Tuesday 30th August, 2016                 0000

It's Darkest Just Before Dawn

Just a short entry before I call it a night but I thought it important to put down my thoughts right now.

From the outset this blog has not only been about the experience of living in a foreign land, I have also always tried to impart my own feelings of happiness, sadness, despair, worry etc - warts and all and believe me when I say that there is very little that has been omitted and anything that has been during the past six years has been not to protect me but others from embarrassment.

So.

Tonight I sat here watching downloads and I found myself filled with an overwhelming sense of isolation. Now this isn’t a salesman’s sympathy close by any means because I know full well that it won’t be long before it dissipates but I thought I should pen the feeling before it fades. Who knows, maybe someone in authority in another school may one day read this and act upon it.

The last thing I need is to be mollycoddled, I was far too long at sea to need that but of late apart from official form filling and suchlike I have been completely isolated as never before in my life. Maybe my emotions have been heightened by the worry over whether I would be able to remain in China (remember I still don’t have the foreign expert certificate or residence permit yet and officially no contract has been entered into) and of course missing my best friend for some company but nonetheless the feeling kicked me in the wedding prospects (Haha! WHAT wedding prospects!?) in a big way tonight.

I have yet to meet a single colleague to talk to, foreign or Chinese, the only people I have met in this city that speak any English have been school officials and when students have chanced upon me in the cafes not one has spoken to me as they would in Chizhou. Instead here they whisper to each other, clearly discussing me. Not a one has even said hello and I know my countenance doesn’t look that forbidding otherwise nobody would have come to practise their English with me in Chizhou despite us never having previously met. I am also deterred from venturing further afield because everything here is a gruelling hike (for me), I have no idea where anything is despite trying to research maps and I have nothing I can show a taxi driver to get him to bring me back were I undoubtedly to get lost.

As I said I have no doubt I will have at least someone to talk to during the coming weeks and indeed if I retire in Asia I can’t expect anyone to feel obliged to talk to me from duty but at least then I will have nothing to do all day but socialise and not concern myself with the upcoming expectations of myself.

Stupid feelings I know but the feeling of being totally alone is not one I have honestly had before and I felt I should put it down. I shall continue tomorrow when maybe I will have met someone else.

Wednesday                 1130

I was really made to feel a lot better yesterday when I got up and found there was no power! Shortly afterwards I had a call advising me it would be off until 1800! Great. Also, Janet would be ringing to arrange to meet me to show me how to get to the other campus and go and meet students and school faculty. Without having had a shower.

I slapped on a load of Dior smelly that Ollivier had left behind and duly met Janet, who is a bit of a chatterbox in her mid forties. Unfortunately her English is not great but eventually we both understood each other. The school minibus came for us at 1355ish on the main road (which you have to cross using an overhead walkway. I suppose in time my legs will acclimatise. The trip to east campus takes just short of an hour so for four days teaching I can add 8 hours to my working time.

Apparently the president wanted to load me up with a full workload of 16 classes so I told Janet that I felt it excessive given the commuting times. I also said I would happily do it but additional compensation should be discussed were that the case. We arrived on enrolment day and the bus deposited us right outside the entrance to the main (I later learnt the only) building.

Out on the running track I chatted to some of the staff and students who manned the enrolment desks and thought to myself that this was rather much smaller than Chizhou. Of course, with a total of 20,000 students spread over four campuses (there’s another in Beijing) I suppose none will individually be anywhere near the size of Chizhou with only one location.

Afterwards we went to meet the vice president. None of the leaders speak English of course and pleasant though she is, Janet is not the best interpreter! Things did start to become clearer after time. It was agreed I would have 13 classes spread over Mon,Tue,Thur and Fri but I was confused how, when each class has a double period, I could have an odd number. Friday’s class are the post grads hoping to go to an affiliate university in Cyprus for their masters. I will have them for three straight periods. So far so good.

Can I see the course text book? There isn’t one. Ok, so what exactly is it you want me to do? (There is incidentally no course book for any of the classes!) We just want you to improve their English. That I can do if they help themselves.

So I suggested I select topics for discussion during period one and, after ascertaining the classroom will have a computer and screen, that period two consists of either part of a film or an activity. At this they beamed with delight and I was starting to realise that maybe, just maybe, all my Christmases were coming at once. Especially when the vice president said he would organise an office for me. I will believe that when I see it though.

However, this campus is actually adjoining the east campus of the main university and has a mere 1,000 students. They all want to become teachers of young children. I was then told the school was so excited because I was their first ever foreign teacher. Odd I thought, but then it was made clear. They themselves don’t have the ability to sponsor and hire foreigners. The FAO Mr Zhang has been accommodating and their “dream” has been realised.

The president was next and so far everything looks great. I set my own lessons, have fun and I am hopeful the dreaded English corners may be a thing of the past for me. I will only have these classes for one term and when I asked about next term it was apparent they hadn’t thought that far ahead. I am confident if I pass probation they will organise another set of classes. The downsides are the commuting and the fact I may in fact never come into contact with any other foreign teachers. Mind you, that might not be such a bad thing, although it may leave me isolated still. At least I will have contact with students though.

I am really quite happy now.

I wasn’t too pleased last night when it was 2215 before power was restored. I got up at nine this morning to shower before the workmen came at ten to fix my problems but the buggers came at 0920, took one look in the toilet cistern and cluttered off again to go and get a new assembly. An hour later I was still waiting so sent a message. I was still waiting when ten minutes ago another person came to fix the lights - armed with one wrong bulb so he has gone to get the right ones and as it is now lunchtime I can safely get myself clean without fear of a knock at the door in the middle of it.

Somehow I think my supermarket trip will be delayed again until tomorrow. After three straight nights of noodles, later I am going to try and take the bus to the restaurant near the hotel instead.

Monday 29th August, 2016                       1300

Well I found jing jo in just one small shop. They only had small bottles which was a pain and indicated they couldn’t get the half litre size. Same price near enough buying four little ones but you don’t half clink when you walk home with them! I found cigars too but once I know my way around I simplyhave to find cheaper ones. They are nice but at 30y for 5 they will bankrupt me and I have found it impossible to locate cheap ones online.

All the little cafes outside either don’t have beer or if they do they don’t have cold ones. I stopped in one for my dinner and paid 12y for some noodles (noodles are more the staple in northern China rather than rice) with, it has to said, three tiny morsels of meat and loads of peppers, onions and their weird alien black mushrooms etc. Far too much for me of course but it was certainly tasty. The problem is, is that it has shifted not only itself but also everything I ate in Hong Kong!

When I finally got off the throne I showered and dressed eventually by noon, ready to go out into the chilled air for yet more bits and bobs. As I was preparing to leave the phone went and I received a barrage of calls from Brenda, Harriett and Janet. The first works in the international dept, Harriett is a teacher who does extras and Janet it would seem will be my helper here. A form was brought for me to sign for them to get the foreign expert certificate, Brenda asked about any problems with the apartment so I have listed them and Janet wants to come and visit me tomorrow afternoon. She has also offered to take me to a big supermarket on Wednesday so bedding and the like can wait for then.

