We had "cross-the-bridge noodles" for lunch yesterday with a teacher friend of ours who is helping us to find a suitable tutor for JD. JD starts a new term next week and Jiajia and I are aware that we won't always be able to pick him up from school (because of our work commitments) or help him complete his homework (because of language/patience issues!). So, if we can employ someone to help, it will relieve the pressure on us and give JD some stability in his after-school care. "Cross-the-bridge noodles" is Yunnan's most famous dish. A scalding hot chicken broth is delivered to your table along with raw ingredients such as quails' eggs, thinly sliced meat and diced mushrooms or vegetables. These are poured into the broth which quickly cooks them. The noodles are then added and it's time to tuck in! It can be a cheap lunch option, but we took our friend to the most famous noodle restaurant in Kunming for some quality eats!
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My examining week in Lanzhou is finished and I boarded the plane to Kunming last night, tired but generally pleased with my work. Favourite examinee errors: "I want to travel to broaden my horizontals." "I own a small horse now but I'd like to get a big horse when I get older so that my grandparents can live in it with me." [...house!] I flew to Lanzhou in Gansu Province yesterday (a 2½ hour flight) for a busy week of work IELTS examining with the British Council. The last time I was in Gansu was 25 years ago!!
Armed with just a photo [above left] and boxes of Lego, JD and I had a crack at building a Lego Star Wars AT-AT Walker [above right]. No mean feat to include a dozen bending, swivelling and rotating "functions" whilst keeping it looking something like the original!
And yet, the local government are still sending out their road sprayers!
One of the most frustrating things about life in China - perhaps THE most frustrating thing - is the constant blocking of large parts of of the Internet by the powers that be. Useful sites like Google, Facebook, blogs, YouTube and the BBC are only accessible by using special software. And occasionally, even that software is blocked for a few days because of some "meeting in Beijing" or a "sensitive anniversary" or something, I'm back in today after three annoying days with little news, little personal contacts and no blog updates. Catching up now! Once I've dropped JD off at his thrice-weekly basketball class, I cross over the road and do my own exercise. LianHua Park has a roughly circular path around the central lake, signposted as being a convenient 500m long. So, ten steady laps means I can run 5km and still get back to catch the last half of JD's class. The route includes two small Chinese bridges, a gentle hill and a couple of little shops selling bottles of cold water, should I need to rehydrate. The only negative is having to dodge groups of Chinese folk dawdling along, oblivious to the elite athlete trying to dodge past them!
Today marks the 15th anniversary of my little blog, initially started on a Yahoo! platform (since discontinued) and since then on Weebly. With entries every couple of days, I reckon I've made some 2,700 blog posts over the years, documenting my time in China. The blog gets about 50-100 individual readers a day, most of whom are unknown to me! Do feel free to say "Hi" in my guestbook, on the tab above.
Our neighbourhood continues to be upgraded. Plants now cover the garage roof opposite JD's bedroom window and the concrete square outside our front door now has a pagoda on it.
JD continues to attend Basketball Club three times a week. He's lost a little weight and shows much improved ball skills. In fact, he got promoted from the beginners' class last week and now practices with boys 2-3 years older and 5-10cm taller than him!
Mummy and Daddy
Happy 9 years of marriage. Happy anniversary. Mummy - thanks for keeping me alive. Daddy - thanks for teaching me English. I love you two. |
AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
September 2024
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