Although looking forward to it I was crestfallen when Tan said it would take five hours to complete. Five hours meant starting work late, finishing late, and no chance of a siesta. I turned my brain back on and realised these were once again first world problems. It did get a bit hotter though.
Tan sat down to be made up and, somewhat to my chagrin, so did Xixi. But it's a special moment I suppose and women like to be made up. What I hadn't realised that it was then my turn. I have never ever had foundation applied in my life, and wasn't ready for the effect it had. At first I looked literally like a corpse with my shirt and suit and even paler face, but the woman somehow managed to blend it in a bit more and bring some life to my face, at the expense of a couple of spots. At least my suit got a free clean after four years of hanging in our cupboard in the vain hope of being used for business reasons here.
Tan then made an entrance resplendent in a western wedding dress. Xixi had her fancy dress, and Leilei had far too short trousers and high boots in order to hide the fact that his shins would otherwise be showing. I was given a bow tie and slip on shoes with no back - a good idea as even my smallish 8.5 feet would not have fitted otherwise.
The photographer then came and made us take all kind of unnatural poses but I'm sure some of them must have been ok. The kids were pretty good really and didn't need Tan trying to translate most of what the photographer was saying. He referred to me as "shuai ge" which means "handsome boy", which coming from a woman is ok but not from a bloke. We changed to non-wedding "formal" gear, then our own informal gear. Thankfully it was 90 minutes shorter than five hours but it was pretty tiring. When the kids started to flake I made jokes about "scissor spoons", and how you shouldn't use them to eat Shredded Wheat. It kept them smiling for a good half an hour before it started to wane. I then had to straddle the chair and stick my non-thumb fingers out of the bottom and call out "eight willies". That really got them going again despite Tan's disapproval. The photographer was blissfully ignorant of our silliness, and luckily didn't catch me doing rabbit ears on him when he was taking pictures of the kids. I hope the smiles are worth it. Chuan Chuan was there most of the time and took a couple of photos so we should have an idea of what the final versions will look like.
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| Wedding attire (not sure about the kids) |
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| Xixi and flower - the pose as fake as the flower but still.... |
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| Tan in evening wear |
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| Mr Eight Willies |
She took the kids afterwards and Tan and I went home to remove makeup and clothes. Although I hadn't expected it we both fell into a siesta for an hour or two, which was nice. Tea was at Waipo's as is pretty usual now, but I came back soon after to work.
Tan called to say A Heng couldn't get a car to drive to Nanning, so we would share a taxi instead. What? Why not the train I wanted to take in the first place, or at least a coach? Because taxis are faster. Oh yeah by how much? And do trains get stuck in traffic jams? Nanning has become blocked up with traffic in the recent years and it's a real pain to drive there now. But for 100+ kuai we could sit in an old small car driven by someone who just wants to get there as fast as possible with little regard for safety. Oh, but apparently there would be somebody at the taxi rank to take me to the airport. Yeah, probably another taxi. Being left to one's own devices, even for a middle-aged man, does not seem to compute here.
My nemesis, Mr Lu the teacher, had left a note with the security to call him. He must have seen me some time. Funny, as I somehow avoided him last year. As he had written a note I thought I'd better call him, so I did and wished I hadn't. His manner was as cheerful as it was desperate, and his English hadn't improved. I tried to get a word in about leaving tomorrow for London but he didn't seem to understand, and insisted that I come to his school by 11am the next day. "You come my school tomorrow, ok? Good! 11 o'clock my school.", "I have to leave for London tomorrow", "11 o'clock ok! Tomorrow morning call me", "Ok I'll call you". I didn't have the heart to say no in Chinese as it would have been a double blow to him. Soon after I found out Awl had booked flights to Toulouse from London for Wednesday so I'll be taking that day off work and going to le Pago. Well, that made up for my call with Mr Lu.
At 11pm I called Chuan Chuan to see where kids were and told them I'd go for bbq and could pick them up. But it turned out the kids were too tired so slept with her instead. So with a bit of freedom on my last full night for a while I rang Haiwei to come around, also Li Kun as Lu Hai couldn't make it. We ate and drank till nearly 1am, making 24 cans in total, plus about three portions of bbq for a few people including women. It came to a total of 240 kuai and I was allowed to pay again as I had invited people. Good memories that I hope will serve me till I get back.
I took the long way home on the dian dong che, partly to get a big breath of Pingguo, and partly to cool down a tad. At home I managed to chat with Mat about meeting up on Saturday. It may be possible as I'm due to arrive at Heathrow at 9pm. What I'm feeling like at that time I have no idea. My last night ended up at gone 4am in the end due to contact with the UK. This time in Leilei's room as both the kids were out.
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