Until recently, it has been to other people that Life's inevitabilities happen. It is other people that go abroad and live in conditions of near-squalor as the opportunity cost for earning more money to return home with. Until recently, that is.

After Reverend XP (Xiaoyan Pang) and her husband made hand-me-downs of us to new management, the first thing the money god demanded was us re-defining our sense of what is "tolerable" for us as semi-migrant African workers in over-populated we-make-everything China.

After we were expelled from Zhangjiakou for refusing to wear any less clothes than the shortest costumes we already have, our first abode became an address-less place in a Kisenyi called Huilongguan. Only after a visit to a police station did we learn the village's name, Qilubei in Changping district. Police station details later on.

Day one involved scrubbing our bedsitters,and going through the rituals of moving into a new place. These are the sort so close to each other that if neighbours don't play their radio loud, you can hear sound effects of late-night shows through the walls.
On day Two we learned that if we wanted in-house internet and a washing machine without having to wait for our boss to be in a genial mood, then we had to move into his old place, and clean again.

Even in Uganda I've never shifted house more times in a year than I have in the space of one month in "outside countries". Nor do I imagine I will, if future plans to only move into my own space come to fruition. ah, Life's little jokes!! We wryly commented that our visas should have read "Cleaner" status if this was a sign of things to come.

The day we got internet we also officially renamed his/our house Kisowera Zone, what with black toilet flies literally turning our celing black and forcing us to evacuate the house after hosing them down with insecticide!!

Internet made life less dreary, and after we found a place to shoot pool with the village ragamuffins, our existence seemed as good as it would get. That is, until the "other people" syndrome re-occurred.

Urban legend has it that dates with funny maths are quirky. 2010-06-06 is one I won't easily forget, least because it was the first time I was shaken awake on a Sunday and greeted with the words "Where is your passport?" which sounds harsher in Chinese.

The policeman who did this had intercepted a friend who had gone to buy beef for our lunch.

He walked out after we told him to talk to our Boss next door, and assumed the issue was finished. Thus we began peeling potatoes, only for the policeman to return and ask the shopaholic to leave them as is, and escort him to "help with investigations".

In a moment he returned for the rest of us, and off we went with our unwashed faces and empty bellies.

The circus did not let up till 4 hours later after we saw the nice cells (called Civilian Security Dorms here) where we would be put the next time we overlook the Chinese law for aliens within 24 hours of arrival to register their presence with the Police anywhere they will spend more than 24hours.

Luckily for us,the Police this way dont ask for empaabi, ennyambi and engassi (various names of bribes),so with a written statement of penitence and a warning for being first-time offenders, we were let go of,  just in time to sprint to a show some miles away.

Who was it that sang "Easy Like Sunday Morning?"
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