I now know that I won’t start teaching until next week. I think what I will be handling is a new innovation for them, postgraduates who probably need to bone up on English before they attempt their MAs. This week they are putting together a curriculum, hence my life of leisure for now.

It rained in the night, nothing heavy but with it pinging off the caging outside the bedroom window it woke me up. It also brought the temperature down to a ridiculous 18C - in August! I am starting to regret not at least bringing a jumper - seeing as I flew first class I had a 40kg allowance but I never dreamt it would start to get cold before Anthony had chance to send on my boxes.

The repair man won’t be coming until tomorrow or Wednesday (I will live) but as I am only going shopping for a few items I have decided to limit it to one foray today. All this walking after months of either inactivity or using the bike mean that my legs are getting the stuffing knocked out of them. I am rather hoping it becomes easier with time!

Harriett threw in that she had heard I would be moving flats. That’s news to me and so I said if I was then why were they making arrangements to rectify at least some of my complaints? If I AM to move then I sincerely hope it will be to the east campus where as far as I know I will be teaching. That would save hideous commuting times.

Oh yes, two things. Apparently I am teaching in the Kindergarten training school. Apologies if I have already mentioned it. My first comment when I learnt that was “What??” I mean can you imagine me teaching rugrats? From what I gather the students I will have ultimately want to go on to be kindergarten teachers. I hope not all of them have a screw loose.

The other thing is, I checked out the Chizhou website out of nosiness (while my password still works) on Friday. I wanted to see if they had found a second English teacher. If they have then it is the damnedest coincidence that they found a replacement with my name and spelt the right way! More likely, they still only have Daniel and are currently showing me as having four classes with eight lessons a week. If they end up going into this semester with untaught classes I can only say it serves them right for dumping Kevin and me. Pity, five hours work a week would have been wonderful.

Sunday 28th August, 2016                      1400

After a decent night’s sleep (not that it felt like it) I got up and showered. Breakfast wasn’t included in the price but buoyed by the thought of (I know!) a cheeseburger on the train, I didn’t care.

It’s amazing how some Hong Kong taxis won’t take you to certain places. The two outside the hotel refused to take me to the station so I had to get the concierge to get me one.

At Kowloon station I was lost. There were huge queues for customer service and although I had left plenty of time to catch my flight, I wasn’t so sure about getting the train though and missing it meant an hour delay - that would have had me worrying. A young couple came with their young son, we got chatting and they offered to help me. They were tourists from Ningbo on the east coast and were moving around visiting relatives. We got the train but to my disappointment it wasn’t the same as the one I took to Kowloon. No upper deck and no cheeseburger.

They did have a restaurant car next to ours and also seat service.  I did have a couple of what now seemed positively cheap beers after HK and eventually ordered some beef and peppers with rice. It turned out to be very tasty although I couldn’t finish it all. For some reason we were half an hour late in leaving but that was only a minor worry.

In Guangzhou I took the tube and it was markedly at odds with the opposite journey. No seat. In fact I never got one until well over the halfway mark. Whilst standing I couldn’t help but wish I had eaten something particularly potent the night before so I could revolt everyone with a hideous pong and cause an evacuation in the immediate vicinity. Sadly I wasn’t up to it.

At the airport I was able to obtain a carry on bottle at twice the normal price but then I had been paying similar in HK just for a beer. I even had time for a couple of cold ones and could have had another because the plane was ultimately delayed but as usual; only after we were all locked inside it. I knew it was going to be a long day but this made it even lengthier.

Still, I was met at the airport, I had smuggled some hotel matches in my checked bag and managed a few puffs before we set off for my new domicile. After a quick stop for me to buy yet another lighter we arrived to find the FAO waiting at my flat. which is in the middle of a building site. Well they seem to be ripping up the road for something.

The first thing the FAO did when I took out a cigar was to advise me the apartments were no smoking. I gave him a thoroughly old fashioned look and informed him that not only was this never mentioned before either verbally or in writing and that he knew full well I smoked and hadn’t said anything, so I was going to smoke anyway. He said he was telling me now and tonight it was ok. I bit my tongue and decided to meet that one head on later when I was sure of my ground. I now am. The “rule book” I was given merely states you are not to smoke in bed (which I never do) and by inference they are stating they know you will smoke. Anyway, if I like the school and the school likes me I will stay for the next six years so a repaint I think is a pretty good deal for them.

Then I was left to my own devices.

Amazingly the internet worked and if it is like that all the time I will be very happy. Ten times faster than Chizhou. Unless I am blind or stupid there is no airconditioning. Not needed now although the radiators will be soon I suspect but it WILL get warm next summer so I need something doing about that. They showed me the washing machine, a sodding top loader with everything in Chinese. Except it’s not plumbed in. How did the previous occupant use it? They used a bucket. What??? Sorry but that isn’t me. They can plumb it in. they can also show me how to work the damned thing as well because after they left I tried to do a wash (I only had one clean shirt left for today) and I pressed every option after slinging three big buckets of water in. It took me two hours to get it to wash a bit, then it stopped so I emptied it and did a rinse. Could I get it to spin?

The coat stand in my office (here I have a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room and office) currently has my laundry dripping onto the floor.

I went to bed at two and in the gloom of the bedroom (the light doesn’t work) I ended up sleeping on a Chinese hard mattress and a quilt, using another quilt as a pillow and I think I slept under a curtain!

So today I have been out buying essentials. Toiletries and the like. I had to use a dirty shirt to sort of dry myself after my shower as I have no towel. I still have stuff to buy that the little supermarket never had but I was parched, there was no mug to have a tea or coffee so breakfast was jing jo. It’s the same as slaking your thirst in the morning with rum or scotch. Any everywhere I went the cafes either never had any beer or they didn’t have cold ones. I did find a place very close to my home that had some but for some reason the people here don’t speak Chinese! Bin pijou has worked for me all over China but not today! I should learn Chinese? Really?

So I need to go out again shortly to try and find a decent sized supermarket (and jing jo, I never saw any anywhere) to get what else I need. I was going to find a Bank of China to change my HKD but as I don’t currently have my passport because the school are registering me with the local plod and possibly opening me a bank account, I will have to clear out my Chizhou account. Payday is around the 10th so with everything I have got if I am careful I may just last without having to borrow.

Last night with the things I found wrong I was initially annoyed but of course after six years in the Middle Kingdom I know I will get things fixed to my satisfaction. When I first came to Chizhou there were things amiss and as I wasn’t a spring chicken even then I wouldn’t sign the contract until I had categoric assurances. This time I have China time under my belt.

Friday 26th August, 2016                      2020

Well yesterday late afternoon I found Tonno bar on Tonnochy Street and arranged to meet Bill there rather than the stinking cesspit of a hotel I was in. That had nothing to do with happy hour of course.

