Well it was Christmas! I am used to having Christmases alone as for the past few years I have been working and my family have take the opportunity to go to Germany without me! So, I was expecting a sleepy day in front of the telly watching some rubbish or other. How wrong I was!
I suppose it was ten o'clock and I was sitting unshaved unwashed on the sofa wondering what not to do, when I got a text from Taylor. Taylor was the young woman who took me and her friend swimming in the Taoping river last summer. She is heavily pregnant now. She had heard that I had had my appendix out and that it was Christmas and that I'd be alone. She had a plan! She would be over in the afternoon, what did I want to eat. Taylor lives in Tongren, and despite it only being an hour away by bus/car, it is a whole new world! They have things there! What did I want to eat? Yikes! Cheese. I have not eaten Cheese of any sort for seven months. "Cheese sandwich please, with ham and lettuce!". I said it almost as a joke, but she said "Yes, anything else?". I left the remainder of the choice to her. Time to get washed and shaved...the afternoon would start soon! Just as I got up I got another text. Restaurant boss lady. She is having financial difficulties with her restaurant, but she took the time to call me. She said she was back from her travels. She too had heard that I was ill and that it was Christmas and asked if it was convenient to visit. I told her I was expecting guests shortly and perhaps it wold be better another day. "Ok" she said. I got washed and shaved. An hour later I got another text. " I am outside now. What floor are you on?". It was restaurant boss lady, who in true Chinese style, was giving me a surprise visit with one of her 'sisters'. I have no idea if the other woman was her sister as every here woman calls every other woman 'sister'. Anyhow, I told them where I was and they eventually arrived. It was lovely to see them. It was also a very strange experience. Restaurant boss lady can only speak dialect. Her friend can speak dialect and Mandarin. I can usually understand most dialect, depending on accent. So it was a mixture of me listening to Restaurant boss answering in Mandarin, her 'sister' then translated it to dialect and she answered via we chat translate. Quite surreal. The had a good root around in my flat, most people do as it is quite a nice flat and people are also curious. After an hour or so they decided to go home as they knew that I had other friends coming. I was so busy with all the translating that I forgot to take photos!
As they left I got another text. Sherrie and Star would be calling in the evening. They offered to pick up a parcel for me. Wonderful friends!
A short break then Taylor arrived with her friend Rong.
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| Taylor left and Rong. Egg tarts in the box on the right! |
They brought me my cheese and ham and lettuce sandwich and a whole host of other cheese based goodies.
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| Cheese bread |
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| Empty Christmas trifle box top, and empty Cheese and ham and Lettuce box beneath. There are no 'before' pictures! |
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Taylor and Rong only stayed half an hour. They made a one hour journey each way. Taylor invited me to her house in Tongren to stay with her and her husband at New Year. Excellent!
After a short break Sherrie and Star called me. They said that they were on their way and asked me what I wanted to eat. Easy choice. Wallace chicken wrap and fries. They soon arrived, with my food, my parcel and with Christmas presents! I got socks and a scarf. Just what I needed. We watched Mr. Bean and chatted. They are excellent company and good friends.
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| Star's calligraphy |
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| My 'Louis Viton' scarf ans socks. Perfect! |
All in all a lovely Christmas Day! They even brought me a bag of bread for my breakfast the following day!
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| My bag of breakfast bread |
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| My bag of breakfast bread |
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