Our 'night man' Johnny left to go back to college. Each of us is having to take turns staying until 8.
It was my turn to stay, on Tuesday. I had called Su, the wife of that lovely couple I met that night I was stranded outside Metro. I reminded her of the wine tasting, and suggested she and her husband come, that I'd love for my foreign friends to get to know them. She said that was the day they were sending their daughter back to college in Beijing, so maybe they'd be tied up. But she did say she and her husband would like to come visit the shop. They said they would come one evening.
We find that we do most of our selling in the evening. Xiao Lan should have finished work at six. Rachel finished at Web and came down, ready to go. But her son had come around 5:00, and was playing a computer game. Six o'clock came and went, and they still hadn't gone. He was sitting at the selling counter, making it difficult for me to settle down there. I asked them when they were leaving. Rachel said they were waiting for their brother to finish his computer game.
I was thinking that I was very tired, and there wasn't that much to sell anyway, and I wouldn't mind closing shop early and going home. I had brought a book to read, so once they finally left, after 6:30, I read for a little while. Seven o'clock seemed a reasonable time to 'close early'.
The book, a thin forgettable mystery novel, had me pleasantly engrossed until a customer walked in. I served the customer, and then Su and her family walked in. We were talking away, when Jimmy walked in. Rachel had told him that I needed to turn in my passport on Friday for a new visa, so he came to assure me that his wife would be working at the police station that day. I introduced him to my new friends.
Other customers walked in, so I served them. Jimmy chatted with Su's husband. The family stayed until closing. There were waves of customers. I tried my best to keep up. When Tina balanced the sales log the next day, she said I must have forgotten one sale because there was a 37 rmb discrepancy. Everything sold out, except of course the ciabatta. One Chinese customer said she'd like to try one, but I told her it was chewy and she probably wouldn't like it.
During the lulls I was able to chat with this family. They told me that they brought their daughter to meet me because I was an example to the young. They had been telling her about my story. She seemed a lovely girl, and expressed interest in hanging out at the bakery next summer to learn baking.
It was past 8 o'clock when the place emptied out. Weariness swept back over me. I looked at the sales log, which needed to be balanced. I opened the cash draw and dropped it in. I cleaned up the crumbs, put away the remaining three scones, locked up and went home.
I took a Sominex, put in my ear plugs, and lay down for a good night's sleep.
Wednesday was supposed to be my day off. Rachel was free in the morning, and so we planned to go to Metro together. I needed help with the heavy bag I'd be coming home with. This trip was especially to buy the things we'd need Friday at the wine tasting. Serving platters, cheese and sausage.
Tuesday night Jada texted me. She had arrived from Shangdong. After years and years in China, she was finally 'going home'. A spinster in her 40's, she is from Hawaii. She looks Asian, being half Filipino and half Chinese. She has had endless trouble working as an English teacher in China. One problem was that she didn't look Caucasian. In some types of schools that's a problem. Another problem is that she has psoriasis, so she tends to dress funny to hide her peeling arms. But the biggest problem is her personality.
Back when I worked at Changzhou University we had tried playing badminton together, a game we both wanted to learn. This lasted quite a few months. We stopped playing during the summer, because it was just too hot. We resumed again in the fall. But on one of the last times we played, I was chatting away, so glad to have someone to chat with. She admonished me not to talk during the play.
A pity relationship is hard to sustain, of course. This one finally came to a head, and we agreed not to be friends. I was relieved. As time passed I knew I had made the right decision, when I realized I didn't miss her friendship at all. She was active on Facebook, and so I knew that her contract was not being renewed and she'd need to find a new job. The job she eventually found took her away from Changzhou.
She continued to text me, with updates on management moves at her new company. Sometimes I replied, but often there was no response required. She then began phoning me. Once I answered, but the other times I just let it ring. I just didn't have the energy to listen to her whiny voice.
I learned through FB that she'd be leaving China, going back to Hawaii. I think she trumped up some family illness, to keep face. But I think she was terminally lonely and fed up. She texted me that she'd be coming to Changzhou to close a bank account and buy dollars. Her bank was in the same shopping area as my shop, so she said she'd stop in.
