Knobcottage in China

Yesterday, the today of this writing, I had a lazy day (again).  I got up late and made my own breakfast, then decided to go to town to eat.  I then went for a wander because it is Spring Break, everyone is somewhere else, and with no school it gets a bit lonely...even I need to meet people occasionally!  No sooner had I started to walk around then Wan Yi rang me.  I am not sure why because we don't understand each other!  However, I asked him where he was and he told me he was at the library and invited me over.  Why not!?  He, and a few friends erdoing some calligraphy on what looked like red new year banners.  Wan Yi Previously completed banners and the calligraphy teacher Previously completed banners, and left to right: One of Wan Yi's friends and the calligraphy teacher. This time I wasn't asked to participate, not a surprise really as this looked fairly official, however he managed to harass a passing child into making me s...

Today was an interesting day, and in true Chinese style, I never knew what was going on until I got 'there'.  'There' ,was the Shangyue Community Building (or at least that's what I think it was!).  After my strange meeting with Wan Yi the other day, see previous blog post, where I sat with the vice-president sign of the new Outdoor Mountaineering Association, I am not sure exactly what my role is in this club! However, yesterday, I got an invitation to a meal and a meeting at 10.30 at the above building.  Again I asked a friend where it was, and as I was in the general area, I checked it out so I could be sure where to find it the next day. The night before I went to bed early and this morning,  the day of the event, I got up late, taking time to enjoy my new mattress!  When I woke up there was a message from Betty.  Betty is a woman who lives in my apartment block, her husband, who I don't think I have ever met, is a teacher at my school.  The mess...

After the trip to Yanxi,I stayed in bed late and caught up with work in my apartment.  I ordered in some food and the driver brought it to my door.  Just before he arrived I got a phone call.  I think it was the courier.  He was slightly late and it seems couldn't find out exactly where I was.  There was a knock at my door and there he was with three little girls who knew where the foreigner lived!  They smiled at me.  I recognised one of them.  She was a little girl who had bought me some Chinese sweet dish in the park when I first came her.  She is a relation of the head of English who lives on the floor above.  The courier went, I said goodbye and closed the door.   I heard a little discussion outside and then a knock on the.  The three little girls wanted a chat.  I told them that I would love to chat but I was having my food.  I finished eating and there was another knock on my door.  They were back....

Well, SInce I got Taobao ( the Chinese equivalent of Amazon) working, life has not wquite been the same.  I can now buy a few necessary and a few 'luxury' items.  By far the most interesting has been a set of Nordic walkng sticks.  Now as we al know, hardly anyone in Dorchester does Nordic walking.  In Jiangkou, no one does it....except me!  However, whilst no one lese does it, the park is full of weirdos doing allsorts of weird stuff.  each of them totally accepted by everyone else, even the ****** who started doing one arm pressups in teh middle of teh sequence dancing.  No one cares.  Care in the community in the park.  So one day I was out walking when I bumped into Wan Yi,  This Wan Yi:   everyone seems to know him and he runs all sortsof exercise classes in Jiangku including and early morning class in the park.  To cut a long story short, he had a go of the stick.  In this case enthusiasm got the better of t...

Ever since I have been in China, I have been dancing with Dama (middle -women), except in Jiangkou the park dancing usually includes men and women and an age range from maybe twenty to 60.  At the end of the evening, all the big groups pack away and a small group starts shuffle dancing.  I'm not sure quite what it is called in Chinese, but it looks really good, is really fast, and not easy to do!  Tonight I was watching and up pops Wan Yi.  He is a friend that Parklady introduced me to one evening when she took me out singing.  He is a small intense guy and unusually for Chinese men or women in this area he is built like an ox!  I guess he must be around my age, but probably fitter than I was when I was 30! Wan Yi and me. I didn't see Wan Yi, but he had spotted me. He has asked me to the park many times, but I have never been able to go as he goes early in the morning and I am at work.  First thing I knew was that this had grabbed my wrist. ...