Back on the Bike
The weather is finally starting to warm up so I got back on the bike again last week. The poor thing had a bit of a flat from disuse, but nothing my local street-repairer bike man could not fix quickly. I think I might have overdone it on my second day back on the bike though. That ride out to the new campus is longer than I remember, and the hill on the bridge much steeper! Anyway, I had a nice ride to the park with Betty the weekend before last, a few rides to the supermarket and local shops through the week, 2 rides out and back from the new campus, 1 ride to the beauty salon and a night ride to a St Pat’s Day party, from which I was incapable of riding back again so had to collect the bike 2 days later!
Anyway, 2 or 3 weeks ago we had another snowfall overnight. It was the third snowfall of the winter season and, I am sure this time, it was the last. It came at a bit of an inconvenient time as I had just, the day before, given my winter coat to my Uncle when he visited. (There is a story there, but I will tell it a bit later). But the weather warmed up again immediately after the snowfall, almost got positively hot 2 weekends ago, then cold again, but no snow, and now it is getting warm enough to only wear 3 layers!
Being back on local transport and my bike, I began to once again observe the local traffic chaos. It really is impossible to describe the chaos on the roads in cities like this. It is not so much the cars; more the bicycles, pedicabs, motorbikes, mopeds, electric bicycles, all manner of 3 or 4 wheeled small trailer-like vehicle piled high and helter skelter with all manner of goods, and, of course, pedestrians, all jockeying for position and failing to observe any road rules at all. Recently though, I have observed a stronger presence of traffic police on the roads at peak chaos hour. Of course, everyone just ignores the traffic police and continue to operate their vehicle without the slightest bit of consideration for anyone else on the road ….. or the footpath. The traffic police stand in the middle of the road ( I hope they get danger pay!) and ineffectually blow their whistle while people whiz around them and, sometimes, almost through them, just managing to swerve at the last moment. I watched one woman get off a bus and cross into the middle of the road. The policeman blew furiously on his whistle, but she kept crossing. She had to wait in the middle of the road for passing cars, which allowed the policeman time to walk up to her. He started berating her and blowing his whistle in her face; she just steadfastly looked ahead, ignored him apart from a cheeky smile, and continued to cross the road. What can you do?
So, it is now week 5 of my 4th term of teaching English in China, and this is the busiest teaching schedule I have had. I now teach 20 hours each week, and 24 hours every 2nd week. However, I am only contracted to work 18 hours, so anything over that I get paid over time. Given that this is my last term of teaching before heading back to Oz, I am taking the opportunity to earn a little more cash for the trip back in July. That many teaching hours in a week is quite tiring though, and certainly more than what I have been used to!
The number of foreign teachers in Huaian has remained about the same, despite the fact that Nick & Katie, Glen and Roger have all departed. There have been 4 new arrivals to take their place. I think I mentioned to you in my last email that they are all Americans, so now Irish Mark and I are well out-numbered. (Our little nations do like to compete after all – well, Australians like to compete, the Irish just like drinking; whereas we Australians can do both!)
Anyway, David, 57, divorced with 2 daughters, from Boston; and Mike, estimated to be in his mid-late 50’s, family status presently unknown, from South Carolina (or is it North?) have come to my school to take the place of Glen and Roger. Their gender and age difference has done nothing to improve my social situation here, so once again I have to throw my lot in with the young crowd. Jeff, 24 of Mexican descent, and Colleen, 26, a couple from California, have come to take the place of Nick and Katie. Whilst, so far, not appearing to be as party-oriented as Nick & Katie, and certainly unable to claim to be able to drink as much as them, they are very nice people and proved themselves to be worthy members of the “young’ns” at a recent St Patrick’s Day party. (More about that soon).
At the end of February, my uncle (Jeff) and his fiancé (now wife), Rose, came to visit me in Huaian. They stayed for 2 nights and we had a nice day on the Saturday, visiting Huaian’s only tourist destination, the Zhou Enlai memorial and former residence. Of course, not many foreign people know who Zhou Enlai is, so it is mostly a destination for Chinese tourists, but I have managed to visit it 3 times so far.