The sleeping pill kept me resting until after seven. I got up, made some oatmeal to take with me (I love it with milk, and there's none home but lots at work), and arrived after 8. Tina texted me to tell me that my 'Facebook friend' was waiting for me at the shop.
Once at the shop I was kept busy supervising Peter and Tina, eating my breakfast, starting the ciabatta, sorting out the til, and making a list of what we'd need at Metro. In between, I chatted with Jada.
Rachel came, and we headed out to Metro. It is a long bus ride, with a change of bus. We finished shopping around 11:30, with a huge Metro bag so heavy that even with the two of us we could barely move it. No way we could walk all the way to the next bus stop. We called a taxi, and as luck would have it there was one at the gas station which is at the entrance to the Metro service road.
Once back at the shop I looked at what was being baked and thought it would not be enough if we had traffic similar to the previous night. I took some sourdough barm out of the fridge, thinking I could begin something for tomorrow anyway. I made a cheese sandwich. I used bread we bought at Metro! I had bought a small loaf of rye bread, to see if I could figure out how it's supposed to taste. Once the meal was eaten, I realized that the lethargy I'd been feeling since Sunday was still with me, in spite of one good night's sleep.
Thrice weekly I fill a standing order for the German restaurant upstairs for three flavored ciabatta. Wednesday was a scheduled delivery day. I had started the ciabatta before going to Metro, and Peter had taken it through the shaping phase. I had not yet initiated Tina into this process. Once in the proof box, the ciabatta needed lots of time until it swelled. Tina saw that I was busy talking with some foreigners that had come in, asking for directions. She took the initiative to put the ciabatta in the oven, which she had turned on some time earlier in anticipation.
I was unaware of this. She came to me and mumbled something about steaming the ciabatta. I said the ciabatta could wait a few minutes. In a moment the guests left and I walked into the kitchen.
The ciabatta were in the oven!!! And Tina had not turned on the steam, which can only be useful when done immediately upon putting them in the oven. By the time she came to ask me, it was already too late, even if I had understood what she had done.
I blew my top. This is the sort of thing the sweet thing always does. She wants to be helpful, so she jumps in even if she doesn't know what she'd doing. The oven temperature had not been turned down when the bread went in, which is supposed to happen as soon as the steam button is released. But of course, she doesn't know that, because I've been training Peter, not her, in ciabatta making.
I had long ago told her that she needed to be aware of everything going on, so that if one baker gets distracted with other business the dough making that was interrupted wouldn't be ruined. So she did as she thought she had been told. I now need to teach her how to interrupt me and remind me what's cooking, and ask for instructions. Poor girl. I can't figure it out. Is it because she isn't quite that bright?
Soon after that I went home. Yu Xiao Mei was cleaning the house. I remember this happened last week as well. Fortunately, she had started in the bedroom. She closes the cats in there while she cleans the rest of the house. I was able to go in there, close the door, and read until I fell asleep.
I slept a good sleep for a couple of hours, then got up, made a salad and watched a movie. I had no trouble going right back to sleep at 9 o'clock.
Rachel asked me to dinner at her house on Thursday night, because it was her birthday. I thought of all the things I had to do to prepare for the wine tasting event on Friday. Most of all, I needed to get to bed early and get a good night's sleep. She lives far outside of the city. I wanted to turn her down, but how could I? It was her birthday. She persuaded me that someone would be there with a car and could drive me home. A number of the other staff and teachers at Web would be there (all Chinese) and they were looking forward to sharing the evening with me.
If only I found it easier to fall asleep in the afternoons, like the Chinese do so easily. I'm going to have to work harder at getting adequate sleep. The thing is, it seems to me that soon I shall have to begin work at 6 a.m. so that we can open our doors earlier than 12 noon. The other thing that needs fixing is the afternoon slump. There is at least three hours in the afternoon when everyone sits down and plays on their computers. the baking is basically done, and afternoon walk-in customers are rare.
