I was woken up at 8 am by very loud music playing from my lady's former small school which is across the street from my hotel. Hmm, maybe if English kids did more exercising in the schoolyard then they wouldn't look like whales.
I wrote my postcards home. Wow, the guys in work are going to wonder how I got so good at writing Chinese characters.
After that, my lady and I went shopping. But first the bank saga.
Gentlemen, changing money in a small city here is not easy. After not finding any bank capable of changing money at the weekend we tried again today. The second bank agreed to exchange my English pounds. Wow, we were in there almost an hour, form filling, waiting, queueing. One of my £20 notes had some small holes in so they didn't want it. Brothers, don't bring foreign currency here if it's not pristine. They counted my money about 50 times. My lady didn't want the ripped 20 yuan they gave me. The exchange rate was so-so (whoever told me the exchange rate is better over here is talking rubbish!!!). Phew.
After that I went to look around clothes shops with my lady. I promised her we'd go clothes shopping when we were together. Man am I naive about women. Hmm, my lady found a beautiful coat. A beautiful, expensive coat. Even by Chinese standards it was expensive. I was a bit meh. She also bought a new pair of boots, but thankfully they weren't expensive.
We walked past a KTV place and I suggest my lady sing for me. Unfortunately sober English man with horrible throat infection does not want to sing. But lady is very good singer. I have chosen "our song". It is by Jolin Tsai. I don't yet know the name of the song but it's on the CD I bought from Hong Kong. I try some romantic stuff in the KTV booth but it doesn't go well, mostly because the place is very stuffy and I keep having coughing fits. My lady does notice that I can read some hanzi and I know a few Asian artists.
As well as English and Mandarin, my lady can sing in Cantonese. She only spent 1 year in Guangzhou and yet she is fluent in Cantonese. I don't know if that is a great achievement or whether it is easy to pick up after learning Mandarin. She is certainly learning English quickly.
On the way back to the hotel we spot a shoe shine guy. They're quite rare here, but in Wuhan the market is saturated. Hee hee my lady is shrewd with money. I am allowed to spend a three figure sum on a coat for her, but not pay the shoe shine guy more than 2 yuan. I wanted to pay more because my shoes were covered in mud from yesterday's boat trip. And he did a fantastically thorough job. He even washed the laces! But the lady overruled.
Wow, I should like to add that Western man having shoes shined is a big tourist attraction here. My celebrity status is undiminished.
Later my lady tried on the coat in my hotel room. Wow, all is forgiven. There's no point having a girl with a figure like hers and dressing her in rags. I felt totally humbled. The girl has a sensational figure and the coat shows off her tiny waist to perfection. With the matching boots she just looks unbelievable.
While I have a rest the lady talks to her friends on QQ. I guess some guys might find the lack of attention quite annoying. But I take comfort in the fact that she's not too clingy. I do like my own space sometimes, so it is good that she can amuse herself.
This evening we went for a meal. I ordered two main courses, as the fruit rice I thought was a side dish was actually a main dish. Mmmm, fruit rice is an interesting combination. I must try making it.
My lady forgets to order a beer. Hmm. I drink her red tea instead.
My lady tells me that her job is so-so. She self taught her way into her line of work, just like I did. Wow, another thing we have in common. If she comes to England I might be able to find her some other line of work that is better paid. Hmm, with 3 incomes we would be very well off.
We both ate too much and my lady went home with stomach cramps. My lady eats more than Western women and yet is stick thin. This is a puzzle.
Over dinner my lady shows some emotion and says she is sad that tomorrow is our last whole day together. She is very excited about my suggestion of meeting again at the end of the year. I suggest Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong. She is most excited about Hong Kong. I would like to visit the other two cities. However, I know Hong Kong very well and being on home territory so to speak will be a big advantage.
I had a little walk around the area near the hotel. I look for a supermarket to buy beer but there is none. The Chinese system of putting similar shops next to each other is annoying at times. Here are clothes shops and baby shops. No supermarket. I walk up and down a bit more. It is fun window shopping for attractive ladies for my unattached brothers. Wow, there are some strikingly beautiful ladies here. I really love the tall Sichuan women. It really is hard to keep your eyes off them. But being only 5"6' myself it would never work, just look at the crazy situations the president of France gets himself into.
Hopefully later she will appear on QQ. Tomorrow I have dinner with her parents. Her mother wants to ask important questions.
So generally things are still going well with the lady. We have so much in common it's unreal. We have had some brilliant days out. I still have lingering doubts though. Have fellow brothers had lingering doubts about a lady? Despite these lingering doubts, I just don't think I would find a better match. Maybe in England I can think things over. Drinking red wine and having a think, that would be good. It's too damn noisy to think in this country. Knowing how much I miss her will be telling as well.
I am disappointed that we haven't shown more emotion to each other. Maybe it needs more time. We are both unexperienced with the opposite sex. We are both very complex characters and have packed in a lot into our lives to date. And this is a conservative small city in a conservative country. I have however told her how much I love her so maybe she knows she doesn't need to deploy her feminine charms to woo me, I am already under her spell! I have noticed that she uses her translator for more intimate stuff - I guess they don't teach that kind of English in schools.
It has also been difficult to get some time away from other people. I thought the boat trip would have been a great place for some romance, but we were crammed in like sardines. On the coach trip the guy next to us kept talking to us. And doing anything in the streets is a nightmare.
This place is not at all like Japan with the sexy dressing up, the soaplands, love hotels and porn industry. The girl is still young and I could well be one of the first Westerners she has actually spoken to. Like most Chinese women she is very confident - she has no problem bartering in shops or asking directions and stuff. But it has taken her a long time to ask me personal stuff like what colour my eyes are.
Things have also moved more quickly in my wife finding idea than I expected. I only joined chnlove in July, and I did not expect to meet my soulmate so quickly. With having two jobs and having to spend a lot of time wooing the lady and making travel plans, there was only so much research I could do on this plan. I was also certain that I would find my soulmate in Japan. I did not know I was looking in the wrong country.
I am not certain what will happen with her mother tomorrow, but the signs are good. I think that I will wait and see what happens. Hong Kong would be a good place to get engaged, should that be the decision that is made.
I think we both may be unwell now. The breakfast she bought may have been a bit dodgy. I guess if your restaurant washes its vegetables in the street then you are asking for trouble lol.
