So, here's the plan. I say "the plan", it's a plan, a plan that nobody seems to have thought of and written up on the Internet or in the guide books. If the bus times are what we think they are, we're aiming for the following:
Hi,
So, here's the plan. I say "the plan", it's a plan, a plan that nobody seems to have thought of and written up on the Internet or in the guide books. If the bus times are what we think they are, we're aiming for the following:
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I have bought a moped. Okay not really, but we have bought two two-wheeled vehicles. You may know them as BICYCLES!!! Exclamation marks!!! They're so cool and we haven't stopped singing "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike" as we streak around campus ever since we got them this morning. I'd wanted one for a while and when Sherree (Kiwi teacher here) said she'd been to a good place nearby we couldn't resist. We had been advised not to go unless a Chinese student came with us as a chaperone - we even got phone calls on the way to the market reminding us not to go alone - so that we would be offered a fair price. The bold laowai's went forth, however, and bartered the socks off the traders (this may be more or less accurate, as by the time they'd thrown in bells, locks and ownership documents, we ended up paying the original asking price, about GBP20...) Oh, ownership documents, a little green 'Bike Passport' that no Chinese person has ever seen before/ is obliged to carry, but strangely costs 10RMB. Anyway, they're well cool, and we've already seen loads more of campus and wil probably use them to ride into the city tomorrow. Exclamation marks!!! Time to brush up on my Highway Code... Speaking of seeing more of campus, there's a mortuary in the Medical School, right in the heart of campus. This is, perhaps, of little interest, and the babies in jars or skeletons with veins in acid baths are, perhaps, a little repulsive, but the really interesting thing is that it's al outside, in little more than a garden shed. We stopped by on our new bikes - I'm thinking of starting a biker gang, Hell's Laowai - as apparently there was a corpse left out on the stands of the football stadium, the stands being above the mortuary sheds, but it had gone. The power tools, forceps and hacksaw on a plywood examination table had not gone though. If for some reason I go missing/ am kidnapped this year, please search the football field first. At last! A place to sit and eat! Why did we go and look? Well, it was (sort of - not really) on our way to the teachers' former apartments which we were raiding for furniture. What a dive they were. The apartments are nice and much larger than ours, and the views from the roof are stunning, but they've been abandoned since everyone was moved to our new building. We chavved a dining table, four chairs, a coat stand and bedside table (which is actually next to the sofa now) for our apartment, and some old chairs and desks for the common area we've created at the end of the hall. I think there'll be many an evening of mahjong, cards and Scrabble - we played last night and I beat Anna! - in the winter so that area will be nice. Going somewhere new for dinner this evening, and then back to Be There Or Be Square to meet some other foreign teachers from CouchSurfing and that we met at the Karaoke (KTV) place last week. Hope all's well, and that you're super-proud of our acquisitions today :) xx Evening/ afternoon all, depending on where you are.
Had a lie-in today, didn't emerge from the flat until 2pm so that sort of wrote off the Plant market. I still feel a bit jet-lagged and don't feel like sleeping until two in the morning, which is an odd time to go to bed in any timezone. This'll have to stop by Friday if I have to teach classes at 8am. Fortunately, we've got some Nescafe in - it comes premixed as coffee, milk and two sugars, all in one sachet, how lucky is that? - and there's hot water in the office so I can get a fix before having to coax the students into speaking each day. Still no internet in the flat, I think the rumours yesterday were just that, rumours. Apparently it'll be ready in a few days... manana, manana... That would, however, be bang in the middle of this week's holiday (Tues-Thurs), so can't be true. It could be done Friday, or the following Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, but then there's the next holiday Thursday to the following Friday. Welcome to China - the other mantra to Chinese finishing. Where the Information Super Highway is so far failing us, snailmail might be possible if you want to write letters/cards/haiku. Huanghe S&T College International Studies School Third Southern Circle and Huazhai Road Zhengzhou Henan Province CHINA Apparently you then put my name at the bottom. And you can write in English. And it will get here. Apparently. Doubtless it'll take forever, so best get those Christmas cards off early, eh? This afternoon, or what was left of it, we went to Century Mart shopping centre. It's a 15 minute tuktuk ride (think tricycle moped with a dog kennel on the back, and you sit in the dog kennel trying not to fally out the open sides while the driver swerves erratically through oncoming traffic, calm as you like, not looking left or right, or anywhere in particular.) Century sells utter tat alongside top dollar cosmetics - L'Oreal, genuine et al. - and has a food hall too. Got Galaxy chocolate, vegetables, squeezy mop. Didn't get live fish, live turtles, noodles - cannot find them anywhere other than on your plate in a restaurant. Who would have thought. Tuktuk on the way back got stuck in a pothole puddle, stalled three or four times; we freed ourselves from near-certain death and collision with an equally manically driven lorry coming the other way by rocking back and forth. Dirver was no help, calm as you like. I might buy a moped and take my death in a road traffic accident into my own hands. Had lunch in Chinese version of KFC, called Dicos. It was delicious, which means I'll be ill. Question for you: If MacDonalds has Big Mac, what do you think Dicos has? I'll leave you with that |
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