetes either.
Mind you, RT Mart hasn’t had any chicken breasts or breaded fish fillets for two days now either!
Miss Yin seems to be completely divorced from me now, not that we had that good a relationship in the first place. I needed a letter from her to support my application to the PSB (Bonnie) for my extension - a simple matter I assume of something signed by her and with the official stamp saying she was aware. Quite what it has to to do with the school since as of the 30th I am nothing to do with them is beyond me. Anthony was no help, suggesting I texted her as she can read English but not speak it. How does that work?
No reply after two days so now Anthony will be receiving an English version of what I think is required, which he can translate and get Yin to sign and stamp. I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies in that everything has been paid to me bar this month’s salary which is late but according to the website they are implementing new procedures and they have announced a delay for everyone. I just hope they remember me when they get around to it.
Today Joan and I went to get the other document Bonnie needs to issue my stay of execution, a residence form from my local police station where I have been registered for the last six years. We took the bike because I have no idea which bus goes there.
We found it eventually and of course not a soul spoke English, hence Joan was there. Now bless her cotton socks but Joan is not only Chinese (respect and blind obedience having been drummed into her from day one) but she is also very young and I of course don’t expect her to have the confidence to challenge “authority” (although she does with me and with regularity! But then I do encourage that in my students) .
So we ended up with no form, outside and with Joan telling me we had to go to another police station. Which one, I asked? I don’t know for sure but you need to take the number 7 bus and I can ask. Hold on, sounds suspiciously like the PSB and Bonnie, who told me to go to Maya - where we were!
Ok, back inside to tell them THEY sent us there in the first place. I don’t know whether there are too many regulations, they don’t deal much with foreigners or what but of the dozen or so officers (a dozen police in a village??) there I don’t think their collective knowledge extended to being able to pass the Gaokao (college entrance exam) between them. Andrei and Juliette did warn me after their encounter shortly before they left for Paris.
I decided it was time to call Bonnie, she would sort it out for me. Except her phone just rang and rang until I got the “no answer” time and again. Joan in fairness was getting pissed off, whether with the police or me at first I wasn’t sure - after all she never asked for all this aggravation. At one point she protested that I was getting angry with her but I wasn’t, I was fuming at the police who were absolute bloody idiots but I needed her to know I was reasonably sure of my ground and that I was where I should be for the paperwork.
Just when I had given up on Bonnie she returned my calls, she had been on another phone. Hallelujah! Hand the phone to Blofeld and suddenly things started happening! Twenty minutes later we left with the form I needed. I wanted to ask for a note stating no criminal convictions during my stay (CRB checks now becoming the norm here) but after that hassle I decided I would try and get one from Bonnie when the time came.
We rode back to school to get the bus to town, could have used the bike but this close to the end I really don’t want to chance it and of course I have to think of Joan. Anyway the buses always have seats now the students have gone.
Ke Bi Wang for lunch where even I ate something and Joan as always ate like a trencherman - she had earnt it and without her I would have gotten nowhere.
I am going to attempt chicken curry this evening (SHE can work the rice cooker!) and I hope it is better than my last effort - I have never used curry powder before and prefer to use the individual spices but they are not readily available here. I have some frozen paratha and will try them. Tomorrow I wanted to introduce Joan to fish and chips with bread and butter and salt and vinegar, hence my little rant at the start about the breaded fish. I did however get two cod fillets (at a cost) which I will bake. She has never had malt vinegar and knows not how our vinegar differs from Chinese versions, which are more suited for dipping your dumplings into.
And so the waiting game continues. We will both stay at Dong Rong Resort hotel for two nights, she is leaving in the small hours of the 3rd and I have booked a further week at another hotel in town. A “boutique” room (whatever that is) at a terrific price, costing me just 830y for 7 nights. If I don’t know my future by then I am in trouble.