Whilst waiting, a chap arrived who kept looking at me and so naturally I looked back. According to the description I had been given of Bill (by Will, who clearly should’ve gone to Specsavers) it couldn’t be him - too short, not big enough. But the chap approached and so naturally I thought my memory had failed as I was sure I had never seen this chap in my life.

He was looking for company and his name was Mick and, small world, originally from Brisbane. My family were there for 4 years when I was a kid and so we had something to talk about until Bill did eventually lumber up to the bar. Will - he IS fat! Just as much as I am but he hasn’t concentrated his as I have on the bulbous bow, preferring to spread the load. He reckons he must have held his breath when he saw you last!

So we had a few beers on the BOGOF and all three of us left, Bill and I for dinner, Mick for who knows where. I picked up the drinks bill and considered it rather a lot considering it was happy hour but said nothing. As Bill and I left, Mick shouted after us for me to come back. He had tried to pay for his drinks only to be told I had done so! Very honest of him and in fact he found out his price and paid me slightly more than his came to. Must have been the first bit of luck I had had since Shanghai.

Bill didn’t want Chinese so we went Tex-Mex and split fajitas and a whole rib which looked to be half a cow. I eat enough to keep an overweight sparrow alive but last night I think I ate as much as I did during the entire time in Shanghai. The fajitas were great and the meat simply fell off the ribs, wonderful meal.

The restaurant (Ruby Tuesday) is obviously very popular in Wanchai for birthday parties, for there were no less than three tables celebrating (see pictures). I thoroughly enjoyed Bill’s company, he had booked me into the Novotel tonight and it really WAS my lucky day because he insisted on paying for dinner because I had paid for the drinks earlier. I certainly got the best of the arrangement. After dinner we sat, drank and chatted and I honestly hope he enjoyed the evening as much as I did because it was the best since Shanghai. Many thanks Bill, a true OC and an all-round jolly good egg, sometimes when we travel having a local pilot and friend makes the world of difference. Fabulous night, pity we couldn’t repeat it but of course I don’t want to be named in a divorce action!

Then it was back to Slough sewage works, aka my hotel, where I went for a final wet in the pool/darts bar before bed. There I met “King”, a local, and after chatting for a while we managed to get on a pool table playing doubles - where we reigned supreme over a father and son team. It really WAS my lucky night as King insisted on paying for my drinks when I finally left at 0200.

I was knackered this morning and worse, irrational though it was, wracked by thoughts that I would arrive to collect my passport and be told the visa had been refused. Holiday visa? Fine, you just aren’t going. Visa to get back where your luggage and job are? Not enough money to go anywhere other than the British embassy? Scary.

I checked out and walked to the Novotel (anyone going to Wanchai I highly recommend it)  and despite being too early and with no passport they let me into my room. Back to Tonno for a quickish one before the dreaded trip to get my passport with a new visa. The two tonnes which had been resting on my shoulders lifted when I saw I was once again legal to re-enter China.

Back to Tonno for happy hour, a few beers and then go and find a sweet and sour prawn dish for dinner. I stayed five minutes too long and was caught by Mick and later his friends Dan and Michael O’Leary. Ok, I forgot the latter’s name but that’s who he looked like. They were both Mancunians and wow, supported City. Two more beers and I made my excuses despite the fact that for them it was Friday night and the weekend had just started and they wanted to drag me to heaving girlie bars. I was too tired and too poor.

I went in search of sweet and sour prawns, I had a hankering. I failed dismally and ended up in the Novotel. Why the hell would I want dumplings and noodles in Hong Kong when I will be surrounded by them again tomorrow? I toyed with the idea of curry and nan in the room but checked out the restaurants on the 1st floor. First place was a big buffet affair, mostly Chinese but by God were the prawns enormous! I thought I might just pay and sit and gorge on them but when a chap approached me I said I would like to eat. I think he needs his ears tested because I wasn’t drunk, however he ushered me out and into an Italian restaurant. Oh sod it, I went in and sat down. I really just wanted to eat.

Stupidly I had left the 15% discount voucher in my room but I filled up with a rather different lasagne and garlic bread with a sun-dried tomato based sauce. Lovely and far too much for me.

So here I am having had three nights (ok only two proper ones) in Hong Kong and I have eaten absolutely nothing Cantonese! It won’t happen tomorrow either, I will probably try one of the train cheeseburgers before the airport but it has been nice eating stuff I can’t normally get unless I cook it myself.

Aside from the hideous expense I would dearly love to return to this vibrant, cosmopolitan island city for a holiday if I can afford it. Two short days but many lovely memories and I wish I was rich!

Back to Lanzhou tomorrow (and I will even have about $500 left over after buying my train ticket) and I have no idea if I will have internet access when I get there for a while. I hope so.

Thursday 25th August, 2016                    1500

These days I never expect my life to be anything other than full of trauma and disaster but it was taken to a new level yesterday.

The school kindly laid on a car to the airport and the FAO came in his own car to the hotel to pick up my large suitcase and transfer it to campus for me. By checking out four days early I regained 1,000y. Good job.

From the airport onwards it became inhumane.

Departures at Lanzhou does have a smoking room but absolutely none of the dozens of shops sell anything at all alcoholic. I only wanted a few cans of lager for the flight but I scoured the airport in vain. Five hours yawned ahead of me with nothing stronger than coffee on offer. But wait! There was a short hop first to Qingyang and an hour stopover, I can have a smoke and surely get a couple of cans there?

When we landed they instructed Guangzhou passengers to stay put. I thought we were to be confined to barracks for the duration but eventually they let us off for twenty minutes. Righto, a smoke and get some drink. This was where it became cruel and unusual punishment. Not only was there no sign of a beer but there wasn’t even a smoking room! There were toilets of course where I could have had a crafty puff but nobody seemed to have smuggled through a lighter.

Now I was really getting annoyed.

With everything I had to do in a rush on Tuesday I neither had the time nor inclination to actually eat anything and by now I was beginning to think I should get something down me, so ordered a 25y microwaved chicken burger. It filled a hole but that was it. Then it was off up again and on to Canton.

I was unable to cajole the stewardesses into smuggling me a beer from first class or even them letting me buy a couple so I settled down and accepted my lot. Flying is boring enough without being able to smoke but at least a drink or two makes it bearable along with my snuff supply. This was a flight I wouldn’t forget, neither hopefully will I repeat. I don’t mind flying economy if I can take my own hooch and had I known I would have forked out extra for first - but I am glad I didn’t now. As for the in-flight meal, I opted for chicken noodles rather than beef and rice. Bad move! The noodles were more like tagliatelle and were stuck together so trying to get a forkful was tempting fate and that of my nice white Mountain School shirt. I left most of it, thankful to have eaten the Qingyang burger earlier.

Once I had claimed my bags I went and changed 3,000y into 3260 Hong Kong dollars, had two cans of Tsingtao in about fifteen minutes (I was parched) and then set off for the Metro underground. I had plenty of time before the train from Guangzhou East rail station to Kowloon. Or so I thought.

