AUTUMN

On returning to Baoding I decide to relax and ease myself into things as there is a little time before we start teaching. Sadly this is not altogether possible: there are many things wrong, no internet access in the apartments, and various administrative issues to deal with means that the new term is looking both uncertain and difficult. This of course is the wrong place to go into such things, but a cloud of gloom slowly descends over me as I begin to feel even lonelier than I did the first time I came. I miss Sarah more than ever and feel the pull of home very powerfully. I hope this will pass, as I cannot bear the thought of a year feeling like this. I get in touch with the various friends I made last year, but seem to meet with a lukewarm response: requests to meet up tend to be greeted with friendly, but firm assertions of limited availability owing to other commitments like family, home and work, at least from the Chinese, whilst my Western associates all seem to be ill!

I develop a routine of sitting in the huts near the campus for lunch and dinner, and going to the restaurants/shacks I am familiar with so I begin to exist on a diet of noodles and local hot-pot, not exactly the healthiest way to eat. My fridge freezer needs defrosting so I decide to run it down first: it contains some chicken, seafood and frozen milk, so I buy some vegetables and make a few dishes at home, like seafood paella, chicken curry, salad and simple Chinese dishes like noodles and egg, egg fried rice, omelettes and pancakes. I do have a little Marmite left so can make toast for breakfast. I also manage battered  calamari and a prawn curry with the spices Sarah sent.

I see my friends Seven and Christine for dinner after they get back from their holidays, about a week after I arrive. The internet problem drags on and I have to go into the University with my laptop PC to gain access. But not being able to speak to Sarah and my family on Skype is intolerable. I pester all and sundry about this, and of course I am not on my own. Among threats to leave for the UK and a raft of emails sent by various people the web access is finally restored something like three weeks after I arrive. By this time I have become somewhat desperate and what makes it worse is a series of assurances that it's been restored when it hasn't!

It is almost a relief when I start teaching again, the students are very pleasant and the planning/teaching is fairly straightforward. I teach some reading/writing/speaking/listening and create some lively and engaging lessons: at least they seem that way! We do need some new equipment so I ask some of my previous students from the last year to help me get some quotes. Additionally, I price up some canvas stretchers for the paintings I want to try and make. Eventually I order four frames, which can be made up for a price which is so cheap I doubt I could save any money if I built them myself! It certainly is easier than trying to get tools etc and taking the time to make them! This helps to ease the depression which sits on the edge of my consciousness all the time.

Unfortunately however,  I develop laryngitis and am unable to speak for several days. This means I can't go out and I have to teach without using my voice, which is a novel experience. I have to use the projector, blackboard and chalk, and mime to communicate with the students! It works however and I learn a bit about how to maintain their attention without using my voice: it comes in useful. Gradually it comes back as I go on antibiotics and drink gallons of water, plus hot lemon with honey.

There are new members of staff arriving and it will take time to get to know them. I don't like to rush this process, it's a mistake to do so in my experience. I take to cycling everywhere wherever possible, although I do have to buy a number of items from the supermarket which means a bus trip: actually I make two trips , the second one in a taxi as I need some bulky items including a new inflatable mattress as mine has burst the seams inside. This makes it slowly morph from a comfortable mattress into a giant sausage which is useless to lie on. I also get some new pillow cases, bin liners, fresh milk and some toiletries which are hard to find locally.

I have some pot plants which Iris has been looking after for me, once I get these back I decide to visit a garden centre by cycle where I get some bigger pots and earth as they have become pot-bound and will start to die otherwise. So I have half an hour in the kitchen re-potting these plants.

Someone tells me about an export supermarket nearby so I go and explore it. It sells some marvellously rare Western items like BBQ and tex-mex sauces, pasta sauce, whole brown crab,olive oil and Western-style baked beans! I buy a few items and treat myself to a dish of home-dressed crab and salad, plus beans on toast, making a mental note to stock upon other essentials! It's a bit expensive for China, but as it's imported food I am not surprised. Some good wine though although you can easily pay over £100 for a bottle! But you can get Spanish wine for a tenner.

In an attempt to escape the lethargy and boredom of being around the campus all the time I cycle out to Route 66, the American diner to the north-west of the campus, where I can eat some Western-style food. It's owned and run by a Chinese guy called Andrew Zhang who has spent some time in America and does good salads, ribs and wings, also some decent pizza and draught beer so I can relax a bit and enjoy the food. One evening I go out and come across a group of expat teachers who I am introduced to and have a good time talking to. I have a game of pool and afterwards develop an occasional routine of socialising there. I do find this a little difficult at times though: the more time you spend by yourself, the more difficult it is to be a social creature! I need an easy social routine and am sure it will come to pass eventually, but I gradually realise I will have to build this all over again from the beginning, which will take months and is hard work.