And now, the end is near...

The proverbial curtain is hoving into view, but it's just one of those ones made of strands of beads, and on the other side... Well, don't want to stretch the metaphor too far.

So, anyway, it's a strange time. Lots of goodbyes, but at the same time lots of excitement about going home, seeing friends, family and in particular my niece (for the first time).

I finally gave my last exam yesterday, only a week and a half after all the other teachers! Not bitter at all. It was the British Literature exam and they did pretty well - I was pleased with them and their analysis of the texts. That class were my saviours. In a school where many students are apathetic towards learning English (to say the least!) their enthusiasm and aptitude were so refreshing. I also enjoyed teaching literature and remembering things about texts I studied over ten years ago.

Last night at an Italian restaurant in Kunming, my friend Rachelle and I were waiting to order. One of the owners brought a plate of fruit and cream to the table. Now, this has happened a few times before with random food and most times I've said 'this isn't mine' or 'I didn't order this', but then often it's just some free food they want to give us. So this time I didn't say anything, though I was a bit wary about digging in. Rachelle didn't hesitate and had a couple of forkfuls. Then suddenly, a waitress came up to our table, picked up the plate, said 'sorry' and walked off with it.... to another table! Yes, I'm afraid some poor customers got the plate and the fork that Rachelle had eaten off... haha.

And so next week I say farewell to Kunming and a little while later 再见 to China.

More Chinese generosity

Last weekend I finally made it to the hometown of one of my students in order to taste the famous Yi Liang duck. And well worth the trip it was too...

So, the story goes that someone from Yi Liang travelled to Beijing (can't remember why!) and took some food for the journey, namely duck. The people of Beijing liked the duck so much, that they decided to cook their own version of it, which became the famous 'Peking Duck'. Don't know if this is true, but it's a good story...

We set off late Sunday morning - myself and three students. We had a 40 minute bus ride and then were picked up by Yoyo's father and driven out into the countryside. It was nice to feel the fresher air and smell the greeness. Kunming is less polluted than some cities in China, but you still notice the difference when you go to the countryside.

Yoyo's father took us to a restaurant in a village. There was a kind of square in the middle of the village and around it were small structures used for cooking the ducks, plus lots of ducks, plucked and hanging on racks. The restaurant itself was a bit dirty, especially the floor - debris from various meals scattered around the tables - but the food was delicious! The ducks came with two different accompaniments: there was the traditional Peking plum sauce, or the local salt/pepper mix to dip it in. Sooooo good!

We each left the restaurant with a full cooked duck (complete with head and beak) to take home.

After lunch we took a short drive up a red-earth track to a small lake. There were lots of people enjoying the warm Sunday sunshine - fishing, playing cards and just generally chilling out.

Back at the bus station we met Yoyo's mother, who gave us drinks for the journey home.

We arrived back in Kunming at about 5pm, a little tired, but full of delicious duck (well, I was, anyway. My friend, Thao, was hungry again, but that's what she's like!!)

Yet another example of extreme kindness and generosity from Chinese people. Something I will definitely miss when I go home...