It’s a long time since I did so little for an entire three days and no, I decided not to travel anywhere on the grounds of cost. Thanks to batch cooking and freezing I have finally been able to (and can still go longer if I wish) avoid having to shop, thereby reducing my daily expenditure. I now miss my chest freezer - that saved me untold expenditure in Chizhou, not to mention being damned handy if I didn’t have the time or inclination to cook on occasion.
Whilst catching up on what’s been happening in the world, this morning I was stunned to read this headline:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-11/24/content_27479522.htm
I think my overriding emotion when I read the article was sadness because every word of it is true. Here when I organise an activity in which it is possible to cheat by using the internet on a mobile phone, I tell the students to place their phones on a desk at the front of the class.
This excruciating deprivation can last as long as a seemingly interminable forty minutes, during which time the atmosphere in the room is palpably one of angst, evidenced by pained glances towards the phones every time one lights up with an incoming message that of course MUST be instantly read, and probably answered.
I am sure they view me as a freak. My steam-driven, basic mobile purely handles texts and calls, I have not paid for internet access (I have my laptop, why do I need it on my phone?) and although I get cross when the internet is down (hasn’t happened since I went on a POP server) I can go all day without checking emails until I get home again. My annoyance at having no internet though is because it is my sole form of entertainment at home, the TV remains unplugged, and of course finding news items for topics and sourcing ideas for said activities. They also think I am weird because I don’t have a QQ account (Chinese sort of Twitter I think) and prefer to communicate by email rather than IM.
They are seriously addicted to their phones. I shall stick to booze and smokes.
My “bedbug”/allergy problem has lessened. I still have the red spots but they are not as angry as before and the itching drives me bonkers. I don’t think the antihistamines have helped much. I also still have terribly dry skin. Switching to Dove soap was a waste of time and I now find myself each evening applying an all-over coating of cream which is only marginally effective. My gift from a student in Chizhou of a telescopic back-scratcher is a wonderful thing!
To end on a lighter note (and I have been meaning to mention it for some time) I can inform you that Ollivier (whose initial plan on returning to France was to open a shop) will soon become a fully-fledged gendarme at the age of 37. I look forward one day to reading in Paris Match that he has locked Coco up for being a scold!
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