Wednesday, 13 July 2016
Wednesday 13th July, 2016 0150
Uncertainty and utter helplessness are not good. A couple of times in the past week I have woken up from my slumber and felt utter desolation. I can do nothing to influence the eventual outcome regarding my future here.
I have always maintained that depression is not an illness but a weakness and I stand by that even though at times (very briefly I would add) I have found myself at my lowest ebb. Then of course (for OCs) I remember QYLMBS, I pick my spirits up, go to the fridge and open a can of cold tea or two and suddenly I have control of my destiny again.
The saying that life is a shit sandwich is so true - were I rich I wouldn’t give a stuff about where I was going to work or live because I could afford not to care. But of course I am not wealthy, if I am careful I have enough to bail out from here to another country or God forbid have to return to the UK. Then I would be in real trouble, unable to claim benefits or afford anywhere to stay.
I really want to stay teaching in China because although unis don’t pay that well the hours are low and I know how it works now. I can do my own thing and I teach “adults”. The waiting to know is the worst. I will be devastated at the wrong answer but at least I can make a plan of attack once I know either way. Bloody stupid really because I have known for a year this would happen (although not the crap with the qualifications) and should have expected it but, extreme optimist that I am, I thought I could buck the system and win. I have so often in the past but this is China and there is no bloody system to buck.
Anyway, this morning I got up at the unearthly hour of six (when of late that’s about two hours before I normally actually go to bed) so that I could go to the mountain school. Molly arrived well in time and the car came to collect us, this time Professor Wu was actually here, albeit only until 1100 when he had to leave on business but not before coming to look at my old photo albums.
I think Molly had her eyes opened as to what you can do with kids if you entertain them which is a good thing. We all had boring teachers and ones who made the lessons interesting and we all know which classes we liked best. Not that this was a class, simply a morning of chatting and fun later. Good job all the volunteer teachers and students are always new ones because there is no way I could come up with more ideas for games!
It wasn’t too hot as it happens (a first) until after lunch and I have to say the lunch they put on this time was the best in the six years I have been going. They remembered the aubergine dish and egg and tomato and also there was a strange dish consisting entirely of bean sprouts in a sauce which was bizarrely nice, so I liked three dishes - another first!
It may have been my last time there but I am hoping not. There will be a new intake in three days time and I indicated my willingness to give up another half a day for their cause so maybe I will have one last hurrah. I hope so.
Of course, as I accept no payment and only drank three bottles of the beer offered (plus a can in the car on the way at 0730!) there was almost an entire case given to me to take home. Well that’s great but I had a big bag with all my photos and books and I worried I would get it all safely on the bike to take home from south gate.
Enter Molly’s new husband with car! A saviour because he brought the car up and even carried the stuff to my home. It was by this time well into the thirties and I was by now fatigued. As for perfect (or imperfect) timing, Joan arrived back at the same time but she was on the phone, I think to one of her students, and I was disappointed that she disappeared around the corner to continue the conversation and never actually spoke with Molly or hubby.
For now, it is hot outside still, Joan has been asleep in her room for three hours and we will both leave our doors open all night - mine to let the air-conditioning out and hers to let it in from mine. When I recall my first three days here when nothing worked and I couldn’t sleep from sweating I really appreciate a/c. and that will never happen again because I will simply refuse and go to an hotel.
Uncertainty and utter helplessness are not good. A couple of times in the past week I have woken up from my slumber and felt utter desolation. I can do nothing to influence the eventual outcome regarding my future here.
I have always maintained that depression is not an illness but a weakness and I stand by that even though at times (very briefly I would add) I have found myself at my lowest ebb. Then of course (for OCs) I remember QYLMBS, I pick my spirits up, go to the fridge and open a can of cold tea or two and suddenly I have control of my destiny again.
The saying that life is a shit sandwich is so true - were I rich I wouldn’t give a stuff about where I was going to work or live because I could afford not to care. But of course I am not wealthy, if I am careful I have enough to bail out from here to another country or God forbid have to return to the UK. Then I would be in real trouble, unable to claim benefits or afford anywhere to stay.