Well not only is the airport enormous but so is the train station! It took forty minutes on the underground (I shudder to think how long it would take up above) and then the train station was something else again. Even the security chaps standing around with their armbands seemed incapable of pointing me in the right direction for the train station. I started to regret taking this laptop and three bottles of jing jo because I walked for miles.

Eventually after many wrong turns and an increasing sense of unease that I would miss my train I arrived at the waiting room for the Kowloon train, armed with a first class ticket. The train was a double-decker and I had an upstairs backward-facing seat. The aircon was great (even at 2030 Guangzhou was still 30C) and there was steward service. Cold beer and if you wanted, something to eat like a cheeseburger. It’s not the fastest train in the world and only stops once during the two hour journey but having previously gone six hours without smoking I knew I could do it.

It was at the end of this leg that things went from expensive to outrageous. A 15 minute taxi ride to my hotel was 85 HKD. I expressed a desire to increase my stay at the hotel by one night and was told it would be another 1200 HKD for the night! Having only paid 648y for two nights there was no way I was shelling out that. However, with my phone not working in HK (same country my arse) I had no way of booking and paying online at any other hotel. Thank God for a fellow OC who I shall meet this evening for dinner, who saved the day. I shall have to move to the Novotel tomorrow lunchtime for a little more than I paid here for two nights but half what this shithole wanted. And I can probably smoke in that one.

This place is the smelliest I have ever stayed in so how they can make it a no-smoker is absurd. Even the Indonesian brothels smelt better. There’s an overflowing water feature in the entrance that stinks to high heaven and permeates everywhere, except luckily my room. And that is tatty, the only two good things are it’s quiet and the a/c freezes you if you want. Awful place and I should have opted for one of the hostels at half the price.

I needed liquid even though by now it was getting on for midnight, so went down to the pool and darts bar. A pint of Guinness cost $85!!!!!! And I thought Shanghai was expensive! Now money (or lack of) was rearing its ugly head.

This morning after not a lot sleep I went to the embassy, filled out a form and awaited my turn. I was sent away to get a copy of the school’s business licence which the FAO clearly forgot about or didn’t know I needed. I managed to make a Skype call, he emailed it and the hotel printed it off for me - even THAT cost $10. Taxis to and from the embassy have alone cost $120 today.

The good news is (I hope) I can go and collect my passport and working visa at 1500 tomorrow- another $660. I will run out of HKD by close of play tonight if I factor in the Novotel and their deposit. Thankfully I have some yuan I can change but Jesus I never envisaged haemorrhaging money at this speed. Sightseeing? Forget it!

Here are a couple of photos, one of the Kowloon train and one from the hovel window, which it has to be said, does have a view of Hong Kong harbour, currently with a small cruise ship tied up to a buoy not half a mile distant but not in the photo as the tide swung it out of sight.

Monday 22nd August, 2016                       1300

Well so much for hopping on a bus. When I got up I found I had problems getting online. My wlan was disabled and eventually after ninety minutes of trying everything I could think of, I got it enabled again. Still I couldn’t get online, not even with plugging in a cable.

I showered and dressed, then went down to reception. I had guessed that perhaps because I was supposed to check out today they had cut access but apparently not, there is a problem with the provider. I was told it would be back on in an hour. That was an hour ago and still nothing. However, when I returned to my room to wait I was locked out! Whoever took my money last night didn’t update the system to extend the keycard life. If the internet is not back soon I will bugger off out for a beer.

In the supermarket last night I chanced upon a foreigner who appeared to be about my age and so approached him in the hope that perhaps he would be teaching where I am supposed to. As we exchanged names and shook hands (he had terribly clammy ones) he said he had been expecting my call! This rather surprised me as I have been given no numbers for any other laowei. I think he must be slightly dotty, not only is he from Halifax (Yorks) but he has been here ten years, plus he teaches at a high school. After a minute’s chatting he abruptly said he “must get on” and left. I never got chance to suggest we go for a beer and a natter! Most odd.

I have no news so far on the documents - although I can’t access my emails at present everyone concerned has my phone number. I am now having dreadful visions of having to flee China on the last legal day (Monday next), getting the visa and arriving back at school the night before I start teaching. This is not how I like to live my life. Adventure is fine but not when if it goes pear shaped you will be up a creek! There’s absolutely nothing I can do about it and that definitely starts to unnerve me when I am getting no feedback.

Tuesday 23rd            2130

Well just when I was about to send off a panicky message to the agency because I really was considering bailing out to Cambodia while I still had enough wherewithal to fly there, find a job and start earning cash in hand by the day, the news came.

The papers had arrived.

I really only had two options to fly to Hong Kong - tomorrow or Monday because the chances of me getting my application in before 0930 for a same day service are zero and embassies don’t work at weekends unless you are Julian Assange. Also I can’t find any way to complete the application form online and then print it off, despite trying here and at the school so I am praying they have a facility at the embassy.

So tomorrow the FAO is coming with a school driver at 1100 to collect me, I shall check out and get hopefully 1,000y back and they will take me to the airport for my afternoon flight then they will take my big suitcase to ultimately be put into my new apartment on campus. Which I have yet to see!

Booking the damned flight was fraught. Naturally with money now being uppermost, I was looking for cheap economy flights but God, had the prices rocketed since I last looked! That was another reason for my concern. Here they do it arse about face, the nearer the flight time gets elsewhere and seats remain unsold the price goes down. Not so in China, they take off like Concorde. I actually found one for 1530y with Hainan Airways and tried to book it but every time I got to the payment page I got an error, it took too long to respond. Then when I looked again that price had gone and I was looking at around 2,000y everywhere. Biting the bullet, I thought I would have to swallow the added expense but found a flight where for a mere 200y extra I could fly first class. What the hell, if I am going to be stiffed for 2k I may as well get first for 10% more.

For an hour every time I tried to book a flight I got the “too long to respond” page and I was tearing my hair out. Eventually I did manage to book a flight (economy) with, guess who, Hainan Airways for 1530y! Presumably the person who pipped me to the post earlier later cancelled.

That done, I looked at hotels. I have one very close to the Chinese embassy, nothing special at 325y a night. Dropped a ricket and booked and paid for two nights when unless I want to arrive back here at about 0200 on Saturday I needed three. I will extend the booking when I get there using cash.

Now, it is costing me 1530y to get to Guangzhou but I have booked a flight back on Saturday afternoon for 700y!!!!! There is no rhyme nor reason to the flights and prices here.

I will take the laptop and camera to HK but I have no idea if I will have time to blog. Also on my return I will move into my new home. If it is anything like Chizhou it will take days to get the internet connected so I may be out of action although I will ask the FAO if internet can be connected before I get back.

So it’s off to Hong Kong for the first time in three decades! Can’t wait for the food and I hope my Old Conway friend can meet up and show me the ropes.

Sunday 21st August, 2016                      1640

I’m not panicking - honestly!

