Saturday 6^th January, 2018 1615

Snow again last night. I thought there was but it was dark so I wasn't sure. In fact it has just started again now. Given that there are blizzard warnings elsewhere in China and to date the most I have seen here is an inch (the other day) I reckon we will get off lightly.

I am going to look like a kebab soon, I had them for dinner on Tuesday, last night and for lunch today. At least nothing was wasted.

And I think Stephanie really upset her Mum when she told her my lasagne was far better than hers. She has asked Steph to get my recipe so she can cook it! Mind you in the States they often cook things completely differently, I recall buying some packet macaroni au gratin (just add milk and boil the pasta) that originated there and it was utterly vile. Come to think of it, their chocolate is awful and their bread tastes like cake – China must copy them.

Oh and yes, Monday is Annie's last meal with me before she sets off for Chongqing and then Chengdu for Peace Corps training. Maybe while they are about it they should train them to be less peaceful with spiteful teaching assistants.

I spent ages just now typing up the marks for the students on east campus. All 220 of them. It may not sound a lot but quite aside from them having names such as Zhang Rui Bai and Cheng Fang Ping, their writing in some cases is almost indecipherable. T, J,I and L often are indistinguishable so I have to guess which is most likely but at least it is done now so I have nothing outstanding to do.

I think late next week it should start getting jolly quiet around here although unlike Chizhou, many local shops and stalls remain open.

Monday 7^th 1445

My two waifs are expected this evening for their macaroni au gratin (now that I actually have macaroni instead of penne). I also made myself a carrot soup last night, plenty leftover so they also have a starter.

When I got up this morning there was ice on the inside of the kitchen windows (the only space without a radiator) and it reminded me of my very early years when often the ice was inside all the windows and as kids we would belt upstairs to bed so we could snuggle down under the eiderdown and countless blankets. Conversely, I also read that Sydney just had a record high of 47C, the highest since WW2 started. Worse, the heat apparently knocked out power to many homes so I can't imagine what it was like without air-conditioning!

I had a call earlier from Brenda. The school want me to go to the main campus for 0900 on Friday. We are having a visitation from the directors of the city's Foreign Affairs Bureau. They never came last year so maybe they only do a couple of universities each year but from what I gather it is going to be similar to Chizhou, except they will be bringing the foreign teachers some knick-knacks to celebrate spring festival, along with trying to answer any queries we may have.

I was asked if I wanted to be the foreign teacher to make a speech and initially agreed. A minute later I asked whether another teacher (there will be only one) had already been asked. There had, the Russian teacher, who also speaks Chinese and is married to a Chinese teacher here. I retracted my agreement. I know how I would feel were I asked and then told someone else had been chosen. She may feel the same as I would, although on the other hand she may have been grateful to be relieved but I won't second-guess.

I wonder what gifts they will bring for us.........