Tuesday, 28^th May, 2019 Noon

At Marlow Monday last night the conversation was most interesting. Over an entire afternoon's cooking (cheesy Captain's pie followed by extremely sweet and gooey brownies), topics ranged from what had occurred to see the unexpected renewal of my contract to other, more humorous subjects.

One of those was when Annie related inter-Peace Corps chatter. The Peace Corps mob are, although avidly keen to integrate with the Chinese and learn the language and culture, nonetheless equally obsessive with meeting up with their own “cloth” regularly and so gossip abounds. Not my cup of tea although sometimes it is nice to know that apparently I am in a small way “famous” among their circle (including senior management) and am referred to as “Peace Corps Grandad”. They've never offered me a job though.......

However, she was telling us that she smiles inwardly when her colleagues, apparently often, talk of needing their western food “fix”. Evidently they go to great lengths to locate western style eateries - handy for me on the odd occasion I feel the need and simply ask Annie what's new. Of course, on their stipends they have little option but to consume Chinese food thrice a day for nine out of ten days but she feels rather smug because everything western in the culinary department is provided here for her once a week and invariably she ends up with leftovers enough for another two meals to take away and microwave. Ergo, she gets no cravings!

At one point she also caught herself. She was saying something and she suddenly realised, “Dang, I'm talking English now!” She said that when she goes back to the USA in the summer (that will be her time here finished) her friends and family will be sure to remark on her change of language and she jokingly stated that she will tell them she didn't go to China at all but went to England. So I am making a difference!

Piece by piece I have started to bring stuff from my office on east campus back home. I will miss having a little bolthole to retire to and make a brew between periods, mind you, the Chinese teacher they have moved in now often has a load of students in with her assisting in filing and stapling etc so it is now no longer “mine” anyway.

At least today is reasonably warm (outside anyway, in my flat 90% of the time regardless of season it is cold) because rather than stay home all day I need to go out. Uncharacteristically I have almost run out of one of my drugs (my monthly trip to the pharmacy is a well-planned operation with a list to ensure I am sorted until the next payday) so need a top-up, after five months I also require more credit on my electricity and seeing as I will be out and about, I may as well buy some veg. I fancy making a soup later, maybe some cheese and onion slices too so I have something to take to work tomorrow (getting bored with chicken curry every Wednesday evening) and soup before I leave at lunchtime, plus I used all my sugar in the brownies and need to make a loaf of bread.

Things have been uncommonly uneventful here of late and it makes me nervous. It usually presages catastrophe for me!