I really want to stay teaching in China because although unis don’t pay that well the hours are low and I know how it works now. I can do my own thing and I teach “adults”. The waiting to know is the worst. I will be devastated at the wrong answer but at least I can make a plan of attack once I know either way. Bloody stupid really because I have known for a year this would happen (although not the crap with the qualifications) and should have expected it but, extreme optimist that I am, I thought I could buck the system and win. I have so often in the past but this is China and there is no bloody system to buck.
Anyway, this morning I got up at the unearthly hour of six (when of late that’s about two hours before I normally actually go to bed) so that I could go to the mountain school. Molly arrived well in time and the car came to collect us, this time Professor Wu was actually here, albeit only until 1100 when he had to leave on business but not before coming to look at my old photo albums.
I think Molly had her eyes opened as to what you can do with kids if you entertain them which is a good thing. We all had boring teachers and ones who made the lessons interesting and we all know which classes we liked best. Not that this was a class, simply a morning of chatting and fun later. Good job all the volunteer teachers and students are always new ones because there is no way I could come up with more ideas for games!
It wasn’t too hot as it happens (a first) until after lunch and I have to say the lunch they put on this time was the best in the six years I have been going. They remembered the aubergine dish and egg and tomato and also there was a strange dish consisting entirely of bean sprouts in a sauce which was bizarrely nice, so I liked three dishes - another first!
It may have been my last time there but I am hoping not. There will be a new intake in three days time and I indicated my willingness to give up another half a day for their cause so maybe I will have one last hurrah. I hope so.
Of course, as I accept no payment and only drank three bottles of the beer offered (plus a can in the car on the way at 0730!) there was almost an entire case given to me to take home. Well that’s great but I had a big bag with all my photos and books and I worried I would get it all safely on the bike to take home from south gate.
Enter Molly’s new husband with car! A saviour because he brought the car up and even carried the stuff to my home. It was by this time well into the thirties and I was by now fatigued. As for perfect (or imperfect) timing, Joan arrived back at the same time but she was on the phone, I think to one of her students, and I was disappointed that she disappeared around the corner to continue the conversation and never actually spoke with Molly or hubby.
For now, it is hot outside still, Joan has been asleep in her room for three hours and we will both leave our doors open all night - mine to let the air-conditioning out and hers to let it in from mine. When I recall my first three days here when nothing worked and I couldn’t sleep from sweating I really appreciate a/c. and that will never happen again because I will simply refuse and go to an hotel.
Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Tuesday 12th July, 2016 0000
And the painful wait continues.
I went back to the PSB the following day for the extension to my residence permit. Bonnie was there. She called Miss Yin who wouldn’t/couldn’t help because of course they aren’t hiring me next term but it begs the question “why would I be needing an extension if I was being rehired”?
Next she called Changzhou and of course they said they couldn’t help because naturally without accreditation from Beijing they can do nothing. Sitting there thinking maybe I needed to take a powder and go to another country, I waited for the result. Bless her, Bonnie told me to come back on the 28th with a couple of pieces of paperwork and she would give me a one month permit to remain. Considering the answer from Beijing may well come after my current permit expires I really do need it.
Since then I have been in the doldrums a bit. I have few options and yet I have many options but I am someone who wants to at least have control of my life and these days I lack the vitality to take up certain posts. I really can’t stand for hours on end any more and I certainly don’t want to work 40 hours a week with half of those being “office hours” twiddling my thumbs with nothing to do but fulfil a contract. More money or not, sod that.
Anyway. Today I am happy to report that this uni has paid up my expenses and once this month’s salary goes in I can have no complaint. I will not have any beef against them once that is done so if anyone ever gets in contact for a reference from me they will get a glowing report unless they are approaching sixty.
Joan and I went shopping. When we left RT Mart she wanted to swap bags because hers was heavy. When I packed the two bags I judged it so they would both weigh the same. So we swapped and she discovered mine was just as heavy. Women! I ended up carrying both.
