What a weekend

It all started on Friday with a PTA appreciation dinner at the Sheraton in Tianjin. All day long there had been threats of rain and the Bar B Q was to be held outside. As the evening approached the temperatures dropped and the wind got up. It was looking very dodgy. However, the rain stayed away and we had a brilliant time.

The parents were extremely generous to all the staff and presented gifts to those who were leaving. Suddenly we heard "Mr David Williams" and looked with horror at each other - we did not know we were leaving - had they got it wrong? Ah, an explanation - "We know he isn't leaving but we would like to thank him for his work this year.....". A quick sigh of relief and the moment was over! There was a gift too for the Vice Principal who also isn't leaving - phew! We are still trying to work out what to do with all the ginseng they were given - any ideas?!

Saturday saw us back in Beijing - I had already been up on Wednesday and had to return for a fitting for a dress I am having made (oh, and to collect some stuff for Dave too!). This time we did not shop til we dropped ( a bad habit of ours in Beijing) but instead took ourselves off to a lovely French restaurant near the French Embassy and ate in wonderful colonial surroundings. The food was excellent - although (and those of you who know Dave well will not be surprised by this) Dave had to send his duck back! Still, the meal lasted hours and when we finished we headed straight for the train station where we discovered the first class waiting lounge, complete with Grand piano, where we wiled away the short time before our train to Tainjin.

My visit to Beijing on Wednesday had ended on a rather frustrating note - I had got a taxi from a well known and very western shopping centre and asked to be taken to the station. The traffic was awful - rush hour in Beijing is not a good time to be going anywhere and the taxi driver grumbled as soon as I got in - I had no idea what he was grumbling about - there were a lot of hand getsures indicating, I misguidedly thought, that I should have got a taxi on the other side of the road - going in the other direction; but since this had not been a problem before (they merely drive round the block - adds a little to the bill but when the total cost is less than GBP1 it hardly matters!) I paid no attention.

The next thing I know, the meter is being turned off and he is pulling into the side of the road waving for me to get out. He pointed to a subway station and implied that I should take that. I do not speak or read any Chinese and I have no idea how the underground system works. Now, under normal circumstances that would have been fine - I could have found someone to help me and made a fair crack at using this unknown system. However I had only 20 minutes to get to the station to catch my train and no time to mess about.

I ran up the road and hailed another taxi who thankfully took me exactly where I wanted to go - I was then seen running through the main station at Beijing, leaping up the escalator and barging (very Chinese) through the crowds to get to my seat on the train with seconds to spare!

Sunday - Fathers' Day - was a quiet day. In the evening we had arranged to meet some friends and eat at the Japanese Restaurant - Teppanyaki - which has become a firm favourite. It's all you can eat (prawns, steaks, chicken, sushi, sashimi etc, etc, etc) for less than ten british pounds. Our friends are American - what can I say?! We ordered and ate. Then we ordered again - and ate. Once more for luck - and ate! Gosh we sank some food last night. It's a great opportunity to taste things we wouldn't normally look at! Last night's "new experience" was a sort of coddled egg done under a cover, sprinkled with caviar and onion. It was quite bland and I probably wouldn't bother again! An interesting change was that we ordered fried rice, the coddled eggs and thought we would finish with a little icecream. You guessed it - the ice cream came first so we finished with fried rice and the egg dish - only in China!