On their second, and last, night we went to a BBQ hot pot restaurant with Betty and her boyfriend, John. Whilst it was still cold outside, it was quite hot inside the restaurant with all the hot pots boiling away, so we all took off our coats and put them over the back of our seats. When we went to leave the restaurant, Jeff’s coat had disappeared. Now, how this happened, we are at a loss to know. He was sitting on his seat all night. Betty and I were facing him and we didn’t see anyone take it, or even any suspicious looking characters. It is a mystery. One of the ladies at the table next to us, on hearing that Jeff’s coat was missing, told us that she had seen a suspicious looking person near our table and one over by the stairs earlier in the evening, but didn’t actually see anyone take the coat.
We went down stairs to the front desk and reported the loss to the manager. Rather than say anything consoling to us about the theft of the coat, or offer to write a report or call the police, she instead assaulted us with a surly look and an even surlier attitude and informed us that “it was not her fault” and “we should have looked after our things better”. This attitude did not go down well with us, although I was not necessarily surprised. It seems that it is a common phenomenon in China to attempt to avoid responsibility at all costs and try to throw the blame on someone else. The prevailing attitude of “it’s not my fault” also translates into “it’s not my job”. Jeff said a few words in frustration to the manager, but my guess is she did not understand the content (given he was speaking in English), but I am sure she understood the meaning!
Anyway, Jeff thought he might like to claim his coat on insurance, in which case he needed to report it to the police. So, John called the police and told them that there was a foreign businessman in town and, on his first night in the city, his coat and belongings had been stolen. The police, who say they are very concerned for the welfare of foreigners in Huaian, said they would send someone to the restaurant straight away.
Sure enough, 10 minutes later the police arrived and, after a quick complaint about the attitude of the manager, the police walked into the restaurant and berated her in front of the staff and customers. They apparently told her she should speak more politely to foreigners and apologise. Interestingly, this did nothing to change her surly expression and, a bit like the pedestrian crossing the road, she completely ignored the policeman.
So, the policemen invited us to the police station across the road to make a report. It was quite an event to have foreigners at the police station. They constantly assured us that they (the police) and the city government were very concerned about our interests and welfare. However, they were unable to make an official report of the incident, because it is the foreign affairs department which is responsible for all things foreign, so the police had to report the matter to that department! By this time, there were 10 or so police officers or station staff crowded into the little room, surrounding us and listening avidly to what was going on. Jeff was describing his losses, through Rose as translator. It was beginning to remind me of the time in Zimbabwe when Dad and I were surrounded by police and guards except, fortunately, there was a distinct absence of guns this time.
Next, Jeff & Rose were asked to go into another room, to do what, I am not sure. While they were gone, Betty, John & I were asked to get in the police car. Immediately, memories of Zimbabwe resurfaced, and I asked “What for?”, but no-one could tell me. As it turned out, the police drove out of the drive-way, did a turn across the traffic and pulled up in front of the restaurant 10 metres up the road. We then went back into the restaurant where the police wanted to photograph the “crime scene”. By this time, there were only a few customers left in the restaurant, and the table we had been sitting at had been wiped clean, so I am not sure what they were photographing. After a few minutes and a few questions, we were back in the police car for the 10 metre drive back to the station. Betty was quite excited as this was her first time at a police station, let alone in a police car, so she wished I had my camera to take a photo! I told her that I am quite an old-hand at dealing with police after my Africa trip.
Back at the police station and Jeff & Rose had finished whatever it was they were doing in the other room. Just a few more questions and then it was time to go, but not before Jeff had to give his fingerprints. We were a bit mystified by this, and tried to explain that in our country it is the criminals, not the victims, who give the fingerprints.