It was my turn to stay, on Tuesday. I had called Su, the wife of that lovely couple I met that night I was stranded outside Metro. I reminded her of the wine tasting, and suggested she and her husband come, that I'd love for my foreign friends to get to know them. She said that was the day they were sending their daughter back to college in Beijing, so maybe they'd be tied up. But she did say she and her husband would like to come visit the shop. They said they would come one evening.
We find that we do most of our selling in the evening. Xiao Lan should have finished work at six. Rachel finished at Web and came down, ready to go. But her son had come around 5:00, and was playing a computer game. Six o'clock came and went, and they still hadn't gone. He was sitting at the selling counter, making it difficult for me to settle down there. I asked them when they were leaving. Rachel said they were waiting for their brother to finish his computer game.
I was thinking that I was very tired, and there wasn't that much to sell anyway, and I wouldn't mind closing shop early and going home. I had brought a book to read, so once they finally left, after 6:30, I read for a little while. Seven o'clock seemed a reasonable time to 'close early'.
The book, a thin forgettable mystery novel, had me pleasantly engrossed until a customer walked in. I served the customer, and then Su and her family walked in. We were talking away, when Jimmy walked in. Rachel had told him that I needed to turn in my passport on Friday for a new visa, so he came to assure me that his wife would be working at the police station that day. I introduced him to my new friends.
Other customers walked in, so I served them. Jimmy chatted with Su's husband. The family stayed until closing. There were waves of customers. I tried my best to keep up. When Tina balanced the sales log the next day, she said I must have forgotten one sale because there was a 37 rmb discrepancy. Everything sold out, except of course the ciabatta. One Chinese customer said she'd like to try one, but I told her it was chewy and she probably wouldn't like it.
During the lulls I was able to chat with this family. They told me that they brought their daughter to meet me because I was an example to the young. They had been telling her about my story. She seemed a lovely girl, and expressed interest in hanging out at the bakery next summer to learn baking.
It was past 8 o'clock when the place emptied out. Weariness swept back over me. I looked at the sales log, which needed to be balanced. I opened the cash draw and dropped it in. I cleaned up the crumbs, put away the remaining three scones, locked up and went home.
I took a Sominex, put in my ear plugs, and lay down for a good night's sleep.
Wednesday was supposed to be my day off. Rachel was free in the morning, and so we planned to go to Metro together. I needed help with the heavy bag I'd be coming home with. This trip was especially to buy the things we'd need Friday at the wine tasting. Serving platters, cheese and sausage.
Tuesday night Jada texted me. She had arrived from Shangdong. After years and years in China, she was finally 'going home'. A spinster in her 40's, she is from Hawaii. She looks Asian, being half Filipino and half Chinese. She has had endless trouble working as an English teacher in China. One problem was that she didn't look Caucasian. In some types of schools that's a problem. Another problem is that she has psoriasis, so she tends to dress funny to hide her peeling arms. But the biggest problem is her personality.
Back when I worked at Changzhou University we had tried playing badminton together, a game we both wanted to learn. This lasted quite a few months. We stopped playing during the summer, because it was just too hot. We resumed again in the fall. But on one of the last times we played, I was chatting away, so glad to have someone to chat with. She admonished me not to talk during the play.
A pity relationship is hard to sustain, of course. This one finally came to a head, and we agreed not to be friends. I was relieved. As time passed I knew I had made the right decision, when I realized I didn't miss her friendship at all. She was active on Facebook, and so I knew that her contract was not being renewed and she'd need to find a new job. The job she eventually found took her away from Changzhou.
She continued to text me, with updates on management moves at her new company. Sometimes I replied, but often there was no response required. She then began phoning me. Once I answered, but the other times I just let it ring. I just didn't have the energy to listen to her whiny voice.
I learned through FB that she'd be leaving China, going back to Hawaii. I think she trumped up some family illness, to keep face. But I think she was terminally lonely and fed up. She texted me that she'd be coming to Changzhou to close a bank account and buy dollars. Her bank was in the same shopping area as my shop, so she said she'd stop in.
