Today in Baoding it was nearly 30C, with the sun shining bright. It's amazing how quickly it has changed, from a cold, windy city into a bright summery one in just a couple of weeks. And everything is green, green, green - I never noticed how many trees there are in the city until now. From the big main roads to the small backstreets, everything seems to be lined up with trees, green or flowery. It all makes it very easy to like this place. But maybe I'll start complaining when it goes up to 40C. But right now it's all good & pretty, I'm really enjoying the sun: going bike riding around the city or just simply sitting out on the garden bench, studying Chinese in the morning... Here's a picture from the west of the city I took today while riding on my bike.

Yesterday Freaky Frank (remember the taxation bureau guy? Just don't tell him I call him that...) took me over to a private primary/middle school at the far East of Baoding, who have been interested in having me do some part-time teaching for them. The place was absolutely wonderful (I wish I'd taken my camera), away from the busy city, in the middle of fields, and just had a really good feel to it somehow. And the little kiddies were just sweet. I thought that I don't want to go on teaching after this term, but I'm really having a hard time thinking of having to leave China and somehow teaching a little longer doesn't even seem like a such a bad option after all... I've got some really good job opportunities lined up in Europe, but at the same time I feel like it isn't over for me yet in China... there is so much more in this country that I can discover.

At the school I also met a group of 5 people from Cote d'Ivoire who are here to study Chinese. It was so much fun to just talk to them in French and hear their lovely African accents. Even if being in Senegal wasn't always easy for me, it brought back some good, sunny memories. Will hopefully meet them again. All in all, going over there made me feel very good for some reason, even if I don't end up taking the job (it really is very far from Nong Da and I don't have that much time left here anyway, and the holiday is coming up and my teaching schedule will change after it...all these things). Although for that I had to put up with being stuck in the car with Freaky Frank for far too long...

But: China, China, China...