It is China, after all...

Well, yesterday was my last Wednesday-masquerading-as-a-Friday as the first years are back next week and so I'll have a class on Thursday as well.

Anyway, it was quite an interesting Wednesday, as it happens. I managed finally to get hold of a library card for the campus library and found that they actually have quite a lot of novels written in English and also various textbooks in English. I decided (foolishly!) to try and borrow a book. All was fine, I even managed to find the man to scan the barcode in the book so I could borrow and was able to ask him when it was due back. However, as I tried to exit the library I set off the alarms on the doors and had to return to the main desk (yet another 'stupid-foreigner-who-has-no-idea-what-she's-doing' moment). As a crowd began to gather, they finally realised that all that was needed was to swipe the book along the magnetic thingy so that it wouldn't set off the alarm! Yippee. It's often less than straightforward here...

Then mid-afternoon I got a phone call from our contact in the Foreign Affairs Office asking me if I could come straightaway and appear in a promotional film for the university. Obviously, I had had no prior warning. I had no good reason to refuse, so I off I went, with Jared in tow. Turns out that they are trying to get some funding or some involvement from the European Commission for some programme, and the deadline for submissions is looming. As it was a nice day (yep, the sun has reappeared in Kunming) the pressure was on to shoot some footage of the university, which included the new foreign teachers. Oh well, we managed to get it done fairly painlessly and provided some entertainment for the nearby gardeners! Don't know what the European Commission will think of it, though.

I went to an English speaking competition last night (second night in a row), as one of my students was speaking. I'm glad I wasn't judging, as these things do seem to go on for a while. On the first night the students have to do a prepared speech on a common topic. The second night they have to do an improvised speech (they get the topic 10 minutes beforehand) and they each have a different topic. They then have to answer a question on their prepared speech from the night before. Not easy - hats off to the students who get up there and have a go.

I've been invited back to Pingxiang (where I spent a couple of months last year) for the October week holiday. So I cycled into town today to attempt to purchase a ticket for the train. Even on a fast train it takes 25 hours, but it's all I can really afford. You can only buy tickets 10 days in advance and I had no luck today for 30th September (except for train which takes an epic 38 hours! No thanks.) I'll keep trying - it would be really nice to see the people I met there last year.

I know I have talked about cycling in China before, but I have a couple of things to add. One is that apart from the big junctions, cycling is actually not too dangerous. Most roads have a separate lane for bikes, scooters and sometimes people. It's normally ok if you can cope with people on mopeds beeping their horns to tell you they are behind you. It's only when you get to junctions that it's a bit of a free-for-all and basically, if it's bigger than you, you give way! There are many bicycle parks in town. You leave your bike and, for a small fee, someone keeps an eye on it for you. They even have one at Carrefour.

Well, that's all for now. Don't forget to add your comments, even if it's just a cheery 'hello!'

'The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.' Arthur Miller