Monday 26th September, 2016            1500

The girls actually found me near enough on time last night. This was after “on the hoof” phone pictures were beamed to my laptop asking “is this near?” etc.

The drink? One can of beer apiece (Sheila took half of her can to drink on the bus back)  and Suzy had a beer and a decent glass of plonk. Sheila in fairness drank a mug of Twinings breakfast tea. I was glad I didn’t spend money laying in booze but then I knew it would be restrained on their part.

They did though arrive with four tumblers and a bag each of bananas and pears for me to keep. Thanks girls, you just earnt yourselves invitations to a chilli enchilada evening!

Suzy definitely enjoyed the cottage pie because she finished her helping and grabbed some more, Sheila took her time but at least finished what was given to her despite my exhortation not to if she wasn’t keen on it.

I on the other hand nearly ate my portion but I did come across the odd forkful which was not pleasant, a result of the appallingly bad potatoes which seem to be the norm here. The problem is, whether I buy them on the street or in the supermarket, they are still covered in earth and I can’t tell how good they are unless there are obvious signs to steer clear. When I do eventually make it to RT Mart I will buy a good supply, more expensive to buy washed and packaged but at least you can see they are ok.

I think the girls enjoyed the evening (film afterwards of course) and it was nice to have my first dinner guests in Lanzhou. I couldn’t help but reminisce and wish Joan or maybe Dumpling were there instead and although that is certainly an uncharitable thought, it is the truth. Will I ever get over Chizhou? In time of course but even though they have a shabby ageist policy which I hate them for, it still feels like needless right now. Of course I will move on, I always do but nobody can deny me the right to nostalgia.

James Hunt this morning drove even faster than normal (I didn’t think that was possible) and left me on many an occasion with my feet on something solid, pushing back to keep myself in my place. Said place wasn’t there when I boarded, the bus was full. One of the students made a space and crammed in at the back so there were six abreast. The only upside to the manic ride was that we actually arrived early, giving me the chance to have a puff before starting.

I seem to be attracting more interest in my lessons from people I’m not teaching than I get from my own students. I had a new teacher come and sit in today (I don’t think she was sent to spy on me as she’s been here as long as I have) and later another teacher came and asked if her students could sit in on my classes, sometimes with her, sometimes not. Who knows. It might just galvanise the aspiring Cypriot contingent?

I changed my mind on tonight’s dinner, deferring peppers until tomorrow as I finish late. I decided to have roast chicken breast, roast spuds and veg today. Remember what I said about the potatoes here? I parboiled them for five minutes and ended up with a goo I poured into the roasting tray, with three slightly more solid lumps somewhere in there! I have spooned most of the diarrhoea out and am hoping something edible will happen with the remainder because I only bought one large potato. I’m beginning to understand perhaps why the Chinese don’t do the same things with them as we like to.