GILGAMESH

I apologise for the lack of photos in this post: owing to the circumstances I kept forgetting to take my camera out!

 I've planned to take some of my students out to say goodbye, and have suggested Route 66 as they seem to like it and there's a good choice of dishes. However events get in the way of this. I spend the week working on my assessments, and I don't have much spare time: this is the biggest week of the year for us.

I'm working in my classroom at around 4pm on Wednesday and I suddenly notice the sky is turning dark, clouds are gathering and in the distance the sky looks yellow, a sure sign of rain. A colleague drops by and suggests I leave soon as rain is on its way, but I don't worry too much and decide to finish my assessment for that day as there isn't much to do, so I carry on for another half hour or so. By then it's too late, I can hear thunder and it's raining heavily. I'm still not worried as these things tend to pass so I carry on and stop at round 5. By now the rain has become absolutely torrential: I've only ever seen rain like this once in England in 2010 when I got caught in a flash flood. The sky is black as coal, it's like night and lightning flashes across the sky, like camera flashes. The rain hammers on the roof and I decide to try and wait it out.

Downstairs in the office I see Iris who says this is forecast for 3 days! Visions of the flood legend flash through my mind: last year there was a flood that was so bad it trapped people in their flats for days and I become uncomfortably aware that I've almost run out of food. Iris suggests we wait it out but I'm becoming more and more convinced that the storm isn't going to pass any time soon. The rain continues to howl down and a colleague says “the longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to get home.” Realising that by now I can't avoid getting soaked anyway I decide to make a run for it. I get an empty portfolio from my room to hold over my head and keep the rain off, leaving my bag in the office. Iris is thinking about getting a taxi back. Worse still, there is a blocked sewer nearby which for days has been spilling water filled with sewage onto the street, which will now be mingled with the flood waters. I'm again reminded of the flood in the book of Genesis, where the heavens open and all the water inside the earth erupts out of springs and geysers.

I've brought my bike but decide to leave it behind and make a dash for it: so, portfolio over my head I walk out of the campus onto North Street, which is the main campus road. Here I'm greeted by a sight that is absolutely biblical: the road is a torrent, people are wading, riding bikes sluggishly or driving through the water, or sheltering in the shacks: it's several inches deep and the smell is indescribable: something like manure and rotting fish. I wade through the water which is half-way up to my knees by now, all the time thinking about getting Weil's disease or being electrocuted by wires falling into the water, which I've heard about happening before. The Chinese are wading or cycling nonchalantly through the flood as if they've seen it all before. The shacks have all shut down.

I manage to reach my flat and have a hot shower. Looking out of the windows I can see the lightning criss-crossing the sky and occasional bolts connecting to the earth. Some of the thunderclaps are so loud I fear the building has been struck! I do wonder how safe I am in a high-rise and am glad I'm not on the top floor! Iris and James let me scrounge a few eggs as I'm concerned about lack of food, so I can cook myself some seafood rice. However I realise I don't have any water stored in the flat, so I realise I'll have to venture out again and brave the elements!

I decide to fetch my bike as it can help keep my feet out of the water. The storm is still raging, I'm just wearing shorts, trainers, a T-shirt and raincoat. Iris appears outside with an umbrella, walking back through the flood to the flats: she begs me to go back inside but I'm. Probably foolishly under the circumstances, determined to get my bike back. So I wade back through the river which the rain has formed from the road and reach the school, someone is still in the office and has managed to find some plastic sacks to form a makeshift cape and galoshes to walk back in! I unlock my bike, and soaked to the skin again by now, I cycle out of the main gate of the campus to the main road to town which is not flooded and is safer. Taking the long route round I ride around the perimeter of Baoding University, where I encounter a traffic jam as if the whole population of the city has decided to take this road. I weave through the traffic feeling like Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day,and by the time I get near the shops I'm in deep water again. I manage to buy a bottle of water some bread and beer, actually I'm surprised to find the shops are not too busy, I thought they might be full of panic shoppers. Incredibly, just outside the shops on my way back I see two colleagues of mine who have walked out to watch the rain: one has a camera wrapped in a plastic bag!

I make it home again and realising I have no option I cook myself a huge quantity of egg rice with prawns and vegetables: the preparation takes about 45 minutes however so it takes me over an hour to make this dish. I store most of it in the fridge as I want to have something I can use for the next few days. It does last me 3 days and I freeze the rest.

