Tuesday 23rd My, 2017                        1800

I remembered on Sunday that I still had some raw, thin-sliced pork in the freezer so I used that instead of chicken. Even with only using a fraction of the dark soy I did last time it was still pretty salty! Next time I think a tablespoonful will suffice.

I’m not keen on the packet noodles here though. Unlike the round ones you buy in bags in the UK they are skinny flat things that come in a roll. In fact the first time I saw them I thought they were rolled up slatted blinds or mats. Being inexperienced with them I boiled them for three minutes and they were overdone. I reckon a minute is ample to leave them with at least some texture instead of turning to mush. Odd for an area where the people love noodles so much.

On Monday the highlight of my classes was receiving a text from one of the students asking for time off. They really do confide things to foreign teachers far more than the Chinese ones. This one informed me she had just started her periodic menstrual cycle! “Women’s things” would have sufficed.

I was first on the bus to go home at five and bagged as decent a seat as is possible on the excuse for a vehicle the madman drives. Shortly thereafter a man and a woman who I have never clapped eyes on before started to board. That does happen occasionally and it does give me the hump because these people never seem to be teachers and you never see them arrive on the bus, merely overcrowd it when it is home time, blagging a free ride.

On this occasion, had I not managed to procure a decent perch, I would probably have caused trouble because the bloke started loading huge bags of stuff and rolled up carpets as well! He stowed them in front of the hinged rear bench seat so it couldn’t be pulled down and sat on. I kept quiet and waited, hoping their inconsiderate behaviour would be rewarded with being slung off with all their luggage.

No.

Every seat got filled and then a young couple (both teachers) tried to get on. The girl managed to park her bum near me, cramping four into three seats. The lad was reduced to sticking his bum on one of the carpets in the back and nobody said a Dicky! Not even the dean. The least the two responsible should have done would have been sit on their own gear but oh no, she sat next to the dean while he occupied the seat next to the driver in comfort. It is sometimes difficult to hold my tongue and I know were I to say what I thought they would think me “difficult” but still……..

Unbidden, I got up early this morning and thought great, I can take my time, wake up properly, clean the study floor, shower and do the weekly shop (well, more the weekly wine run!).

Easier said than done. Whilst I have more floor space here than in Chizhou I have little cupboard space and so I have things everywhere. So the study had to be cleared if I were to clean it properly. That involved simply shifting some of it to another part of the flat but the chairs, wine boxes etc also had to go temporarily.

And whilst the faux wooden flooring is incredibly easy to sweep, my sponge mop is most ineffective at removing stuck on dirt. Enter the long-handled brush but that entails my being bent double for periods to loosen small dots before mopping. It does my back no good (or my mood) and so by the end of it I decided shopping can wait until tomorrow.

So the office is done but that still leaves the bedroom, living and dining rooms. Only the latter has trodden-in bits of outside dirt so hopefully before Friday I can have it all finished without ending up in a truss. I’m beginning to think my best course of action would be to take my shoes off inside the door and pad around in bare feet but then there’s the dust to consider. I think I may well invest in a proper front-loading washing machine next term along with a small chest freezer as I did in Chizhou, then I could go to bed with dusty feet knowing the sheets would end up clean again after a wash.

The trouble is, there is also the new laptop to buy. When the time comes for that I must check how many Amazon e-vouchers I have (I reckon £150+) as I will get one from them in the UK and get Sis to ship it to me. Why? Because if I buy it here unless I am careful it will have a Chinese keyboard and will be set up in Chinese!