It is Thursday and I am trying to train myself to take a midday nap like all the Chinese do here because it is so hot. It is difficult, but I am managing it. Anyway, I woke up checked WeChat and noticed that one of the pupils I know had just been to the river swimming place that I was planning to go to. Normally I don't have pupils WeChat addresses, and I had forgotten that I had this one! This is the girl who filmed me singing in the park several months ago. We swapped WeChats so she could send me the film. Anyhow, the 'like' broke into a dialogue and she said she was going there today. In England safeguarding alarms should be sounding. In China there is not really such a thing. I thanked her for the offer but said I shouldn't really go and explained why. She said she understood, but she was going with a friend who was not at school and would that be ok. How could I resist. She told me to be at the bridge at 3:30pm and she and her friends would meet me. I got there at 3:30.
and waited in the shade. Just as I arrived, I got a message saying that things were going to be delayed and it might be better if I stayed at home a while. I said I was already there. "Can you ride a motorbike?" was the next question. I said I had been on many and ridden a few, but that I was not allowed to drive one in China. Shortly afterwards 'Poppy' as I called her turned up on the back of a small scooter, and after a small debate, I got on the back and was driven to the river swimming place.
So I eventually got there and the guy driving the bike ( I still don't know exactly who he was/is) took me down to river. He kind of pointed that I should go in. I got changed and went in to the river. It was lovely to be in the water but it was quite shallow! I went out about a fifty metres, but it was still shallow. Just deep enough to swim in parts, but nobody was swimming! I don't think many people could swim properly! I splashed around for a while and then went to get my phone to take a few photos.
I put the phone away and went back into the river. Poppy had come in to paddle. I chatted a while and then noticed that the wind was picking up and there was a thunderstorm approaching. I got out and just as I had finished dressing it arrived, with rain like I've never seen! Big rain blowing in from alternate directions at about thirty miles an hour! I pulled out my poncho, which I had brought to shade me from the sun! The bike driver grabbed my bag and ran off to he covered bridge. I followed and the rain increased. Visibility was about twenty five feet! We moved up to the higher level of the bridge which had sort of wooden walls and shutters, but the wind came in so strong that it blew the shutters open and and even when they were forced closed, the rain poured through the holes in them!
 |
| My first Chinese rainbow! |
Eventually the rain subsided, and we made our way to the road through the criss-cross maze of cars all trying to get out and home at the same time. Poppy asked me if I wanted to see the lotus flowers. I said 'Yes'. We crossed the road and off we went!
 |
| If you are not familiar with China, then the face-mask that the guy in this picture is wearing is quite commonplace. |
After walking some four hundred metres, a car stopped and we got in. It was Poppy's friend. We drove a little way and stopped. It was several huge fields filled with lotus flowers! There was a little stall at the side of the field and the others talked a bit of Chines to the people who were there. We then went off for a walk into the fields.
We splashed each other with water and ate a few lotus seeds. Back at the little stall Poppy peeled a few more lotus seeds and we ate them. She eventually bought some lotus heads in order to eat the seeds.
 |
| The lotus heads in the background the 'acron-like' seed in the foreground. The seeds are popped out of the heads and then the outer skin is peeled off them prior to eating. |
 |
| Poppy choosing the best lotus heads |
 |
| Poppy pushing out what appeared to be the sprouting leaves from the head of the Lotus seeds. You take a lotus 'seed' hold it tight and push a small piece of wire into the centre bottom of the 'seed' |
Then back into the car and back to Jiangkou. On the way back via WeChat Poppy asked me what I wanted to eat. I said chicken and when we got to Jiangkou we had a chicken meal. Now a chicken meal here means all the chicken; feet, beak and head...everything. With it we had rice and roasted chick peas.
 |
| Roasted Chick peas with the halved lotus head. The 'peel' from the lotus seed in the background at the top of the picture. |
 |
| The chicken meal, complete with chicken's head and coxcomb in the front left-hand side of the bowl. |
It was nice. eventually it was time to go. They offered to take me home in the car, but I needed to walk. I wandered off to the park, watched a few things and headed home, stopping to pick up a bottle of drink on the way. What an adventure! The only slight 'niggle' to the day, and this applies to most outings is that everyone decides that I cant speak Chinese and decides to communicate with me via WeChat which has built in translation software. Sometimes I even hear them saying in Chinese "Oh he cant speak Chinese!"...and no amount of telling them I can will convince them otherwise. After the " He can't speak Chinese" phrase happens no one listens to my attempts, and no amount of telling them to talk slowly will make them talk slowly, they just send me messages on WeChat. Strangely, the only exception to the rule is children. They listen and try to understand and we make basic conversation....maybe it's because they have no mobile phones!
Comments
Post a Comment