Outward Bound

Later this morning, Tom and I will take the train from Zhengzhou to Beijing. For him it could be for the last time (although there has been much talk of returning to learn more Chinese etc.) and for me it will be the last time until July. Tom has been walking on air for about a week now and some how his excitement at going home has been infectious. I don't mean by this that I am also keen to leave now, it's just that the idea of him going back after his less than brilliant experience, seeing all his friends and family and getting to experience all of those things (mainly food) that we have talked of fondly in Buses, Trains and Bars makes me happy. I am clearly just a very empathetic person.

Anyway, it has been a while since my last post. I will not make the excuse that I have not had time, because I have had ample, but I will say that any spare time I have had has mainly been filled with looking at the best form of transport to continue my travels. I am now all sorted. I have my Australian visa (instantly received after sending them a small fee and filling out a form online, God Bless our special relationship!) and all of the tickets I need. I am not actually flying from Beijing to Sydney, but from Hong Kong. This is mainly because I have a friend there who I am keen to meet up with on my return and also because it's a little cheaper. I will fly to Shenzhen from Beijing on the day and get the bus/ferry to Hong Kong airport (about 15 miles away from Shenzhen airport). I am extremely relieved that everything is now sorted, as I have inherited a little of Mother's ability to fret.

My last week has been very cool. I basically bribed my Korean students to make sure that their lasting memory of me is a good one. I bought all 15 of them some Korean drinks from a foreign goods supermarket in the city and also bought my class a bag of Jelly Belly's which we spent an hour eating and guessing the flavours. In return they gave me a few little Korean snacks which they repeatedly told me were to share with my Mum when I was in Beijing. However my appetite being what it is, they did not make it past lunchtime. To each of my Chinese teachers, I gave two books, 'Three Men in a Boat' and 'To Kill a Mocking Bird', which may seem a little stingy but they were delighted. After my last class I took my Korean class mate, my teachers and my Korean headteacher out for Dinner at an all-you-can-eat restaurant (you can see why my belly is fighting a losing battle against flab).

On Saturday, I was persuaded by my boss to go out of the city in the morning to 'give a child an award'. In fact I was being sent to be the English speaking-cohost of an English speaking pageant in a small city about an hour away. It was all very bizarre, children from the ages of 6 giving memorised 2 minute speeches with clearly no understanding of what they were saying. They had rehearsed body language to appear more western but the repeated air punching grew tiresome. The children also performed a talent, either a speech in Chinese, a song in either Chinese or English or a dance. The small girls wearing too little and doing Tango or Bhangra was a little disturbing and reminiscent of American beauty pageants. It was an interesting end to my stint teaching.

I have forgotten to mention that the night before Tom, Wojciech and I had gone to a Xinjiang (the Western most province) restaurant in the city. My European compatriots were both a little worse for wear but I was saving myself for the early morning the next day. We ended up talking to some of the waiters, all from Xinjiang. I say some of the waiters, only two could speak Mandarin. They are completely un-Chinese in appearance, religion, language and feelings of national pride. They look like people from the 'Stans', they are Islamic, they speak Uyghur (a Turkic language) and therefore write in the Persian/Arabic style and feel that they are not really Chinese. It was all very interesting, and now I can say hello in Uyghur; Yachximensez.

Back to chronological harmony. Last night, for Tom's last meal in Zhengzhou we went for some Huoguo (hot pot) which was surprisingly good (unlike Tom, I'm not a massive fan of this kind of cuisine). After we went to sing some Karaoke which was a good laugh, especially after a few bottles of Tiger beer. I have just said good bye to Wojciech for the last time for a month and after taking Xiao Fu out for a walk I will go to the train station. Beijing, here we come!