New Farm BBQ

Today two of the Jiangsu teacher training classes will have BBQ in New Farm Park. Because Muli, the administrative assistant at QUT has other things to do, so Jane and I were asked by Semmi to lead those two cohorts of Jiangsu uni teachers to go there and enjoy BBQ together with them.

Last week, there was another BBQ for the other two Jiangsu cohorts. Jane and I were invited to join. We arrived at the shuttle bus station on time, but the Jiangsu teachers were so eager to have the BBQ that they caught the earlier shuttle bus and left for city. We waited for them in the bus station for more than one hour, thinking of this and that possibilities. The time for our waiting was so long that we were very hungry and felt light in the head in the ferry after we finally decided to go to the park to see whether they took other buses to go there. When we arrived, they have already finished their BBQ.

Having learnt a lesson from last week, we came out of our office thirty minutes ahead of the scheduled time12:20. Luckily, we arrived at the shuttle bus station earlier than the teachers. Five minutes after we arrived, the teachers came to the bus station by twos and threes. When the 12:05 shuttle bus was going to leave, the earlier coming teachers would like to go without waiting for the others. What should we do, we were not their administrators, but just helpers guiding them the way, and they would not obey our words. We had no way out but to let Jane go together with them, and I just left, waiting for the other teacher’s coming. So we finally arrived in New Farm Park by two groups.

Having these two interludes, I do not have the interests of BBQ. These experiences made me thinking that even uni teachers do not have the concept of timing, and they care little about others.

Hope Everything Be Fine Tomorrow

My husband is going to have his final oral seminar for getting the degree of Master of Engineering tomorrow. He has left for Huazhong University of Science and Technology which is in Wuhan for a week to do the preparations. My poor daughter, as having no adult to look after her daily life, was sent to my mother’s home in Kaifeng, where she has no school to go into, but to learn by herself. After her father finished his final oral seminar, he will go to Kaifeng to pick her up, and then go back home.

Looking behind the past year, it is unimaginably difficult for my. As I was in Australia and couldn’t give him any help in doing housework, he has to do every day cooking, to look after an old and a young, his 82-year-old father together with our 12-year-old daughter, give 9 hour classes every week and finish his thesis at the same time. It is really a tough year for him. Now everything has passed away, hope everything in tomorrow goes smoothly for him.