“I can’t speak Chinese, so I let the Chinese person do the talking.....”

I’ve had such a busy week! It was the last few days of the summery weather so I was determined to enjoy all of it. On Friday, I went to Han Jien – Han Street, with all the western shops. There was a H&M, Gap, Pull and Bear, Bershka etc but what shocked me was the prices of these brands. For Chinese people they seem expensive, but they were cheaper than the cost you would pay in England! I am definitely going to be returning soon to get some bargain clothes! The place itself was really beautiful (and quiet!) and there was music playing in the street.

Han Street

Madam Tussauds!

Chinese version of the locks in London and Paris

Another mad thing I noticed was the Christmas lights were already up?! My Chinese friend told me that they just leave them up all year round. Well that’s it, when I come back home I’m leaving my tree up all year. My Chinese friend Janet is an expert on places to eat around Wuhan and so for lunch we went to this posh restaurant, which you enter from a lift! At one end of the restaurant is a wall of tanks with fish and seafood in, so you can pick your own fish if you like. We had some incredible food and there was the added bonus of western toilets!

Decisions, decisions.....

Hong Kong pineapple bread

Prawn dumplings and meatballs

Chicken chow mein!

On Friday evening and Saturday night, I went to do my volunteering at Mr Mai’s coffee house. Friday evening was intense because I had four women who just wanted a sneaky picture of me to show their sons – no, I do not want to marry your child, thankyou. Saturday was very interesting as a Chinese man dared to argue with me over how I speak. He said that I spoke Standard English (the same as the Queen) which is (sadly) not true. That evening, Mr and Mrs Mai invited me for dinner and we went to an international restaurant nearby, called JJ’s. It was such a good feeling to have western menu choices ALL IN ENGLISH! I ordered falafel wraps with chips and garlic mayo and it was the highlight of my day.

Mr Mai's from the outside

Their famous apple pie!

Sunday involved me lying on my bed and watching a whole series of an MTV show so we will quickly move on from this! I taught my new class on Monday evening and it went so much better than I expected. I only have 9 lessons with them and so I can just make the classes really fun and not worry about a syllabus. We played games and did some icebreakers, so it actually softened the blow of my ridiculously late finish.

On Tuesday, all my excitement over the Wuhan climate quickly disappeared. The rain started and it has only just stopped (Friday morning). The rain here brought the temperature right down and reduced me to wearing my waterproof coat every time I stepped outside. I really hate rain so I definitely got a taxi to my teaching building in the afternoon. I don’t actually know the Chinese name for where I teach so I had to use the only three words I know for directions – ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘straight’. The taxi driver thought I was a crazy but I arrived safe and most importantly, dry!

Embracing my British roots, I still went out on Tuesday evening to a night market near my apartment. It is technically a day market as well but the evening was nice and quiet. I ended up getting some real bargains, as the prices were ridiculously cheap here. Janet and I then went for a late dinner and had barbeque. This is food cooked on skewers and brought to you whenever it is ready. I also tried two local drinks tonight: my favourite milk tea (Nai cha) and a green bean drink with actually pieces of beans floating around at the bottom (bleurgh).

Boots - £6.50

Tartan scarf - £4.50

Furry slipper - £3

Egg fried rice!

Barbeque - potato and cucumber

Barbeque tofu and sweet bread (Mantou)

My Chinese friend Janet

Wednesday was pamper day! After my class finished at 9.30am (I do love my timetable), I took the subway to Janet’s neighbourhood and we went to a huge shopping mall. It had a Walmart in, which we are going to explore next month, but today we went to get our nails done! I had gel nails and toes which I’m so pleased with and they only cost me £17! I also had a cheeky McDonald’s breakfast – sausage and egg muffin, hash brown and a white coffee. It tasted sooooooo good.

Breakfast and main menu available at the same time!?

Sparkly blue gels on my toes

Pale pink gels on my nails

That afternoon I went home and had a nap before dinner with Dean and Brendan. We went to a restaurant in our neighbourhood, which had four tables and a TV. Out the front, was a woman with just one wok making all the food. In China you usually order a few meat and vegetable dishes and then some rice and the dishes will just come out at random. The food was amazing – we had smoked pork and pak choi, spicy cauliflower and tofu noodles with pork. As Halloween is very near, we then watched a scary movie called 1408, which was all well and good until I had to go back to my own apartment!

Yesterday, I had a very bizarre morning. My plan was to finish my morning class and then go food shopping but the lady at the university told me that her and some surveyors had to come to my apartment with me to do a electrical equipment survey. This meant that they drove me to the supermarket and I had to do a Chinese version of a supermarket sweep whilst they waited for me! The Chinese usually go food shopping everyday and so when I came out laden with bags, they were totally shocked! On a bonus note, I got to go up to the empty apartments upstairs and see if there was anything that I wanted from them – a mirror, canvas and plate for my microwave later I finally got my apartment to myself!

My recycled canvas

In the afternoon, Dean and I braced the rain and went on his moped to an Arabic supermarket. The place itself is in a little courtyard of quaint shops and there are also a few western restaurants. The Arabic supermarket was more like a corner shop but I got so much food. We also went to a fancy dress shop so Dean could get his outfit. I had the pleasure of seeing a fat Chinese woman determined to fit in a Snow White outfit.....it didn’t end well.

Fancy dress shop!

3kg of spaghetti, real butter and a litre of vodka - all the essentials....

Today is Friday and it is Halloween! I am so excited to wear my pumpkin outfit and see everyone for a catch up tonight. We are going to the bar, Wuhan Prison and then maybe the music venue, Vox. Hopefully it will be a good night.......

xxxxx