Chapter 261

Up early for this Saturday work day. Whoopdeedoo. I walked the dog, and took the garbage out. We produce a prodigious amount of garbage, for such a small household. I’m trying hard to not waste or consoom too much but every damn thing I buy comes quadruple-packed in layers upon layers of plastic, styrofoam or cardboard. Even when I go to the stinky market and tell them to stop putting every damn piece of vegetable in separate bags, I get met with GUUURRRH-HURRH-HURRH “neurodivergent” throaty laughs, to the point that I stopped bothering. A lot of environmentalist talking points are pure cringe at best and a Trojan Horse for communism at worst, but still, mankind could do better, and there’s gotta be a tipping point on the near horizon, where we’ll dwell among mountains of unmanageable garbage like people in New Delhi or New York.

I listened to the Boyscast on my way to work, it was hilarious and a good commentary on many absurd aspects of the world we live in now, as always. I had two classes, the one with the weak grade-eleven group went really well, the content was a bit difficult but I tried my best to explain it clearly and stuck around to answer questions. The students thanked me, and I was in a great mood after that.

I rode back home, which involves crossing a boulevard. There used to be only a crosswalk, but the Powers-That-Be, in their grand magnanimity, added a traffic light to smooth things up, especially since it’s right by a high school. I waited for it to turn green and as I crossed, some dumbass girl on an e-bike rolled into the intersection, against the traffic, completely ignoring that she now had a red light. Thankfully, she got rammed by a SUV before she’d hit me. It all happened at low speed, like most of the hundreds or thousands of accidents I’ve been witnessing in twelve years in China, so she wasn’t hurt badly, though she milked it by standing up slowly and pouting. I yelled at her that there’s a red light, and thought about sticking around to set the record straight in case she calls the cops and tries to extort money from SUV guy (who wasn’t in the wrong whatsoever) but going to eat my lunch was much more desirable.

I had a double with a grade-12 class. Six or seven students were absent, some told me beforehand that they have to go apply for a passport or meet with a counselor, but many were AWOL. I shrugged and went on with the review and practice. Any attempt at getting the head teachers or students to communicate ahead of time is met with a nod and a “嗯，嗯，嗯”, and then more often than not nothing changes. I know better than letting something trivial like that ruin my day.

Not to say that the opposite is not appreciated though; the strong group of eleventh-graders sent a representative to tell me about 20 of them will miss my class to prepare for a Model UN event. Cool. I was planning on giving them free time anyway, they’re far ahead of the other groups. I see them for one extra class a week to cover for the economics teacher still stuck in quarantine, so I’m wondering whether I should keep ploughing forward or slow down a bit.

I got home and chilled for a bit before going to BJJ practice. I got there a bit ahead, and the Italian blue belt was teaching two tiny kids, I changed into my gi and helped out. They were two siblings, a boy aged 6 and a girl aged 3, we taught them grips and positioning and kept it playful, the girl was especially funny, with her minuscule hand with fingers barely long enough to grab my collar. A good time was had by all, and they gave me Skittles at the end. Then I practiced with the Italian, we had some nice rolls and in between round he commented on things I did right or wrong.

I walked out, and as I was unlocking my bicycle, two middle-aged cops came rolling by on white and blue police scooters. They put the bikes on their stands, and walked in the bank. I noticed they didn’t take the keys out, and anyone could just hop on the bikes and bail. China is a seemingly high-trust society, and I constantly see cases of people leaving things unattended and not worrying about potential thieves. Back in my Tim days I felt the opposite, people would tell me to clutch my bags when on the train or sitting in a restaurant, but now I often don’t even bother locking my bike, and when I do, it’s only with a chain going through the back wheel.

Back home, I put a chicken in the oven and took a walk with the dog. I looked up ways to ensure the roast chicken has a nice crispy skin, so I salted its exterior and cooked it at the maximum temperature my small oven could muster. The skin was crispy alright, but the meat was also chewy and dry. Can’t win ‘em all. I ate my poultry in front of the TV, watching the latest AEW PPV at a friend’s recommendation. I watched two matches, at the end of the one with John Moxley and some Japanese guy, Minori Suzuki came out to massive cheers and suplexed the American former deathmatch madman.