I did three things, more or less, today. I was up at 530 AM (but I did arise at 400 AM to feed the Toner) and the day was at times maddening and exhilarating.
I had set the alarm for 600 AM because I had an early morning job fair to attend for the school. They needed me to test the English level of applicants for sales and tutor positions. I got up earlier because of the Toner demanding to be fed. I arrived at the school at 730 AM and from there we went to Wuxi's new sports center for the job fair.
I will recall four things from the job fair forever after. There were soldiers or security looking like soldiers manning the doors. I was told it was for "safety". I finished reading Mordecai Richler's "Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" for the umpteenth time and then started Brideshead Revisited. I had to listen to the audio of a promotional video of myself introducing the school over and over again. I then had a stint of talking to about ten or so applicants in a row. All of them spoke excellent English and I enjoyed chatting with all of them. One applicant told me read CNN and New York Times on the Internet. I asked him how he felt about Tibet and he told me he was neutral. I then told him how I felt the criticism China is getting now was all part and parcel of being an important country and that they should learn to deal with it better. He said in the future, they would be "able to take it." Another applicant told me the place he was now working at had not paid him for four months. He said he was selling electric bicycles overseas and working all hours because his employer had promised him he would get paid when he sold some bikes, which he had in fact done. It was a negative tone to take for a job interview, but the applicant spoke good English even using the f-word.
The Jobfair took up my morning.
In the afternoon, I went to the new apartment with the wife. The place is looking very good. Since I was last there, they have done work on the kitchen. A western style oven and stove have been put in. The wife is now having furniture moved in. This afternoon, one of the two sofas we will have was brought in. We were also expecting the dining room table to come. We waited for two hours during which the wife phoned three times to see if they were coming. They told her they were on the way. But around 400 PM, I was getting antsy because I wanted to get back downtown for Jen and Yan's wedding. Soon after, my wife received a phone call saying that the dining table wouldn't come till Monday. My antsiness turned into anger.
We ended up being late for Jen and Yan's wedding. It was one maddening delay after another as the evening proceeded. I was told not to worry that we wouldn't be late, but these people trying to assure me must not have heard of German efficency. The Germans do things at the stated time. My wife had assume that the 618 on the invitation really meant 700 as it would for most Chinese weddings. But, we arrived just as the ceremony was taking place at 645. It was just our luck that the entrance to the hall was close to the stage. We opened the door to see the happy couple. Ouch! I fumed but eventually got over it. I had a good time when all was said and done.
Congratulations to Jens and Yan!
Photos and Videos to follow here.
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