The sleeping pill kept me resting until after seven. I got up, made some oatmeal to take with me (I love it with milk, and there's none home but lots at work), and arrived after 8. Tina texted me to tell me that my 'Facebook friend' was waiting for me at the shop.
Once at the shop I was kept busy supervising Peter and Tina, eating my breakfast, starting the ciabatta, sorting out the til, and making a list of what we'd need at Metro. In between, I chatted with Jada.
Rachel came, and we headed out to Metro. It is a long bus ride, with a change of bus. We finished shopping around 11:30, with a huge Metro bag so heavy that even with the two of us we could barely move it. No way we could walk all the way to the next bus stop. We called a taxi, and as luck would have it there was one at the gas station which is at the entrance to the Metro service road.
Once back at the shop I looked at what was being baked and thought it would not be enough if we had traffic similar to the previous night. I took some sourdough barm out of the fridge, thinking I could begin something for tomorrow anyway. I made a cheese sandwich. I used bread we bought at Metro! I had bought a small loaf of rye bread, to see if I could figure out how it's supposed to taste. Once the meal was eaten, I realized that the lethargy I'd been feeling since Sunday was still with me, in spite of one good night's sleep.
Thrice weekly I fill a standing order for the German restaurant upstairs for three flavored ciabatta. Wednesday was a scheduled delivery day. I had started the ciabatta before going to Metro, and Peter had taken it through the shaping phase. I had not yet initiated Tina into this process. Once in the proof box, the ciabatta needed lots of time until it swelled. Tina saw that I was busy talking with some foreigners that had come in, asking for directions. She took the initiative to put the ciabatta in the oven, which she had turned on some time earlier in anticipation.
I was unaware of this. She came to me and mumbled something about steaming the ciabatta. I said the ciabatta could wait a few minutes. In a moment the guests left and I walked into the kitchen.
The ciabatta were in the oven!!! And Tina had not turned on the steam, which can only be useful when done immediately upon putting them in the oven. By the time she came to ask me, it was already too late, even if I had understood what she had done.
I blew my top. This is the sort of thing the sweet thing always does. She wants to be helpful, so she jumps in even if she doesn't know what she'd doing. The oven temperature had not been turned down when the bread went in, which is supposed to happen as soon as the steam button is released. But of course, she doesn't know that, because I've been training Peter, not her, in ciabatta making.
I had long ago told her that she needed to be aware of everything going on, so that if one baker gets distracted with other business the dough making that was interrupted wouldn't be ruined. So she did as she thought she had been told. I now need to teach her how to interrupt me and remind me what's cooking, and ask for instructions. Poor girl. I can't figure it out. Is it because she isn't quite that bright?
Soon after that I went home. Yu Xiao Mei was cleaning the house. I remember this happened last week as well. Fortunately, she had started in the bedroom. She closes the cats in there while she cleans the rest of the house. I was able to go in there, close the door, and read until I fell asleep.
I slept a good sleep for a couple of hours, then got up, made a salad and watched a movie. I had no trouble going right back to sleep at 9 o'clock.
Rachel asked me to dinner at her house on Thursday night, because it was her birthday. I thought of all the things I had to do to prepare for the wine tasting event on Friday. Most of all, I needed to get to bed early and get a good night's sleep. She lives far outside of the city. I wanted to turn her down, but how could I? It was her birthday. She persuaded me that someone would be there with a car and could drive me home. A number of the other staff and teachers at Web would be there (all Chinese) and they were looking forward to sharing the evening with me.
If only I found it easier to fall asleep in the afternoons, like the Chinese do so easily. I'm going to have to work harder at getting adequate sleep. The thing is, it seems to me that soon I shall have to begin work at 6 a.m. so that we can open our doors earlier than 12 noon. The other thing that needs fixing is the afternoon slump. There is at least three hours in the afternoon when everyone sits down and plays on their computers. the baking is basically done, and afternoon walk-in customers are rare.
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