Having dropped her back at home I went to the office for a couple and this time they indicated that tomorrow the shutters would be down. So I drank my last beers there and killed my last fly just before I left. The sadness bank is piling up deposits.
In seven hours I will be collected by car, as will Molly (wedding speech, Santa TV thing) to go for the final time to the little charity school in the mountains. Again that will be so sad.
Someone sent me a link to a site with the flooding which I rode through with water nearly up to my arse. I can’t get the picture any way other than sideways but it shows you the south gate where I went out and back in again.
http://m.sanwen8.cn/p/2ff1uQE.html
And the painful wait continues.
I went back to the PSB the following day for the extension to my residence permit. Bonnie was there. She called Miss Yin who wouldn’t/couldn’t help because of course they aren’t hiring me next term but it begs the question “why would I be needing an extension if I was being rehired”?
Next she called Changzhou and of course they said they couldn’t help because naturally without accreditation from Beijing they can do nothing. Sitting there thinking maybe I needed to take a powder and go to another country, I waited for the result. Bless her, Bonnie told me to come back on the 28th with a couple of pieces of paperwork and she would give me a one month permit to remain. Considering the answer from Beijing may well come after my current permit expires I really do need it.
Since then I have been in the doldrums a bit. I have few options and yet I have many options but I am someone who wants to at least have control of my life and these days I lack the vitality to take up certain posts. I really can’t stand for hours on end any more and I certainly don’t want to work 40 hours a week with half of those being “office hours” twiddling my thumbs with nothing to do but fulfil a contract. More money or not, sod that.
Anyway. Today I am happy to report that this uni has paid up my expenses and once this month’s salary goes in I can have no complaint. I will not have any beef against them once that is done so if anyone ever gets in contact for a reference from me they will get a glowing report unless they are approaching sixty.
Joan and I went shopping. When we left RT Mart she wanted to swap bags because hers was heavy. When I packed the two bags I judged it so they would both weigh the same. So we swapped and she discovered mine was just as heavy. Women! I ended up carrying both.
Having dropped her back at home I went to the office for a couple and this time they indicated that tomorrow the shutters would be down. So I drank my last beers there and killed my last fly just before I left. The sadness bank is piling up deposits.
In seven hours I will be collected by car, as will Molly (wedding speech, Santa TV thing) to go for the final time to the little charity school in the mountains. Again that will be so sad.
Someone sent me a link to a site with the flooding which I rode through with water nearly up to my arse. I can’t get the picture any way other than sideways but it shows you the south gate where I went out and back in again.
http://m.sanwen8.cn/p/2ff1uQE.html
Wednesday, 6 July 2016
Wednesday 6th July, 2016 1430
Yesterday I awoke to a text and an email from Beijing. With trepidation I logged onto their website where you can track your application’s progress. It was merely to inform me it was being processed and to be patient. Patient? I started all this a fortnight ago and only now has it started the process!
The rain yesterday was light but the buses were still not venturing to the end of the line. That was fine by me because few students were waiting and the buses were dropping off and picking up right outside south gate. I think the residents on the estate near the terminus must be wading through waist-deep water to go and buy their food. I can’t recall seeing any shops up there.
Later when I was in RT Mart Joan sent me a text to say she wouldn’t have dinner with me (just as I was selecting a pasta sauce) and that she was going home for a few days. As she hadn’t mentioned this previously I knew something had happened. It had in a way. Her mother has been plagued by a telephone scammer and Joan is concerned that although she herself would not fall for it, her mother is not so savvy of the new world order which dictates BEWARE.
She arrived back to collect her rucksack and we had a mad dash to get to the station. When we left there were only 25 minutes until her train departed. I got her to the ticket office with 13 minutes left and she managed to catch her train. Here’s a thing: there is a high speed service from here to Suzhou that takes under 3 hours. Great. You would expect a reciprocal service for her to come back, no? There isn’t one! Coming back takes 9 hours. It makes no sense at all. She intends to come back at 2100 on Friday so I hope the forecast is right when it says that’s the one day there won’t be any rain. Guess who will collect her.
