Wednesday 12th April, 2017                     1630

Usual stuff mostly so far this week although I have been having fun and games getting my pension forms printed out. It wouldn’t have been a problem were I to invest 500y on a printer but every time I put the Adobe file on a USB stick, whichever computer elsewhere tried to open it - couldn’t.

The secretary at school was unable to help either until this morning when I sent her the link to the files and the password to unlock it. Bingo. The papers are sitting on my office desk awaiting me. The problem of original passport being required has also been resolved, they will accept my old, expired one. Luckily I retained it!

I made yesterday my cigar run day. I toyed with the idea of having an early dinner in town but as I wasn’t hungry I passed up on it. Instead I had real comfort food and something I could eat quite a bit of. Bacon, eggs and mash with lashings of HP sauce! I used to often make corned beef hash at home in England, top it with eggs, cut them up so the yolk went into the potato and then pour liberal helpings of HP on top. Sometimes the simple foods in life can be better than steak or lobster. Sadly corned beef is only available online here, mind you that’s a thought for Shanghai in the summer. I must remember to see if the City Store has it.

Today had to be shopping day seeing as I am working tomorrow afternoon. I started making bread pudding so I could reward the secretary for her efforts, only to find that she has asked for tomorrow and Friday off. Damn. I am sure there will be takers though and I will get a student to take a piece to the party secretary - it may just jog his memory and prod him into sanctioning the foreign affairs department to proceed with offering me another year of gainful employment.

For the first time in Lanzhou I am making a batch of Bolognese. Well I say the first time but I did make it before, you may recall I used the salt with far too much abandon. I have been careful this time. And a small taste just told me that a spoonful of Bisto just before the end will make the pork taste like beef. Can’t wait!

On Monday lunchtime, having gone on a fruitless search during my lunch break for a big flowerpot, apart from having a sausage and patty burger for my lunch, I returned wearier and no nearer to giving my mint some space to breathe. When the school bus left I observed to see how far it was to the junction where I knew I had seen a flower shop. A bit of a trek but I think my legs will take me there and back on Friday lunchtime. I must remember to look tomorrow to see if there is anywhere to eat nearby there in case I get peckish. I won’t want to prepare anything tomorrow night and my bread of late has been pitiful. I really wish I could find the flour I used in Chizhou but I can’t even find it on Taobao. I like a decent sandwich or even a French stick.

When I had finished shopping and everything I had to do outside I noticed my place suddenly go dark. For the first time here I heard thunder. Now a thunderstorm must be a rare occurrence here and as I stood preparing ingredients in my kitchen I awaited the downpour, thankful that I had no need to go out.

Nothing happened! Not even the tiniest drop of water descended from the skies!

Maybe it piddled all over the mountains but it never made it here.

Now I must tell you about Alice. We had a 45 minute Skype conversation last night because she wanted to impart some good news to me. Sadly it didn’t involve me becoming richer materially but it did spiritually.

She took some exams to see if she can study for her Masters in Guangzhou, one written and an oral interview. She came third out of all entrants in the written exam (no mean feat in itself) but they were so impressed by her oral English that they declared her number one overall!

For that achievement she was awarded a 10,000y scholarship. I jokingly told her it was because she had spent time with me in spring festival. Her reply was that was exactly how she improved and she wanted to thank me for it.

I pooh-poohed it last night but then today I thought back. It’s not the first time someone has stayed with me a while and their level of English has improved markedly. There was Qing who upped her IELTS score enough to be able to study in Sydney (even though she ultimately never went) and half a dozen others I did the same for during summers in Chizhou. And I was also Alice’s teacher, unless I am horribly mistaken she was in Joanna’s class. So yes, I will accept that pat on the back. It’s a nice feeling.