Leaving Chengdu

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The 17th of February rolls around and the day has finally come to be taken off to my new school, to new places and to new experiences, and to somewhat have your life a little organised for you, which after a month of solid travelling making your own desicions being here there and everywhere when you want to be it is a little strange, but sometimes on the comforting side a the brain power gets taken away from you for a little while!

So I checked out of the youth hostel in Chengdu...during my stay in Chengdu I didnt see much really figuring that I may be back a few times in the next 5-6 months! So the elusive Panda's will wait for another time!!...and made my way to the education building...which 2 days previously was a very difficult place to find...well if Einstein used his brain a bit more over here then he would have tried walking the other side of the main road...but no he didnt, but then again that road has no signpost...and i qoute (page 711 Lonely Plant: China May 2005) - 'Chengdu is a true Asian city in its nochalant disregard of systematic street numbering and naming.' I rest my case!!

So there I was standing outside waiting to be met by Gloria, who then phones me...blah blah blah blah...the flight is delayed so you may want to come to my office! "Where is your office?" I ask "On the 10th floor" comes the reply. Riiiiiight ok, so I politely decline the offer as the thought of carrying 43.7KGs of baggage up 10 floors does not excite me in the slightest even if I am in the need of some well delayed exercise!

So Gloria arranges for me to store my bags in the transport car...luckly a huge damn 4x4 thing...which the driver nearly has a hernia when trying to put in the back of the damn thing...and then I proceed to her office...and the samll talk begins before, bye bye Chengdu....Helllooooooo...Chengdu airport for the second time!

Tick tock tick tock tick tock....Gappers arrive woppee, time to go off to other places far and wide around the province that is Sichuan...to put it into relation - England can fit into Sichuan province 4 times! Meet my new link teacher, Michael, such a dashing chap, you could tell this old blighter has definately had his oral English improved by somebody damn English. Well obviously not like me then! Annnnyway, its off to the next car to take me and Rob to our new school in Zigong...wheres that you ask...yes where is that I think...just south of Chengdu...where's that...South-West China!

This car now a little smaller, I say smaller but a VW Passat is quite big, but when it meets my luggage all you can do is laugh, as 5-10minutes of arrangement finally gets the car packed with the rear suspension looking somewhat sorry for its self....finally were off towards the land of Zigong!!!

Stop for lunch on the way...what feels like in hte middle of nowhere in montaneous scenery comes the Chinese equivalent of a motorway service station...except completely destroy your idea of MOTO or Swift Break or whatever the hell they call these dam nthings these days...and replace it with 8 rather large Chinese resturants one after the other, and dont forget your all important Chinese touts, waving the cars into 'there' restuarant...when you finally choose the one you want you can imagine the touts giving each other the middle finger as they managed to secure the car with the laweis (foreigners) then having the laugh turned on them when they lose out to a coach load of 40 odd Chinese day trippers!!!!

Lunch was good, nice and hot Sichuan cuisine...lovely...and everything was fish, hot fish, cold, fish, fried fish...fish fish fish fish fish!!!! And then back on the road again...about 3 hours after leaving the airport...if not more...finally reached the town of Zigong...after leaving the expressway it was like coming into a small vilalge in Wales...your typical petrol station followed by a wall with carvings on it and some small area with grass and plants...this aint very Chinese I finks to meself!! Well that was just preliminary as we drive for a further 5 we drive throught the downtown area of Zigong...the not so rich part...now this is what I'm talking about real China!!! Old men smoking self rolled cigars, drying out cabbagge...still havn't found out what the point of that is yet, but its the craze round here...i may join in...you aint in the crew unless your drying out your cabbage. In about 10 minutes we enter the school grounds...here is Shuguang Zhong Xue (Shuguang Middle School) the best in Zigong I may add. we drive for about another minute and we approach some housing areas...up a large...very large incline...on a hill...which the car did gently grave the rear bumper stressing under the weight of yes mainly my luggage! and then finally stops outside our appartment...yay! My second home in China come on! What this gonna be like?? Well 3rd floor...exercise time!!!

The door opens and......WOW! I'm going to be living here, a rather alrge living space with increadably modern furnishings, dining room, large kitchen, study, two large bedrooms...fantastic am looking forward to living here...oh yeah and a bathroom too!

Well Michael departs, we unpack and all that crap...finally not gonna have to take my possesions everywhere! Time to spruce up and then wait for Michael to call on us...to take us for dinner...such a nice chap! Well we leave and take a quick walk around the local supermarket! RenRenLe - people people happy in direct translation...really means everybodys happy! Well time for dinner, Michael takes us to the Western restuarant...for steak dinner...it was lovely although it was Chinese style Western food it was lovely...I was very pleased but I was really hoping to try some mouth burningly rediculously hot Sichuan cuisine!! We met Michaels wife, son, and nephew as well which was cool...and these little back rooms they love...well being a Western resturant...I could see the aim of this one!! Imagine a Western dinner situation...a table, the arm chairs and sofas off to one side of the room and also a tv...yes this room had it, it was like being in a western home...good old china creating a bit of the West, but I couldnt help laugh to my self when I finally realised it's creation.

After munch Michael took us to the latern festival in the park which was really cool! Huge alterns of all shapes colours and sizes decked out the whole park...we thought it was amazing...and Britain really needs to look into doing summa this stuff...then again mindless vandals would probably destroy it sooo it would actually be pointless...ne way the Chinese reguarded it as not being very good this year...is that modesty or the truth...one is still unsure!! Well after that it was a return to home and time to sleep!

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