Friday 30th September, 2016              1340

A thought crossed my mind this morning. It’s just as well I have no money and no plans to go travelling during this holiday. I have no passport!

Certainly I could have used the foreign expert certificate (as it isn’t much use for anything I told the school to keep hold of it, although next year when they change them from books to proper ID cards it will be a different story) which would allow me to purchase train tickets and, I am told, take internal flights. The problem presents itself when you want to stay in an hotel. None of the posh ones (Hilton, Sheraton etc) will take anything less than a passport with which to register you and even some of the cheaper places won’t take it. Had I made plans and was liquid then quite rightly I would have cause to be aggrieved at the situation but luckily it matters not a jot. Mind you, it’s been a fortnight so everything should have come back by now so it‘s not entirely the fault of the school.

I was unpacking a little more an hour ago. I have two smaller boxes full of photos that have fallen out of their envelopes and odds and sods, hence I haven’t had mush of a taste for actually sorting it out.

Anyway, I decided that by the end of the holiday I would stow everything away and see if anything else is missing in the process. There was a coconut girl (made from coconut shells) that was given to me by a student. I couldn’t recall who but the top of her head was off, it’s a separate piece. When I went to put it on her and then stick her in the display cabinet I noticed thin coloured strips of paper hidden inside her “skull”. Curious, I fished them out. Each one had a handwritten message of thanks to me and it wasn’t until I came to the last one that I discovered who they were from. They were from Ellen and Fallrain and it must have been from last summer. They were working in Chizhou and had nowhere to stay so I let them use my spare bedroom and that was their way of thanking me. A great sadness descended on me for a while.

I’m giving my legs a rest today and not going shopping except for just around the corner shortly. I have a piece of pork defrosting so all I need is an apple to make sauce. I will have another bash at roast spuds only this time I will parboil for just two minutes! Sheila told me there is another potato in Lanzhou (dingqi I think it’s called) which she says is much better. Most helpful when the supermarket only has those other excuses on offer.

I have also asked Joan if she can contact the film producers. If their timescale was correct it should have been released two months ago and they did promise to send us copies and have yet to do so. Anthony didn’t seem keen to help (although I think he is back in Regina again unless he is getting up at 0300 these days because that’s when his email was timed) but did at least give me a Wechat number.

I don’t know if I can send an email to a Wechat number as I can with QQ and downloading Android Emulators and things look far too complicated for me so hopefully Joan’s friend request will be accepted.

When she replied she had just ten minutes to collect her ticket from the train station and leg it to get her train to Wuhu. (I have since learnt she in fact caught it). She never told me where she was going and I knew there was no train at that time going to her hometown. She has a friend in Wuhu so I guessed it was to visit her but no, she IS going home. Finally, my reasoning with her that it is surely better to pay extra and travel for a few hours than pay less and be stuck on a hard seat for nine hours just maybe convinced her.

She gets 50% off (I think it’s that much) for being a student but rather oddly in China the student discount can only be applied four times a year and it has to be for a journey between your hometown and your school. I think if they gave unrestricted student discount  year round  they could probably make more money than they give away because students would travel more often for day trips during quiet periods of the year, but who am I?

1500

Just popped out for an apple and some jing jo. I usually buy four 125ml bottles from the little shop but I seem to have created a localised jing jo drought, for she only had one left. I bought that and then headed further up the road in search but without success. I crossed the road to where the produce stalls are to get my apple. It seems to be mostly veg at the top, eggs and meat in the middle and fruit at the bottom of the very long row of traders. Blow me, didn’t I see one stall selling capsicums that were not only bigger than those in BHG supermarket but they looked a damned sight fresher - that’s where I shall buy them henceforth.  I then found another small shop for the rest of the jing jo (creating another mini-drought) and came home. That, folks, is the only time I intend being outside today. I may not even go to BHG tomorrow either, for I have frozen chilli mince and some pork stew, plenty of wine so all I will need is a potato, a few cans of Harbin lager and some cigars that one of the local shops now stocks.

After all, would YOU like to take public transport in China on China’s 67th birthday?