Anyway, this explains why the next day, and the day before the last snowfall, I gave my winter coat to Jeff. He was lacking a coat and I thought I had seen the last of the bitterly cold weather, so thought this was a good way to get my big, bulky winter coat back to Australia. Of course, I was not to know that it would decide to turn cold and snow the next day!
Last Friday was St Patrick’s Day. Given that we have a genuine Irishmen living in Huaian, the day could not pass without a party. Mark had decorated is home with green balloons, leprechauns and Irish flags. Unfortunately though, there is no Guiness in Huaian, so we had to settle for the local beer, red wine, and baijiu (Chinese potent white spirit).
The party was quite small: just the gang of 5 (with Colleen & Jeff replacing Nick & Katie), Betty, 3 of my male students and a gaggle of girls that Irish Mark had picked up at the teacher’s college. American Mark accompanied the girls from the teacher’s college; however, they arrived early, didn’t drink, didn’t dance, holed themselves up in the back room and left early, taking American Mark with them. The rest of us had a good time though. My students bravely sampled each of the alcoholic beverages on offer, but had to leave by 10pm to get back before their curfew. The gang of 5 and Betty partied on for awhile, before Irish Mark’s neighbours started hanging their heads out of the window and yelling at him to turn the music down. Then, after midnight some time, the 6 of us headed off to the late night BBQ place to initiate Jeff & Colleen into the group. (You cannot be a fully fledged member until you have been to the late night BBQ after a party). We got a bit lost on the way with me telling the taxi driver to “take us to the animals”. I actually meant the zoo, as the BBQ place is next to the zoo, but instead of saying “dongwu yuan”, which means “animal park” or “zoo”, I just said “dongwu” which means “animals”. Bill, whose Chinese is better than mine, appeared incapable of clarifying the directions. Anyway, we eventually got there, ordered piles of BBQ lamb and beef as well as chilli snails, and a few more beers. Irish Mark was, by this time, well inebriated and spent the whole time sleeping with his head on the table. (Photos of the St Patrick’s day party are on my blog – www.megspartyphotos.blogspot.com).
Cheers
The weather is finally starting to warm up so I got back on the bike again last week. The poor thing had a bit of a flat from disuse, but nothing my local street-repairer bike man could not fix quickly. I think I might have overdone it on my second day back on the bike though. That ride out to the new campus is longer than I remember, and the hill on the bridge much steeper! Anyway, I had a nice ride to the park with Betty the weekend before last, a few rides to the supermarket and local shops through the week, 2 rides out and back from the new campus, 1 ride to the beauty salon and a night ride to a St Pat’s Day party, from which I was incapable of riding back again so had to collect the bike 2 days later!
Anyway, 2 or 3 weeks ago we had another snowfall overnight. It was the third snowfall of the winter season and, I am sure this time, it was the last. It came at a bit of an inconvenient time as I had just, the day before, given my winter coat to my Uncle when he visited. (There is a story there, but I will tell it a bit later). But the weather warmed up again immediately after the snowfall, almost got positively hot 2 weekends ago, then cold again, but no snow, and now it is getting warm enough to only wear 3 layers!
Being back on local transport and my bike, I began to once again observe the local traffic chaos. It really is impossible to describe the chaos on the roads in cities like this. It is not so much the cars; more the bicycles, pedicabs, motorbikes, mopeds, electric bicycles, all manner of 3 or 4 wheeled small trailer-like vehicle piled high and helter skelter with all manner of goods, and, of course, pedestrians, all jockeying for position and failing to observe any road rules at all. Recently though, I have observed a stronger presence of traffic police on the roads at peak chaos hour. Of course, everyone just ignores the traffic police and continue to operate their vehicle without the slightest bit of consideration for anyone else on the road ….. or the footpath. The traffic police stand in the middle of the road ( I hope they get danger pay!) and ineffectually blow their whistle while people whiz around them and, sometimes, almost through them, just managing to swerve at the last moment. I watched one woman get off a bus and cross into the middle of the road. The policeman blew furiously on his whistle, but she kept crossing. She had to wait in the middle of the road for passing cars, which allowed the policeman time to walk up to her. He started berating her and blowing his whistle in her face; she just steadfastly looked ahead, ignored him apart from a cheeky smile, and continued to cross the road. What can you do?
