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.
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