With this latest delay on a decision from Beijing I decided that today I would go to the PSB and apply for a permit extension. I planned it like a military operation in order to be able to go food shopping as well. That meant departing from south gate when the bus I needed departs from west gate. I would be returning to south gate with heavy shopping so the bike was no good there. No problem, they coincide at the train and bus stations. The plan was to get off the 29 at the train station and take the next 7. Once finished at the PSB, a taxi to RT and then a 29 back. What could be simpler? The buses were even going right to the end today.
I have only myself to blame on this occasion.
Having been a few times, and mainly in Kevin’s car, I had it in my head that it was on the left and so kept a beady eye out, ready to stop the bus. I never saw it. I ended up at the terminus and had to take another bus to retrace the route. On the way it had been on the right! At least I know exactly where to stop the bus when I make the expedition again tomorrow!
I took the bus as far as I could to minimise the cab fare to get to RT Mart and did my shopping. No need to cheat to get back, just ignore the first bus which was packed and take the next one which was nearly empty.
Earlier I had spotted one of the staff at the office riding with a takeaway order so I thought perhaps they were open after all and rode to take a peek. They were open for food but the fridge was bare of cold beers so I left immediately, bought some ice creams and came home to the rumble of thunder.
Before I parked up at home I thought I would go and investigate the damage control they carried out on the landslip of our mountain. About 45 yards of the wall has collapsed but the emergency response looks to have been simply a case of putting a few sandbags a metre high at the foot of the mountain - pitiful! I can’t see that doing much good if Mr Mountain gets angry.
No sooner had I got home than the heavens opened yet again. It has stopped now and with luck we will start to see slightly dryer weather. Ollivier kindly emailed me a link he found, which if you follow has some very good photos showing just how bad it is.
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA3ODc1MDYzNA==&mid=2655245013&idx=1&sn=bb2c5cf0a072f5f532f5384aad6f3806&scene=1&srcid=0706qIHOvY2wcrbBAuZvd6Gw&from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0#wechat_redirect
Yesterday I awoke to a text and an email from Beijing. With trepidation I logged onto their website where you can track your application’s progress. It was merely to inform me it was being processed and to be patient. Patient? I started all this a fortnight ago and only now has it started the process!
The rain yesterday was light but the buses were still not venturing to the end of the line. That was fine by me because few students were waiting and the buses were dropping off and picking up right outside south gate. I think the residents on the estate near the terminus must be wading through waist-deep water to go and buy their food. I can’t recall seeing any shops up there.
Later when I was in RT Mart Joan sent me a text to say she wouldn’t have dinner with me (just as I was selecting a pasta sauce) and that she was going home for a few days. As she hadn’t mentioned this previously I knew something had happened. It had in a way. Her mother has been plagued by a telephone scammer and Joan is concerned that although she herself would not fall for it, her mother is not so savvy of the new world order which dictates BEWARE.
She arrived back to collect her rucksack and we had a mad dash to get to the station. When we left there were only 25 minutes until her train departed. I got her to the ticket office with 13 minutes left and she managed to catch her train. Here’s a thing: there is a high speed service from here to Suzhou that takes under 3 hours. Great. You would expect a reciprocal service for her to come back, no? There isn’t one! Coming back takes 9 hours. It makes no sense at all. She intends to come back at 2100 on Friday so I hope the forecast is right when it says that’s the one day there won’t be any rain. Guess who will collect her.
With this latest delay on a decision from Beijing I decided that today I would go to the PSB and apply for a permit extension. I planned it like a military operation in order to be able to go food shopping as well. That meant departing from south gate when the bus I needed departs from west gate. I would be returning to south gate with heavy shopping so the bike was no good there. No problem, they coincide at the train and bus stations. The plan was to get off the 29 at the train station and take the next 7. Once finished at the PSB, a taxi to RT and then a 29 back. What could be simpler? The buses were even going right to the end today.