So, it is now week 5 of my 4th term of teaching English in China, and this is the busiest teaching schedule I have had. I now teach 20 hours each week, and 24 hours every 2nd week. However, I am only contracted to work 18 hours, so anything over that I get paid over time. Given that this is my last term of teaching before heading back to Oz, I am taking the opportunity to earn a little more cash for the trip back in July. That many teaching hours in a week is quite tiring though, and certainly more than what I have been used to!
The number of foreign teachers in Huaian has remained about the same, despite the fact that Nick & Katie, Glen and Roger have all departed. There have been 4 new arrivals to take their place. I think I mentioned to you in my last email that they are all Americans, so now Irish Mark and I are well out-numbered. (Our little nations do like to compete after all – well, Australians like to compete, the Irish just like drinking; whereas we Australians can do both!)
Anyway, David, 57, divorced with 2 daughters, from Boston; and Mike, estimated to be in his mid-late 50’s, family status presently unknown, from South Carolina (or is it North?) have come to my school to take the place of Glen and Roger. Their gender and age difference has done nothing to improve my social situation here, so once again I have to throw my lot in with the young crowd. Jeff, 24 of Mexican descent, and Colleen, 26, a couple from California, have come to take the place of Nick and Katie. Whilst, so far, not appearing to be as party-oriented as Nick & Katie, and certainly unable to claim to be able to drink as much as them, they are very nice people and proved themselves to be worthy members of the “young’ns” at a recent St Patrick’s Day party. (More about that soon).
At the end of February, my uncle (Jeff) and his fiancé (now wife), Rose, came to visit me in Huaian. They stayed for 2 nights and we had a nice day on the Saturday, visiting Huaian’s only tourist destination, the Zhou Enlai memorial and former residence. Of course, not many foreign people know who Zhou Enlai is, so it is mostly a destination for Chinese tourists, but I have managed to visit it 3 times so far.
On their second, and last, night we went to a BBQ hot pot restaurant with Betty and her boyfriend, John. Whilst it was still cold outside, it was quite hot inside the restaurant with all the hot pots boiling away, so we all took off our coats and put them over the back of our seats. When we went to leave the restaurant, Jeff’s coat had disappeared. Now, how this happened, we are at a loss to know. He was sitting on his seat all night. Betty and I were facing him and we didn’t see anyone take it, or even any suspicious looking characters. It is a mystery. One of the ladies at the table next to us, on hearing that Jeff’s coat was missing, told us that she had seen a suspicious looking person near our table and one over by the stairs earlier in the evening, but didn’t actually see anyone take the coat.
We went down stairs to the front desk and reported the loss to the manager. Rather than say anything consoling to us about the theft of the coat, or offer to write a report or call the police, she instead assaulted us with a surly look and an even surlier attitude and informed us that “it was not her fault” and “we should have looked after our things better”. This attitude did not go down well with us, although I was not necessarily surprised. It seems that it is a common phenomenon in China to attempt to avoid responsibility at all costs and try to throw the blame on someone else. The prevailing attitude of “it’s not my fault” also translates into “it’s not my job”. Jeff said a few words in frustration to the manager, but my guess is she did not understand the content (given he was speaking in English), but I am sure she understood the meaning!
Anyway, Jeff thought he might like to claim his coat on insurance, in which case he needed to report it to the police. So, John called the police and told them that there was a foreign businessman in town and, on his first night in the city, his coat and belongings had been stolen. The police, who say they are very concerned for the welfare of foreigners in Huaian, said they would send someone to the restaurant straight away.
Sure enough, 10 minutes later the police arrived and, after a quick complaint about the attitude of the manager, the police walked into the restaurant and berated her in front of the staff and customers. They apparently told her she should speak more politely to foreigners and apologise. Interestingly, this did nothing to change her surly expression and, a bit like the pedestrian crossing the road, she completely ignored the policeman.