With no news on my papers and merely advice to “wait” I am now beginning to wonder for how long. Certainly I can leave China next Monday for Hong Kong and stay there for 6 months (if I had the money!), which is one of the benefits of a British passport. However I would really like to move in to my new home on Saturday (well I hope it will be my home) and so the way I see it, the latest I should do the visa run is Wednesday. Even then, being no spring chicken and unable to take in a couple of hours on trains and subways coupled with three hour flights all at once, the minimum timespan is three days even if I make it to HK in one hit.

I suppose there’s always Outer Mongolia.

Last night I was stupid. I ate again in the office. Worse, I ordered “dry pot chips” and braised pork and peppers. I would never even have finished the “chips” (which were fried potato slices) which were slightly spicy and nice but when the portion of pork and peppers, which I had asked to be really small, came, I realised my error. They have no concept of small portions or indeed charging less. I am not doing that again.

In fact tonight I am going to the supermarket to buy some cheese triangles and crackers along with paper plates. That will do for my dinner, especially if I buy some grapes to go with it. Why pay 40-50y for food you can’t even eat half of? Also last night I saw a street stall which opens in the evenings and I observed a girl buying a Chinese hamburger. Nothing like a western one, they consist of a weird sort of steamed bun (which is actually quite nice), thin slices of pork, fried lettuce and two sauces (one hot, one not) although I never saw whether the girl had a fried egg with it. The problem is, it’s directly opposite the office and despite the fact I go there twice a day for three bottles a time (the expensive stuff - Huang He which I have never encountered before but is nice, at 8y a bottle) I would feel guilty because they would think I didn’t like their food. I do! I just need someone else with me to eat most of it!

During my time here, often my students used to ask me if I was lonely. With a smile I always replied that I was never lonely, I had the internet and my imagination and memories and that was true. And in Chizhou of course I actually had students after a while and before that staff members and campus shopkeepers to interact with. Here on the other hand, aside from the night of arrival and the following morning, I have had absolutely no contact with the school. I haven’t even seen where I will teach. It feels like abandonment but then I have arrived rather early.

Worse, I have encountered as many people who speak a bit of English as I did in Nanning, which was just a handful but at least they worked on the hotel reception so I saw them every day. Here even when I speak my limited Putonghua they still don’t bloody understand! And I keep getting asked why don’t I learn Chinese? That’s why. I will say it again, I really miss Joan. I cherished her more than she ever knew when she was around and if she were here I would not dwell so much on the possible disaster which looms.

It probably won’t and all will be well but uncertainty is the mother and father of nightmares.

Have I gone sightseeing? No. I suppose I should even though if I end up staying here I will get to know the city well enough over time. The buses here, unlike Chizhou, are 1y a pop all year and they do have aircon. I suppose I could hop on a bus, any bus, and see where it took me and then simply get the same number back. In fact I might do that tomorrow afternoon, no laundry to do as I washed my clothes earlier. You never know, I might find cheap cigars!  And I will be sure to remember the number of the bus…..

Saturday 20th August, 2016                         2020

I apologise and I know this blog has become a place of doom and gloom of late but so has my life - and that’s what I blog about.

I am an eternal optimist even though that optimism has been slapped in my face more times than I care to remember during my life.

It’s easy to look on the bright side when you have money and a loved one to back you up. Youth helps too! I have none of these. I really miss Joan.

I am now approaching one of those crossroads we all come across in life. I have three directions in which I can go. Straight ahead is to put my trust in China. To be fair, I have enjoyed six years here with no major problems and yet now I am in a strange place and apart from a couple of hours when I arrived and the following morning I have been left to my own devices. That would be fine by me if I wasn’t sitting here fretting over money and whether I will ultimately get the documentation I need, I don’t need babysitting. With a resident permit and no expensive HK run to do it would be hunky.

As of Monday I have seven days to legally be here and I have had no indication of when I will get the papers required to go to Hong Kong. If they come on Monday then fine, I can go on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Another option is by far the least preferred. I have enough to take a one way flight to the UK where I have nowhere to stay and cannot claim a thing from the state. I can’t afford to buy a false Syrian passport - although I could probably make money by skippering a boat full of them and actually getting them safely to shore.

I still also have enough to pack my bags and hightail it to Cambodia. I could stay in a cheap hotel and readily find work teaching (God forbid) kids. I really don’t want to do anything other than plough straight on but I am going to need answers tomorrow or first thing on Monday because I either need to stump up more money for this hotel or skedaddle while I still have the wherewithall.

So the optimist will send an email to the FAO in the morning along with a text telling him to check same!

I think I have been bitten by a tsetse fly. I seem to be spending 40% of my time in bed since I arrived. Not necessarily sleeping because people are so noisy and once I am half awake the worries come crashing in. In fact the only time I seem to come awake is late at night when I should be going to bed!

This morning I awoke to two texts from Molly regarding a female teacher who was fired from a university in Lanzhou for contracting ovarian cancer. She was convinced it was where I may work and the young lady passed away at 32. With her employment having been terminated her medical insurance and treatment had been cancelled. She would probably have died anyway (and she looked a lovely thing) and treatment may only have given her a little more time but I found the story appalling.

The school in question (used to be called the railway university but now transport) used the defence that she was fired for absences. Do you believe the school, or the court who yesterday ruled the dismissal was unlawful? The family can now make a claim for money but what use is that? Cold comfort to be proved right when the girl never even lived to see victory.

As a foreign teacher it hardly affects me anyway - our contracts always state that if you are off sick for more than 30 days you are fired! That of course depends on the school because when I brought it up six years ago when I was in hospital, to be fair they did say don’t worry about it.

And just to finish up tonight, earlier I sort of went for a walk, found a bank and checked my balance. I was having nightmares last night that I had done my party trick and thought I had much more than I did. Thankfully (or sadly, for it could have been more!) I have exactly what I thought I did. As long as nothing goes wrong and in get to HK I can probably do this thing on my own.

A more pressing problem will manifest itself in six days time. Cigars. I can’t find anywhere that sells mine. Certainly cigars can be bought but they cost twice as much. In a city of two million people surely there must be somewhere I can buy cheap cheroots???

Friday 19th August, 2016                 1620

Sleep is still disturbed but probably more to do with a new regime coming up, the (probably irrational) fear that I won’t actually get a visa in Hong Kong and of course the actual having to go there.

I did have a very kind offer yesterday from a friend which, whilst I hope to be able to  either manage the finances on my own or cajole the school into helping, was very welcome indeed and removes a worry. I confess to being embarrassed because as I have aforesaid I had more than enough cash in the bank to not even have to mention it and indeed plenty for the start-up costs of moving into a new place. The more I think about my being kept ignorant the angrier I become. I would still have gone to Shanghai but much later, stayed cheaply in Chizhou and after the Hong Kong trip and I would have flown economy everywhere and bought my own cans for the flight. I don’t think I have been foolish as I DID confirm HK was not necessary, albeit I never got a “no” but then again I never got a “maybe” or a “yes”. They must have known. I may have experience here but I only ever have really arrived once for this rigmarole. Damned annoying.