I have only myself to blame on this occasion.
Having been a few times, and mainly in Kevin’s car, I had it in my head that it was on the left and so kept a beady eye out, ready to stop the bus. I never saw it. I ended up at the terminus and had to take another bus to retrace the route. On the way it had been on the right! At least I know exactly where to stop the bus when I make the expedition again tomorrow!
I took the bus as far as I could to minimise the cab fare to get to RT Mart and did my shopping. No need to cheat to get back, just ignore the first bus which was packed and take the next one which was nearly empty.
Earlier I had spotted one of the staff at the office riding with a takeaway order so I thought perhaps they were open after all and rode to take a peek. They were open for food but the fridge was bare of cold beers so I left immediately, bought some ice creams and came home to the rumble of thunder.
Before I parked up at home I thought I would go and investigate the damage control they carried out on the landslip of our mountain. About 45 yards of the wall has collapsed but the emergency response looks to have been simply a case of putting a few sandbags a metre high at the foot of the mountain - pitiful! I can’t see that doing much good if Mr Mountain gets angry.
No sooner had I got home than the heavens opened yet again. It has stopped now and with luck we will start to see slightly dryer weather. Ollivier kindly emailed me a link he found, which if you follow has some very good photos showing just how bad it is.
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA3ODc1MDYzNA==&mid=2655245013&idx=1&sn=bb2c5cf0a072f5f532f5384aad6f3806&scene=1&srcid=0706qIHOvY2wcrbBAuZvd6Gw&from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0#wechat_redirect
Monday, 4 July 2016
Sunday 3rd July, 2016 1845
And the rain just keeps on coming.
It looks as if the drainage people have hopefully rectified the system which saw south gate turn into Lake Windermere the other day but we really have taken a lashing with the wet stuff.
Yesterday when I rode down to take the bus, the way around the back of my teaching block was almost impassable - it certainly was for cars. There had been a landslip which had demolished part of the wall and earth and bricks were everywhere. A couple of workers were doing their best with shovels. I was lucky in that for the duration of my shopping trip it was what you might call normal rain, the stuff you get in England. That changed when I returned and went to the office, again it pelted down. The buses currently terminate at south gate so the assumption is that it is still flooded further up the line.
It never stopped last night but when I left to get some photocopying done and pop in the office today it had eased a bit. On my way out from our building there was an army lorry full of troops parked up. I wondered what they were doing here.
I found out when I came back two hours later.
Right next to our building is half a mountain, and one which I have a sneaking suspicion is man-made. At the bottom there is a sort of concrete grid embedded to keep it stable and for the rest of its height there are trees in abundance. Atop it are two fake trees which are mobile phone masts.
By now there were the Chinese versions of JCBs and loads of blue trucks carting away earth by the tens of tonnes. The hill was collapsing. I have long since wondered about the wisdom of building accommodation right under that hill and came to the conclusion that if the whole thing came down, being at the opposite end of the block the avalanche might just not reach us. I hope I am right. About ten minutes ago the chaps in khaki departed, presumably they think they have made it safe. I can’t say I am that confident.
Monday 2300
Tonight I read on the school website that blocks 7 to 10 (I am in 9) were in danger as the “mountain” was “tending to expand”. They referred to these blocks as young teacher accommodation (I am flattered) and evacuated everyone. Everyone that is bar the foreigners!
40 workers plus 36 armed police and soldiers added to the “rescue” effort.
All part of life’s rich tapestry.
Earlier today I went with Anthony to get signatures and stamps on my documents for leaving and also put my expenses in. Unbelievably, after 6 years I was told my e-ticket had to be in Chinese! I told them this was ridiculous and considering an English company issued it, what other language would it be in but English? Anthony is translating it by hand for me. Madness.
