Wednesday 20th September, 2017                         2000

As so often happens, when adverse circumstances manifest themselves in my life, a damned good rant online and a night’s sleep invariably make the world a rosier place in the morning.

Oh yes, I am still teaching on a strange campus. Jacob would only text me that he was returning due to a family emergency, presumably serious enough in his eyes to warrant going home but somehow I feel it falls short of bereavement. I cannot envisage circumstances wherein someone would fail to reveal that little nugget.

Of course now he has the problem of retrieving his passport! It is currently with mine, shuffling around the implacable machine that is China’s visa system. Next Wednesday was given as the date from which we can retrieve our documents and of course remember, he has lost his receipt! Ever the optimist, I am confident all it will cost is time.

So anyway, I had a call. His classes were 3 oral and one reading and writing. The latter I am excused, which, whilst being something I would love to do, would entail a lot of work off-campus in setting and marking. Great if I had but four classes and eight periods per week but no. Miss Li indicated they are trying to schedule all six periods for the one day. I did it last term but the difference now is that I can go home during lunch.

Within half an hour (phone calls presumably having been made) Hey Presto! Suddenly my little campus schedule was in my email inbox!

Ok it’s not great when you factor in 6 periods here on top of 10 there but I will not complain. All day Monday - really awful because it is two periods first thing then 4.5 hours until afternoon class - Wednesday afternoon and all Friday morning. If Peili campus do what they say I shall lose either Tuesday or Thursday off. If not, possibly both.

To hell with it, I have always been willing to assist in the hour of need and at least now I am still affiliated to “my” campus. Busy I shall certainly be but I can hardly complain after three extra weeks off. And instead of having to make excuses not to attend English corners, I can use the “part time” get-out clause!

Apparently Jacob told his students about me today (he just sent a text) and they are excited. Deluded souls.

He also said he is going for his passport tomorrow. I have sent directions as to how to find it. For me it is simple because it is the same stop as the cheese shop (well it was a cheese shop until they ran out!) and offered to go with him. I await an answer.

I think having to actually work soon is going to hit me. I had plenty of washing up still to do from Monday and managed to clean everything bar the plates, bowls and baking trays. I shunned the rest and decided instead to go out for sweet pork. I was so lazy in the end that I decided to cook an omelette. No chips, too much work! Thankfully I have amassed a load of plates thanks to the previous occupant, Ollivier and Kevin after Chizhou so even after a dinner party I have spares.

Ollivier by the way is about to embark on a new chapter. From his email this morning I am either sworn to silence or implored to broadcast it, impossible to tell due to the omission of ONE word. I shall accordingly err on the side of caution. And no, he was too wrinkly to be accepted as a gendarme. Nutter he may be but his strength reminded me of myself thirty years ago. I feel the gendarmerie lost out there through whatever their selection process entails.    

No idea what tomorrow entails. Maybe I will be shown where I will teach on Peili, maybe I will go shopping, maybe I will go with Jacob. I will however face it with a considerably happier demeanour than I had 24 hours ago!