On Monday, I visited the house of the guy who invited me to stay with his family as a home stay. At 5pm he picked-up Kaori, Fairy and me in his car, in which also sat his 10-year old son, and we drove the very short distance to his home. I had been told that he had a very nice house (just the fact that it's a house rather than a flat indicates their comparative wealth), but I wasn't fully prepared to see two cars, a piano, gym equipment and a maid. Moreover, every room has air conditioning, which is very unusual in this city. I couldn't help show my excitement at the prospect of moving up in my Wuhu world.
Obviously, such relative luxury is not as important as getting on with the hosts, and the visit was as much about meeting the family. He was very friendly and insisted we eat dinner with them. He explained to Fairy (a Chinese girl who works at Aston and was doing the translating) that he can read and write English, but has never learnt how to speak it. This really put my mind at rest because, if there is a problem and we can't understand each other, I can just write down what I want to say.
Fairy had to leave early, so Kaori and I were left to eat dinner on our own with the family. I was relieved and delighted that we were able to communicate and the conversation was not too stilted or awkward. I only saw his wife very briefly because she was ill in bed, but I left feeling confident that they are a very suitable family. I was made to feel welcome and also safe - my bedroom has a lock on it, as was pointed out during the tour of the house, and the house is part of a patrolled and ever-so quiet estate. I could barely believe it was Wuhu, if I'm honest.
I think this home stay will be fantastic, especially as I will be continuing with my usual routine at Aston, so I won't be confined to the house or anything. Another thing that should be good (or at least as good as it possibly can be), is Christmas. Joe and I have now booked our coach tickets to Shanghai and our hotel is also sorted. Merim and Ahmir are both from Muslim backgrounds, so don't celebrate Christmas, and all the other foreigners are doing their own thing. Therefore, to stay in Wuhu would be horribly depressing. We want a lively, festive atmosphere on Christmas day and we have it on good authority that O'Malley's, the Irish-themed pub that we've booked for our Christmas meal, will be excellent fun.
All we need to worry about now is what on earth we are going to do for our COMPULSORY performance at the Aston Christmas Party. I'm still not feeling up for this event, despite the fact that Wuhu has become 'Christmasified'. I have seen Christmas decorations and life-size Santas in the most random places, and its many of its people seem to have wholeheartedly embraced the western festive season. I still feel totally unmoved by it all, though!
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