Yesterday when I went to the office I asked (or tried to) when they would be shutting up for the summer. The international signs for Time Out and slitting my throat amazingly fell on stony ground so I came away none the wiser. With exams still going on tomorrow I at least thought I might be able to go there for a few more days but nope, when I went this afternoon it was locked up. I am wondering if I will still be able to get a last haircut.
Andrei and Juliette are off to Paris in the morning so they popped in this afternoon to say farewell. They brought with them a bottle of vino and to my surprise gave me some cash because I had gifted them my washing machine and freezer. It was totally unnecessary, I have had three years good service from both appliances and was quite happy to donate them, however the money was very much appreciated. I wish them a safe flight, good times in France and Romania in the summer (Andrei needs to renew his passport) and hope they have a good year next year with Daniel and whoever else the school take on to replace Richard and Me.
And the rain just keeps on coming.
It looks as if the drainage people have hopefully rectified the system which saw south gate turn into Lake Windermere the other day but we really have taken a lashing with the wet stuff.
Yesterday when I rode down to take the bus, the way around the back of my teaching block was almost impassable - it certainly was for cars. There had been a landslip which had demolished part of the wall and earth and bricks were everywhere. A couple of workers were doing their best with shovels. I was lucky in that for the duration of my shopping trip it was what you might call normal rain, the stuff you get in England. That changed when I returned and went to the office, again it pelted down. The buses currently terminate at south gate so the assumption is that it is still flooded further up the line.
It never stopped last night but when I left to get some photocopying done and pop in the office today it had eased a bit. On my way out from our building there was an army lorry full of troops parked up. I wondered what they were doing here.
I found out when I came back two hours later.
Right next to our building is half a mountain, and one which I have a sneaking suspicion is man-made. At the bottom there is a sort of concrete grid embedded to keep it stable and for the rest of its height there are trees in abundance. Atop it are two fake trees which are mobile phone masts.
By now there were the Chinese versions of JCBs and loads of blue trucks carting away earth by the tens of tonnes. The hill was collapsing. I have long since wondered about the wisdom of building accommodation right under that hill and came to the conclusion that if the whole thing came down, being at the opposite end of the block the avalanche might just not reach us. I hope I am right. About ten minutes ago the chaps in khaki departed, presumably they think they have made it safe. I can’t say I am that confident.
Monday 2300
Tonight I read on the school website that blocks 7 to 10 (I am in 9) were in danger as the “mountain” was “tending to expand”. They referred to these blocks as young teacher accommodation (I am flattered) and evacuated everyone. Everyone that is bar the foreigners!
40 workers plus 36 armed police and soldiers added to the “rescue” effort.
All part of life’s rich tapestry.
Earlier today I went with Anthony to get signatures and stamps on my documents for leaving and also put my expenses in. Unbelievably, after 6 years I was told my e-ticket had to be in Chinese! I told them this was ridiculous and considering an English company issued it, what other language would it be in but English? Anthony is translating it by hand for me. Madness.
Yesterday when I went to the office I asked (or tried to) when they would be shutting up for the summer. The international signs for Time Out and slitting my throat amazingly fell on stony ground so I came away none the wiser. With exams still going on tomorrow I at least thought I might be able to go there for a few more days but nope, when I went this afternoon it was locked up. I am wondering if I will still be able to get a last haircut.
Andrei and Juliette are off to Paris in the morning so they popped in this afternoon to say farewell. They brought with them a bottle of vino and to my surprise gave me some cash because I had gifted them my washing machine and freezer. It was totally unnecessary, I have had three years good service from both appliances and was quite happy to donate them, however the money was very much appreciated. I wish them a safe flight, good times in France and Romania in the summer (Andrei needs to renew his passport) and hope they have a good year next year with Daniel and whoever else the school take on to replace Richard and Me.
Friday, 1 July 2016
Friday 1st July, 2016 1830
Rather fittingly it seems to be almost perpetual rain at present, whilst for me my emotions are being dragged on a rollercoaster ride.
