Found out at the last minute that this was my last week of lessons! I planned to play Musical Chairs and get students to write on my shirt. Only thing I was missing was white shirts to be written on – cue Paris from next door to the rescue! We wandered the markets hunting a price we liked for several hours until we got lucky. My students got into the games and once someone was out I let them choose the playlist. I was given a random assortment of lovely gifts, some even handmade, and asked by several students to sign their uniforms. Hope they don’t get into trouble – I was using permanent marker.

Cindy took me shopping for a traditional Uighur shirt on Friday – it’s light and beautifully embroidered; something to cherish. That evening I joined Tom and Kieran in going to dinner with a student (not from our school) who turned out to be a sweet lad with an adoration of One Direction and British Accents, and near fluency in spoken English.

Tom and I arranged a weekend of meals. We wanted to cook for friends we’d made over the course of the year, as well as English teachers from our school, so we invited the two groups over on Saturday and Sunday. The menu was roast chicken (and veg) as well as pasta in a tomato sauce of my own devising (onion + tomato paste + several tomatoes, eggs and some Russian cheese I found in the fridge). I have no idea what Tom did to the chicken (breasts, because an entire chicken would not fit inside our oven, let alone cook in the time we had), but it was fantastic; tender and full of taste.

Becca arrived in time to see off Saturday’s guests and help on Sunday, the morning of which was spent collecting train tickets to Fuhai for a visit and then visiting Black Oil Hill, Karamay’s most popular tourist attraction. ‘Hill’ is very generous but the bubbling pools of oil are intriguing – we enjoyed prodding one with a stick. The site is finished with a statue of a guitar-toting, camel-riding Uighur merchant credited with the discovery (and original sale) of oil in the area. A nice story!

The teachers’ meal was just as good and was a nice way, I think, for us to even begin to thank them for their kindness and support this year. Whenever we had any difficulties they were on hand to help – and it didn’t feel like they were doing it just because it was their job (which, for some of them, it wasn’t), but because they’re lovely and generous people. After the meal we visited Nine Dragon Pond, the start of the Karamay River promenade, lit up spectacularly at night, with Mrs. Ge and Bunny. After that, Mrs. Ge even gave Becca and me a lift to the station for the train to Fuhai.

We spent two days in Fuhai, spent relaxing, day tripping and eating Pollo (including a new variant topped with dumplings). At the end of our visit, and Kieran’s time in Fuhai, Kieran’s waiban, headmaster and English department threw a banquet then saw us onto our train. Kieran jumped off in Karamay, while Becca and I reached Kuitun at around 4am. We passed the early hours visiting her old apartment and befriending an exceedingly cute stray dog; as the sun rose between the buildings, we sat and watched a park come to life with exercise groups, tai chi, and swordsmanship. Then to her old school to visit Sue, her old waiban before the move to Heilongjiang, who took us for lunch.

That evening was a last meal with the other foreigners in Karamay to celebrate Tyler’s birthday, and then a fun-filled evening between several bars and food outlets, getting in very late for our final departure the next morning (cue hectic packing).

—TJC

Featured image: (some of) Karamay’s Foreign population at our farewell meal.