Muslim meal and Zhang Hongping again

Up at a more appropriate 9.30 and lingered in bed. Despite work I took the kids to lunch at the Yumi tang place. Then back for more work until 7 when I took them to the Muslim place for dinner as they didn’t want to go with Tan to eat zhou. I always feel embarrassed eating here (and most places actually) - I don’t want to order too much and not eat it, but if I order just enough for the kids and me I feel like I’m being mean. I just can’t win in this situation. The only way I could be comfortable is if the kids would eat a lot more, but then I’d just worry about them getting obese, though this is a million miles away thankfully. I think some people almost force themselves to worry about every situation. I’m more 30-40% of situations so relatively sane. The way I look at situations is to imagine I’d made a different choice and see how I would be regretting that. Like if you arrive late at the airport you worry about missing the plane, but if you arrive too early you worry about having to wait ages before you can check you bag in, and that you may get too hungry before the lounge and buy something to eat. Literally first world problems though. But still as we eliminate the third world (I think we will) we may soon have to consider these ones. Bulimia is, I consider, a first world problem, but despite this it affects a few people really seriously. Once everyone’s mouth is fed we may have to start really looking at mental issues like this. I don’t imagine bulimia occurs much in drought-ridden regions.

Eating at the nice Muslim place

Anyway after ordering not enough and still not finishing it (a double whammy) we went home to get water and Leilei’s skateboard then on to the guangchang for what is becoming a nightly skating session. We also met some 15 year old girl who’d been talking to my kids and now was talking to me. It was slightly surreal as she wanted to keep talking (in Chinese) and also said she was a great fan of talking. I didn’t know how to react other than continue talking with her.

But Wenliang arrived and shouted out “Duoming!” and came to my rescue. He’d had a couple of beers for tea and decided we needed to go to walk it off so I let the kids know and we walked a lap or so of the guangchang. He is still the person I understand most here, mainly because he isn’t from here and also has worked abroad, though doesn’t speak a word of English. So it was an enjoyable conversation before bringing the kids back for showers and sleeps.

Well unlike what he said yesterday Haiwei didn’t contact me for a meal or drink, but instead later at 12:30 Zhang Hongping called me to go for a beer and I thought why not? I was glad I did as we had a good catch-up session until 2.40am when I decided it was appropriate to leave as I was due to be going out midday tomorrow.

Nice meal and drinks with Zhang Hongping

Jog and Haiwei's brother

Oh no...it was back to 5.30am wake up again. Try as I might I didn’t get back to sleep, even after some Jetpunk quizzes, so after a quick chat with Andge I made the decision to go for a slow jog as I knew I probably wouldn’t regret it. Half an hour and nearly 4k later I did start to almost regret the decision as I slowed to a walk; I just didn’t quite feel up to continuing but forced myself to slow-jog the last 500m.

Some sort of rules for the guangchang that I need to learn

I decided to lunch at Luwen’s place with the kids and we had the only offering they really have: beef with noodles except they differentiate between noodle noodles and rice noodles, at least as far as I understand. As well as not allowing me to pay he also insisted on having a couple of beers. As I’d been awake over seven hours I somehow justified it in my tiredness, then took Xixi to buy some pencils before going home for a well-earned sleep.

Noodly lunch at Luwen's

Then it was up for the usual work routine until guangchang time though only for 30 minutes this time, where I left the kids to themselves. By the time I got back I found Leilei exchanging WeChat details with some girls with skateboards and I was slightly jealous but also a bit proud. This could have been me 20 years ago, minus the skateboard or good looks, oh, and mobile phone.

Leilei adding some contacts

Apparently I’d agreed to meet Uncle Yellow at 9.45 so duly did but I also had an arrangement with Yang Haiwei at 10.30ish at my local bar 3000 Degrees. We only had about four beers, and Haiwei didn’t seem to be his usual self. Then, quite unannounced (though why you would announce this I don’t know), he showed me a video of his elder brother just a few months ago before he died of cancer earlier this year. It was a really harrowing experience as a previously fairly well-built man with whom I’d cai ma’d on various occasions, had turned into but skin and bones and a horrid orange colour. He was sitting up on what was probably his deathbed, smoking a cigarette in what I expected was some intention to make the inevitable come quicker. I couldn’t imagine keeping such a video on my phone let alone seeing it again. I just don’t deal well with such matters. In a sort of attempt to make the situation a bit lighter I mentioned Waipo’s passing a few months ago, but it didn’t really lift the mood. Maybe by showing me he was trying to say something else, or confide something. I may never know but if anything it may have brought us closer together.

When we left he said he’d invite me out tomorrow evening after work, and I thanked him and had another relatively early night.