So basically my time here is another form of limbo. I am waiting for the foreign expert certificate and the letter of invitation before I can even move towards planning the visa run. I also daren’t go sightseeing because that costs money and my days so far have been confined to my room, the local supermarket or my new office for a couple of pijou and my evening meal. That’s not too dreadful, I am quite happy doing bugger all.

Last night I decided I had to have vegetables along with my meat and had a really nice sizzling beef and pepper platter. I did ask for a childrens’ portion but to no avail and of course I didn’t finish. If the food in that restaurant is indicative of the local cuisine then I may well not cook so much here, I quite like it. I have yet to try the local speciality of beef noodles but doubtless I will.

When I returned from my lunchtime drink earlier I checked what they call the “Laundromat” and the washing machine was empty so took the chance to wash three days worth of clothes. Of course I couldn’t work the machine as it was in Chinese but the girl on reception assisted and told me it would be done in 40 minutes.

I went down after that time had passed only to find my clothes still languishing in the deep end of the swimming pool. The reception girl also expressed surprised but managed to drain and spin and my gear is now drying in the room. I can but hope the clothes were at least washed. Come Monday I will have just a week left of being legally in China so I really hope I have the requisite documents to flit to HK.

I have had an offer of help in HK from an Old Conway who lives there and that was like manna from heaven. You can’t beat local knowledge.

I’m taking a nap now. At least that way if I go to bed late I won’t suffer too much when someone starts hammering on doors or a group of Chinese men decide to have a loud party outside my door instead of in their rooms.

2130

I’m not sure that siesta was such a good idea. I am now even more tired than I was then. Maybe it is just things catching up with me. I went for a mini stroll earlier, not far because I am not used to using my legs so I may have a crack at going further tomorrow. I don’t need to but I reckon I will be in trouble if I don’t exercise seeing as I will be hoofing it around two campuses.

The new office does offer good fare, tonight was kung po chicken but I can’t even eat half a portion. I may eat street food tomorrow.

Thursday 18th August, 2016                       1540

After the handful of grenades lobbed into my life yesterday, although I had no problems falling asleep before midnight for once (aided by not just fatigue but jing jo), I found myself awake whilst it was still dark this morning.

Try as I might to return to slumber, all I did was doze for a few minutes and experience bad dreams. It’s bad enough being alone in a strange place (and not on holiday!) starting a new job - hopefully as long as the work visa and foreign expert certificate don’t go south - but the unexpected outcome yesterday was of course financial. Just to put the boot in, it sounds as if I have a whole family staying next door who, despite being a yard away from each other, insist on bellowing to be heard.

I was confident I had saved enough money to keep me comfortably cushioned, otherwise I wouldn’t have booked first class flights and yet now suddenly the trip to Hong Kong is a certainty. If I was still employed in Chizhou it would be no problem, everything I needed was there and no need for hotels. There shouldn’t be a need here if truth be told, if only communication worked. Or I had been told the truth.

Forgetting the fact I had hoped to buy some transport later - not now I have seen the place first hand although perhaps in time I might pluck up courage and money - I was mentally totting up the additional cost HK will be. Flights, trains, hotel, visa cost etc will probably amount to 4,000+ yuan. Add that to more nights in this hotel, probably another thousand and of course I have to live!

I am living reasonably frugally, three beers each at lunchtime and in the evening, eating just once a day at night and spending most of my time in my room on the internet so I am keeping subsistence down to around 150y plus 250y a day for the hotel.

It should NOT have been cause for concern but now it most certainly is. I am going to end up with no parachute. It may well be that I can exist comfortably until the first payday but I will most certainly be approaching the school to try and get assurance they will assist with money if necessary. It’s not their fault any more than it is mine so I hardly expect them to pay (nice if they did though!) but the guarantee of a sub should it be needed would give me a bit of peace of mind. I would like to be able to say I have learnt a lesson here but I haven’t, I stated quite categorically that as long as a run to HK wasn’t needed then I had ample funds to stay for a fortnight in this hotel prior to leaving Chizhou. I was not told “Whoa! Stay put for a while.” How can you learn from it when you confirmed something and nobody said boo other than never, ever to believe a soul again?

But then why should now be any different to the rest of my life? Adversity is my constant companion and she is a hard taskmaster. I will survive and hopefully, as the Yanks would say, on my own dime. For someone who like to plan meticulously though, my life never turns out right!

The photo on the wall of the restaurant is not of Peking duck despite several waitresses having previously said yes it was. My electronic translator elicited the truth from them, albeit they couldn’t tell me what it actually is. I reckon it’s pork, pancakes, cucumber and spring onion with some form of sauce. I opted for the sweet and sour pork which as I said I thought it was  before, was in fact sweet pork. The “sour” presumably was the vinegary tang it had. Nice enough, far too big but with no vegetables or fruit in it I had to go and buy four bananas on the way home.

I went again a couple of hours ago purely for beer and a change of scenery. Whilst there I asked where the nearest laundry was, only to discover there is a washroom in the hotel. The drawback is that the two very small machines are top loaders and I don’t think there is a dryer. And of course you have to get lucky and go at a time when nobody else is doing their laundry.

A big problem so far in Lanzhou is that hardly anyone speaks English. It makes Chizhou seem positively bilingual and although normally I can use body language to great effect, it has thus far proved to be far less effective than anywhere on the planet that I have been!

This odyssey had really better have a happier ending than I am imagining.

Wednesday 17th August, 2016               1445

Monday was my final night in Shanghai. Savannah in the end never made it but Roland and Tutu complete with boyfriend did. And as they always do in the end, Joanna broke my heart by arriving with her boyfriend, one I never even knew existed. I know I’m an old fool and I’m not so foolish as to have thought I had one iota of a chance but it still hurt, just as much as when Joan did the same. Even old people have their dreams.

Anyway, we went to La Pistolera for Mexican food. I sensed I had upset Joanna by not sourcing the ingredients and cooking in the rented apartment, for as Joan loved my Bolognese, so Joanna did my chilli. Before that of course there was the obligatory happy hour in The Big Bamboo which was the rendezvous point and we had our pool games. There were a couple of American lads playing pool and looking idiotic to me, one of them had a mini camera attached to his cue! Later he suckered it to the table to film the game. Who films a pub pool game?

I did later ask (my curiosity is never denied) what in God’s name they were doing and was told it was for a school project. Apparently they volunteer to do these things each year so at least that explained it!

The Mexican food was great, especially as Joanna had a huge chilli burrito and we all had a couple of shots of tequila and chasers just before closing time. Then I asked for the bill. I nearly died. 2,300y!!!! Nearly two weeks wages!!!

Now I had told Roland we would split the cost of going to both places down the middle so I reckon it was 3,000 in total. I had enough but Roland took out his gold card and settled the lot.