So, the policemen invited us to the police station across the road to make a report. It was quite an event to have foreigners at the police station. They constantly assured us that they (the police) and the city government were very concerned about our interests and welfare. However, they were unable to make an official report of the incident, because it is the foreign affairs department which is responsible for all things foreign, so the police had to report the matter to that department! By this time, there were 10 or so police officers or station staff crowded into the little room, surrounding us and listening avidly to what was going on. Jeff was describing his losses, through Rose as translator. It was beginning to remind me of the time in Zimbabwe when Dad and I were surrounded by police and guards except, fortunately, there was a distinct absence of guns this time.
Next, Jeff & Rose were asked to go into another room, to do what, I am not sure. While they were gone, Betty, John & I were asked to get in the police car. Immediately, memories of Zimbabwe resurfaced, and I asked “What for?”, but no-one could tell me. As it turned out, the police drove out of the drive-way, did a turn across the traffic and pulled up in front of the restaurant 10 metres up the road. We then went back into the restaurant where the police wanted to photograph the “crime scene”. By this time, there were only a few customers left in the restaurant, and the table we had been sitting at had been wiped clean, so I am not sure what they were photographing. After a few minutes and a few questions, we were back in the police car for the 10 metre drive back to the station. Betty was quite excited as this was her first time at a police station, let alone in a police car, so she wished I had my camera to take a photo! I told her that I am quite an old-hand at dealing with police after my Africa trip.
Back at the police station and Jeff & Rose had finished whatever it was they were doing in the other room. Just a few more questions and then it was time to go, but not before Jeff had to give his fingerprints. We were a bit mystified by this, and tried to explain that in our country it is the criminals, not the victims, who give the fingerprints.
Anyway, this explains why the next day, and the day before the last snowfall, I gave my winter coat to Jeff. He was lacking a coat and I thought I had seen the last of the bitterly cold weather, so thought this was a good way to get my big, bulky winter coat back to Australia. Of course, I was not to know that it would decide to turn cold and snow the next day!
Last Friday was St Patrick’s Day. Given that we have a genuine Irishmen living in Huaian, the day could not pass without a party. Mark had decorated is home with green balloons, leprechauns and Irish flags. Unfortunately though, there is no Guiness in Huaian, so we had to settle for the local beer, red wine, and baijiu (Chinese potent white spirit).
The party was quite small: just the gang of 5 (with Colleen & Jeff replacing Nick & Katie), Betty, 3 of my male students and a gaggle of girls that Irish Mark had picked up at the teacher’s college. American Mark accompanied the girls from the teacher’s college; however, they arrived early, didn’t drink, didn’t dance, holed themselves up in the back room and left early, taking American Mark with them. The rest of us had a good time though. My students bravely sampled each of the alcoholic beverages on offer, but had to leave by 10pm to get back before their curfew. The gang of 5 and Betty partied on for awhile, before Irish Mark’s neighbours started hanging their heads out of the window and yelling at him to turn the music down. Then, after midnight some time, the 6 of us headed off to the late night BBQ place to initiate Jeff & Colleen into the group. (You cannot be a fully fledged member until you have been to the late night BBQ after a party). We got a bit lost on the way with me telling the taxi driver to “take us to the animals”. I actually meant the zoo, as the BBQ place is next to the zoo, but instead of saying “dongwu yuan”, which means “animal park” or “zoo”, I just said “dongwu” which means “animals”. Bill, whose Chinese is better than mine, appeared incapable of clarifying the directions. Anyway, we eventually got there, ordered piles of BBQ lamb and beef as well as chilli snails, and a few more beers. Irish Mark was, by this time, well inebriated and spent the whole time sleeping with his head on the table. (Photos of the St Patrick’s day party are on my blog – www.megspartyphotos.blogspot.com).
Cheers
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