The next day some of the water has drained away and I need to go into the school and carry on with my assessment, however I sleep over and don't make it in till 10, then I also have to visit the shops for some basic vegetables. There isn't much to choose from, I guess many people have been buying food in case they become stranded, and of course no new supplies have got through. The rain is forecast again today so I go as soon as I can and get some potatoes, onions, peppers, eggs and flour. I have lunch at about 1pm in my flat, cycling through the rain again, and finish up at 5, with half a class still to mark, but I do have one more day left to do it so I'm ahead of the game.

I have changed the venue of my students' farewell to a local restaurant, as the area has become flooded again. I advise them not to travel unless they feel it's safe and offer to cancel, but surprisingly they still want to go ahead although a few do drop out. I'm convinced it won't happen: however it goes ahead as planned, in fact I get a message from them while I'm still in the campus: there are about 8 students this time, and we have a pleasant, if rather low-key evening, I sometimes feel they are more self-conscious than my last cohort.

We leave at around 8.30 as they are all tired: two more don't make it owing to late exams, and I hear from them as they come out of the school. I take them to a small restaurant nearby and sit with them while they eat some noodle dishes, as I feel rather sorry for them not having eaten. We chat and laugh a bit, until around 10 o'clock, when we all go home. The next morning the waters have drained away again and there's no rain, however the shack dwellers are now beginning to repair the flood damage and recover what supplies they can. I rise early and complete my assessment in the morning, before taking one of my students, who has been my assistant all year with train tickets, translations, travel arrangements etc., to lunch as a thank you and goodbye, as she missed my evening the day before. The sun shines and the water slowly recedes.

BAODING LIFE 7

Reflecting on May, it was such a roller-coaster and I feel I packed so much in that it seems an age! Starting with my visit to Seven's home town, followed by my 53^rd birthday, a raft of other birthday parties, 2 visits to Beijing, my memory lane visit to the Summer Palace and some lively evenings out with friends, this has been an exciting month. Things are much quieter afterwards and I settle into a routine of teaching, cooking and relaxing in the shacks near the campus. It's blisteringly hot so I tend to sit in the shade with a cold beer: I also make more of my own food, burgers, curry and chilli, as I really find that I prefer not to eat out unless it's a particularly good restaurant.  

 The convenience of eating cheap food in the shacks has largely worn off as most of the food is so poor, and of the few places I do like to visit, many are being closed down! However I do sometimes visit the new barbecue shack that has opened recently selling the crayfish similar to those I had in Beijing, usually with some students.

 Also as an experiment I buy a whole crab in the export supermarket and dress it myself, then take it out with some salad on a paper plate with a plastic knife and fork, and eat it outside in the shacks with a beer! It makes for an enjoyable compromise as I'm not keen on eating at home by myself, so I think I'll do this more often!

There is a feeling of saying goodbye as I begin to contemplate returning to England next month. In many ways this has been one of the most successful things I have ever done: making new friends, teaching, travelling and learning. I feel much better about myself than I did before leaving England.

The shacks are disappearing, being replaced by huge concrete blocks in which small cafes are being set up. This is rather a shame as there is a certain character about the shacks that I like and I find this development disappointing. Jack's place has closed down due to expansion of the foreign language school next to the University, and the area seems to be losing its community spirit. The colleagues I used to chat with in the shacks have all gone now, some back to the UK and others to different countries, one or two to other parts of China, one to Vietnam.  

I take Seven and Christine to a Japanese restaurant which I visited for a colleague's birthday, and we have a lovely meal as we discuss family life, life in the UK and exchange travel stories. I also invite them to dinner at my apartment where I make a vegetarian green curry which they seem to enjoy: at least they polish it all off so I imagine they do!  

We also have hot sake!

At the university it's countdown to assessment for this year, and I'm working the students hard to get them prepared. They are responding well to this and there is a buzz around the 6^th floor where I'm teaching. I feel quite proud of them.

At the weekend I will visit Beijing for the last time before I leave for the UK in July. I feel a mixture of sadness and fear contemplating the future with political uncertainty, family health matters, fear of terrorism and unemployment being just a few of the things I will have to deal with in the near future. I prefer to think about being with Sarah again and planning a summer of pleasant, relaxing and simple English holidays.

I also have to plan a round of farewell parties: there are too many people to see, too many different timetables and lifestyles to do it all at once. Again, this brings on a sad feeling of saying goodbye for the last time.