Nobody wants to feel like the poor cousin and I am no exception. There are some real arseholes in life but sometimes there are people who are exceptionally kind - Roland didn’t know at the time how kind it would turn out to be, neither did I. He refused my offer to pay (I must reciprocate next time but I am buggered if we will go THERE!) and between him and Joanna fronting up for my accommodation they saved me probably 3,000y (I wouldn’t have booked such an expensive hotel but I am not complaining.) So to Roland who will read this and Joanna who won’t, a very big thank you - even bigger now.

On Tuesday I checked out just after noon. It was plenty early enough, too early in fact, but I was determined to use the VIP lounge seeing as I gave the awful breakfast a body swerve. Bloody hell. My flight was taking off from gate 221 and the sodding lounge was gate 70! I could apparently have demanded an e-car to take me as I had been given vouchers but nobody told me that so I had one hell of a walk to go and grab a bite for lunch.

I was going to be most upset if this lounge was the same as the one I paid extra for last year with Joan, where she was fine getting some nosh but I had to go and buy beer elsewhere. Well it was different in that there was beer and wine and snacks but when I first looked the only warm food was corn on the cob and disgusting sweet potatoes. Sod  it, I had some plonk, a spam sandwich and some crackers. Maybe they saw my disgusted expression because at some point dumplings were added to the bain-maries. Strangest I have tasted but I had some and even managed to get on the wifi before we departed.

I had complained on arrival about the time it took to hike there and that I would need to leave about an hour before boarding, which was when I was informed all I had to do as a first class passenger was to tell them when the flight was called and they would get a car to come. I will know for next time.

As glad as I was to be driven from lounge to gate along with others, I admit to feeling a bit silly whizzing past pedestrians dragging their bags but my legs said “thanks very much”.

The flight was great, left 15 mins late but arrived 10 mins early, doubtless down to the fact airlines falsify timetables to make themselves appear more punctual. A rather nice white wine was availed of and the in-flight meal was edible, I had a main course of prawns and rice which was very tasty and due to indulging in the lounge I couldn’t quite finish. I wasn’t going to need dinner in Lanzhou! I did at points gaze incredulously out of the window at the landscape below, wondering if I was on the wrong flight and we were over Afghanistan. Nothing but a vista of barren mountains, not a lake in sight and no roads I could discern. No wonder there are no fast trains serving here. I have learnt that in the spring this place gets three or four sandstorms!

I was met on arrival by the company car and after insisting on a five minute chance for a puff, we left. After all, I HAD offered to take a bus. They have got shedloads of road works and it was almost two hours before we got to my hotel. Mr Wei (not quite sure of his role, he is a teacher with a little English who seems to do a bit for foreign affairs) came in to make sure there were no problems and once he saw me to my room he left and I don’t blame him.

Being by now parched, I immediately went in search of bin pijou. There is a small road right outside the hotel (which itself is on the main road in the district) which looked vibrant with many food stalls so I opted for a stroll up there. It wasn’t long before I chanced upon a very clean and nicely furnished restaurant so decided I would drop anchor there until my thirst was slaked. I couldn’t stay too late as I had been asked to meet the foreign affairs officer Mr Zhang at 1000 this morning. Eleven would have suited me better as I was all in.

Anyway, no English whatever in that restaurant but I got across I only wanted beer. I was given a fat bottle of Huang He, new for me but actually really nice. After a while I noticed other patrons being given Snow and another beer in skinny bottles and the sceptic in me started to think the foreigner had been given the expensive beer. It didn’t matter, they wouldn’t catch me again and anyway, I was really thirsty.

Everyone was really friendly and had it not been that I had to get up early today I would have stayed longer. I went to pay and my money was refused. For some reason in my fatigue I thought perhaps they only took cards so I took out my UnionPay and that was refused. “Anyone here speak English?” Someone piped up, “a little”. The beer was free. What? Why? “She likes you!”

I left promising to return.

Back at the hotel I discovered just how basic it is. For what I need it is adequate but my request for an ashtray was met with a paper coffee cup! No free bottled water, tea, coffee, nothing. I had to take my medicines this morning with a coffee beaker of Merlot! I don’t mind doing it with lager but wine for breakfast is a first for me.

I got a taxi to the new school. Well I got one as far as the blocked road. The driver never twigged my exhortation to take a longer route where there were no blockages because I knew there had to be a way in. I ended up walking up an alleyway wondering if I would in fact find the school.

I did and even managed to find the right building and the right office. Thereafter everything went breast-shaped again in my life. With the usual Chinese lack of communication and language difficulties it transpired the agent should have advised me to stay in Chizhou and not because my apartment was unavailable. Rather, I do after all have to go to Hong Kong to get a work visa! Christ. I am now twice as far from HK than I was and staying in an hotel costing twice as much for fewer amenities.

To say I was unhappy at hearing this would not be an understatement.

Then I got hit with the fact there are three campuses, I will live on one yet teach on another. It got better.

I am welcome to take up a foreign student apartment (apparently equal to teacher accommodation) on the main campus and commute daily to teach on the free school staff bus which leaves at 0650 (what???) and also after lunch. Mr Zhang did say that he had requested my workload be kept to a maximum of 12 hours a week (cheers) but if I stay there my neighbours will be students. That means noisy music, parties etc. no thanks, I will stay with teachers, still noisy but at least I can shout and moan and not put all the students’ backs up. But it is 15km to commute. I ain’t happy. Having seen the roads and traffic here any idea I had of using an e-bike or moped evaporated, ten times as dangerous as Chizhou. I might get one for local shopping and such but no distances.

There was a moment when I thought I would be hopping on a plane to Cambodia when Mr Zhang told me I was teaching at the Early Learning Campus. You can perhaps imagine the vision that flew through my mind of me being expected to wipe the arses of five year olds and sing Baa Baa Black Sheep. With relief I clarified I would be teaching graduates preparing for their MAs who want to teach such horrid little creatures.

Anyway I don’t think I will be able to afford an e-bike for a while after the expense of a self inflicted hotel bill (that’s my choice) and a return flight and stay in Hong Kong. One day, maybe, I will get the throw of the dice.

I returned to the hotel and then to the restaurant for a few wets. I have every intention of eating there tonight, the food looks good with what appears to be Peking duck on offer and also what is listed as sweet and sour pork but which I think may turn out to be sweet but not sour pork. No matter.

Monday 15th August, 2016           1045

Due to the fact Joanna could only rustle up one “new” friend (Sophia) last night, they arrived far too late to even consider going bowling. Not that I particularly wanted to, I just thought the girls would enjoy it.

Instead, now that I had found out I was staying just around the corner from my favourite Shanghai haunts, we took a walk and discussed dinner en route. I suggested my original idea of tapas, the girls had never tried, and so we went to Las Tapas.

