Well, not exactly: it is Hefei but the above is a good way to
pronounce it, minus the extra 'her's.
Hefei is the capital city of Anhui province, where Wuhu lies.
Remember Wuhu? That was where I wanted to go to kick off my travel season.
Woohoo! That is how that city's name is pronounced. I anticipate writing a
wonderful entry about my exploits in Wuhu. It will have to wait.
Hefei first came to light when Sam told me of an invitation
he received from a publishing house. Our school buys most of its textbooks from
them and they were sponsoring a customer appreciation junket. Teachers from
schools all over the country were going. Sam was our institution's designee
because of all the hard work he does... or maybe he was the most available.
Other teachers travel and/or go to their hometowns during the summer. Sam is
stuck here because, as opposed to our faculty members who intermarry, his Penny
is not a teacher. She must continue working. Sam whiles his summertime away by
playing Daddy Day Care.
He just sent me a text message: he is fed up with being
full-time Daddy. He just cracks me up!
Upon his return from Hefei he told me all about the wonders
of that town and his time there. I got the itch. At some point this summer I
should go to Hefei. It met all the qualifications: I've never been there, it is
easily accessible and welcomes foreigners. I loosely penciled it in for
sometime after my Shanghai-Hangzhou-Shenzhen-Guangzhou tour... which, as you
know by now stopped at Hangzhou.
Hefei manifested itself again on the way to Shanghai: the
train stopped there. My thoughts on visiting
grew sharper. However, as you might know from the few preceding entries,
upon returning home from my last, disastrous round of visiting I declared I had
had my fill of traveling for the nonce and quite frankly did not want to board
another train or visit with anyone else any time soon.
Now graduated student/friend Martin – he of Country
Chicken/City Chicken fame (see eponymous entry posted August of last year) sent
a message: would I consider traveling with him? We had talked about it idly in
the past, in the tone of 'yeah, it would
be great but probably won't come to pass'. After the hell-trip I was
still recovering from, the very last thing I want to do is travel with yet
another person who feels compelled to tell me what to do and eat. But he was
going to Suzhou...
Suzhou also lies in Anhui province, north of Hefei. That
train I rode to Shanghai also went through Suzhou, and Gary touted the beauty
of the place. How could I resist?
Maybe I am a glutton for punishment. I am now in possession
of a train ticket to Suzhou for 5 days from now. Martin will go with me,
initially to sightsee but actually to find a job. He has already started
counseling me about which train to take...
What about Wuhu?
I've not forgotten. I will start this trip with Martin but will leave him behind and go to Hefei by
myself. Wuhu lies just below Hefei. I can take a bus there. See? All's well
that ends well, and WooHoo! is on the horizon.
Stay tuned...
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