With Changzhou unable to start the ball rolling until I have some form of approval from the capital, Jenna at the agency also found me another school in Xuchang that offered me the job without even a Skype interview (I think they saw my DVD) and to boot they increased the base salary without anyone asking. It looked good so I said yes yesterday.
Except as of today their province is implementing the new regulations. So yet again my hopes were dashed against the rocks of hopelessness.
Last night Joan turned up with a large envelope for me. Thinking it was one of those you don’t really want to open, such as exam results, I wavered for a moment. I thought it may have been the response from Beijing. It wasn’t, it contained my documents that we sent to Hefei being returned to me with a hand-written note instructing me to send them to Beijing - in both English and Chinese.
I went mad. They told us to send them to Hefei and now to Beijing? Why couldn’t THEY send them to Beijing and save time?? This was becoming a black comedy. Or at least it would be if I didn’t have so much at stake. Today though Jenna made some phone calls and it turns out what they meant was that they had sent copies to Beijing. They managed to screw up the message in two languages!
So now I am in the hands of Beijing and that’s not particularly somewhere I want to be, however I can only hope for the best. If that happens then the entire country is open to me, if not then there will be a very anxious time before I find another berth or decide to relocate to Cambodia or wherever.
I have spent half of today (and with Anthony’s help) sorting out various documents I need once my contract ends to be able to show the new school (if there ever is one!) and also Chizhou’s internal leaving gumph. Tomorrow I will take my memory stick, get them all printed and then go looking for signatures and official chops (stamps).
I realise all these new regulations will be weeding out those whose degrees were courtesy of Photoshop and I have no sympathy whatsoever with those that took that path but having never once pretended anything other than the truth I am still galled that suddenly after this time genuine qualifications that have hitherto been fine by Beijing now may well not be. This is China! Good job I am an optimist at heart.
If I had the money I would get a business visa and open a burger restaurant selling real burgers and proper chips!
Rather fittingly it seems to be almost perpetual rain at present, whilst for me my emotions are being dragged on a rollercoaster ride.
With Changzhou unable to start the ball rolling until I have some form of approval from the capital, Jenna at the agency also found me another school in Xuchang that offered me the job without even a Skype interview (I think they saw my DVD) and to boot they increased the base salary without anyone asking. It looked good so I said yes yesterday.
Except as of today their province is implementing the new regulations. So yet again my hopes were dashed against the rocks of hopelessness.
Last night Joan turned up with a large envelope for me. Thinking it was one of those you don’t really want to open, such as exam results, I wavered for a moment. I thought it may have been the response from Beijing. It wasn’t, it contained my documents that we sent to Hefei being returned to me with a hand-written note instructing me to send them to Beijing - in both English and Chinese.
I went mad. They told us to send them to Hefei and now to Beijing? Why couldn’t THEY send them to Beijing and save time?? This was becoming a black comedy. Or at least it would be if I didn’t have so much at stake. Today though Jenna made some phone calls and it turns out what they meant was that they had sent copies to Beijing. They managed to screw up the message in two languages!
So now I am in the hands of Beijing and that’s not particularly somewhere I want to be, however I can only hope for the best. If that happens then the entire country is open to me, if not then there will be a very anxious time before I find another berth or decide to relocate to Cambodia or wherever.
I have spent half of today (and with Anthony’s help) sorting out various documents I need once my contract ends to be able to show the new school (if there ever is one!) and also Chizhou’s internal leaving gumph. Tomorrow I will take my memory stick, get them all printed and then go looking for signatures and official chops (stamps).
I realise all these new regulations will be weeding out those whose degrees were courtesy of Photoshop and I have no sympathy whatsoever with those that took that path but having never once pretended anything other than the truth I am still galled that suddenly after this time genuine qualifications that have hitherto been fine by Beijing now may well not be. This is China! Good job I am an optimist at heart.
If I had the money I would get a business visa and open a burger restaurant selling real burgers and proper chips!