For a place that is purely a restaurant as opposed to a bar serving food, it was doing good trade. Sadly it is non smoking but nipping outside periodically was no real hardship. I was surprised at the breadth of dishes on offer and reckon you could go months before trying everything out. On the night I ordered garlic bread, baked goat’s cheese, prawns and suckling pig. I enjoyed it but the girls were clearly not impressed. Not enough spice is my guess. At least they tried, and they did get a nice dessert. I toyed with the idea of splashing out on half a dozen fresh Normandy oysters but at 180y I resisted, much as I love them.

Joanna wanted to go back to my place for a rest and then go to the Big Bamboo to play pool. I knew once I was back “home” I wouldn’t want to go out again so prevailed upon her to put her lethargy aside. After all, it was self inflicted, she and her housemates having drunk huge quantities of wine at home after she left me the night before.

At the Big Bamboo I am pleased to say my pool game was markedly improved. Being a sports bar, the big TV screens started showing the game between Bournemouth and Manchester United. My only interest in it was my astonishment at learning Bournemouth were in the premier league.

Shortly after the game kicked off two drunken, loud English louts came in. They made me cringe and I felt embarrassed to be English. I made a point of explaining to Joanna that this type of person was the reason why in class when students asserted English people were all gentlemen, I said they weren’t. Nothing could have illustrated the point better than after each goal one of them getting up, running to the TV and shouting “Get f******g IN THERE!!” Why management never asked them to either pipe down or better still leave, is beyond me.

At one point a character called Hussain from Dubai (who is here overseeing parts being manufactured for his employer there) who is in Shanghai until February decided he wanted to play with us. I ended up staying two pints of black stuff longer than intended. Had I known we would be late going out I would have had a siesta but such is life and I am no longer endowed with my stamina of old.

I turned in at midnight secure in the knowledge I would be up in time to try breakfast. I was. Far too early. I gave in, got up and showered. At nine I felt sufficiently peckish to take a stroll to East-West armed with my menu and breakfast voucher. Breakfast was a disappointment. All I got was toast, fried eggs and some “ham” from a perfectly oval pig. It wouldn’t have been so bad had the bread not tasted like cake, as Chinese bread so often does. If I make it tomorrow I will opt for bacon and bagel with my eggs! The tea was ok though.

Having seen the prices for the hotel doing laundry (£3 for washing a T shirt????) I resolved that no matter what, I was going to find a shop which sold laundry detergent. The waitress told me Carrefour was five minutes walk up the road. Five for her maybe but fifteen for me. By the time I got there I was done in. In fact I wanted to find someone to push my shopping trolley while I sat in it like a child. I got washing powder, wine, jing jo and treated myself to four cans of Guinness for tomorrow before I leave. The latter are in the fridge. The washing machine is hi-tech touch control and although I got it turned on and set for the correct wash, it defeated me for twenty minutes whilst I tried to get the damned thing to actually go.

I think it also tumble dries and if so then I may well clean what I am wearing today as well before I leave. Ten yuan cost for what the hotel would expect 300y for. And there will be plenty of powder left over.

Roland will make it back at some point this evening, whether early enough to join us for dinner or not remains to be seen. Having eaten this morning I will be fine waiting and I am definitely having a snooze this afternoon once the room is made up. Tonight we will be joined by another of my old students, Savannah.  

Sunday 14th August, 2016               1210

Yesterday I checked out of the hotel and Molly came with Jane to take me to the airport. First though there had to be a final visit to the office and of course the girls needed their lunch. Molly’s husband also turned up, very handy for lifting my suitcase when we did get to the airport. It felt like 35kg to me but in reality was 10kg less than that. Must have been the heat.

I’m not sure who paid for what but it had been my intention to pay for the lunches seeing as I was saving the cost of a taxi to the terminal, however when I went to pay the café owners told Molly I owed nothing. As it was my last day they wanted it to be free. I almost cracked.

It was a roasting hot day and I was glad of gaining the cool inside the airport. Sadly, no sooner had I bought a couple of cans and a bottle of water, something urgent came up and my companions had to leave to return to the city. I suspect really they didn’t want to linger for the farewell. Once they had gone I drank my beers, stood outside and had what I thought was my last smoke until Shanghai and then went through security. There they relieved me of a lighter I had deliberately kept in my hand luggage in order to demonstrate to them that I had emptied it of gas and that it was in no way dangerous. They took it away regardless. Not that I ever used it but it was a gift from a student a couple of years ago so I was less than happy. Had I known I would have given it away.

I was pleased to find that since my last time at the airport there is now a smoking room so I was able to puff away in departures right up until the flight boarded. As I settled into my first class seat the hostess offered me the choice of water or juice and advised that as it was only a short flight there would be no meal service. You have got wine though? I didn’t pay for first class to drink juice? They had wine, a rather decent Chilean as it happens. I didn’t get it until twenty minutes into the flight because we experienced heavy and sustained turbulence, probably caused by the hot atmosphere swirling about.

On arrival at Hongqiao, Joanna texted to say she was caught in traffic. No problem, I managed to buy a lighter from an airport police officer and went outside for a smoke. Joanna and her two friends Lucy and Miranda (at least I think it’s Miranda, I kept forgetting it last night) arrived just as I finished.

The flight from Chizhou is at the worst possible time, rush hour in Shanghai and it took forever to get to Pudong and my home until Tuesday lunchtime, Green Court serviced apartments. If you visit Pudong and can afford it, it certainly is worth considering. I have a living room, bedroom, walk in wardrobe, bathroom, kitchen and balcony. And the kitchen is equipped with everything you need if you want to cook! My only minor gripe is that although the aircon is fine it doesn’t get quite cold enough to be able to sleep comfortably under the bedcovers at night.

We all went to The Big Bamboo last night for dinner, I am paying for the victualling as Joanna forked out for the hotel. I contented myself with a hot dog that I had fantasised about all day, the other three polished off a pizza and a huge platter of nachos in short order and then it was solid pool playing. My prowess on the pool table is not unlike Norah Batty’s stockings, one day I am up, a wizard, the next I am down,  a joke. Last night was the latter and Joanna absolutely slaughtered me.

At the end, it having been a long and hectic (and emotional of course) day, I was whacked. Not long after midnight I settled down on a western type mattress for what I hoped would be a good night’s sleep. It was not to be. I must have woken half a dozen times, doubtless due to the uncertainty ahead of me.

Breakfast is on offer (Chinese or western) but you have to go for a walk to a restaurant about 100 yards away. I didn’t fancy it this morning but I must try and make the effort tomorrow.

However. Earlier I booked my flight. I leave here Tuesday afternoon from PVG to Lanzhou, flying first class with Air China. I am getting fond of fist class seats lately! I am told I will definitely be working there but my campus apartment is currently inaccessible because the departing teacher still has the key and is still abroad! They have offered me a foreign student’s apartment with shower, aircon etc in the interim but as the ex teacher is supposed to be coming back soon I have indicated I can stay for a while in a hotel near the school until he/she has moved out and it has been cleaned (ready for me to dirty it again!). Once they get back to me with the length of time involved I can book the requisitely priced hotel option