Back again! My Mum came to visit me here in Karamay this week and I don't think I've ever been so pleased to see that woman in my entire life. She was freaking out so much on Skype just before leaving for China and asked me to meet her at her hotel at 10am on the 5th. When I met her at the hotel I hugged her for about a minute and I'm not ashamed to admit I got a little teary-eyed at her being here. Not as much as her though, f***, she filled up the Yangtze River! It was so surreal seeing my Mum in China - she's never even left Europe before - nevermind the middle-of-nowhere place I'm living in. I'll let you readers, and Mum so she can comment saying how amazed and excited she was to be in such an exotic part of the world, know what we did together for the week.

Now, Karamay is a wonderful city; it's very clean, it's rich, it's not too big or scary and it's got some beautiful attractions. To look at, that is. As far as actually doing things goes, there's very little to offer outside of sports which aren't exactly my Mum's cup of tea. A nice cup of tea is more her cup of tea. Thankfully, there are loads of things for a tourist to see in Karamay if they have the right guide to show them around, a la me. Before I did show my Mum the sights however, we decided to go and play hardcore-no-scrubs-allowed laser tag at this sick little place in Baijiantan (neighbouring town to Karamay) that our friends Alberto - think his Chinese name was Cheng guo li - and Big Zam - totally forgotten his Chinese name - showed us. I think I made a blog post about that? If not, I'll describe the first time Callum and I went with Alberto and Big Zam; Big Zamalam Pyjama-ram knew the owner of the place and managed to bag us like 2 hours of playtime for 50rmb - that's about £4.50. And there was none of that no running bulls*** here, no sir, this place was basically Counter Strike in real life. Badass guns, badass hit detection suits, badass army helmets/terrorist hats and a badass abandoned complex to run around and set up strategies in. So much fun.

Forgot to mention that Callum's parents and little sister, Chloe, came down as well which allowed us to play a 3 vs 3 deathmatch against each other. I don't remember how long we played for, but I do remember my Mum being total garbage at it. Doesn't matter though, I guess. She had lots of fun despite the fact. Laser tag also helped the two of us bond a little bit with Callum's family. Nothing says 'I want to get to know you' any better than blasting their faces off with an assault rifle. After guns we all had a nice wee dinner with Will's family. I've said it already, but I'll say it again: Will's family are the best. They're just the best. Sorry all other contenders for the rank of the best, you've been bested. It was great chatting with Callum's family and finding out a bit about them and who they were. Callum's Mum, Sandra, is probably the sweetest woman I have ever met and Chloe is hilarious. She took the piss out of Callum so much. Also Callum's Dad's hot. Gimme a slice of that beefcake please.

Ahem...I spent the rest of the week showing my Mum all around Karamay; giving her a taste of the food, letting her see the markets and stalls, the monuments and such. She seemed to adore the markets and took pictures of just about everything. It was cute to watch, but at the same time it made me think about how I must have looked when I first arrived. Apart from being a man and being a little thinner than my Mum (don't hurt me, Mum it was a joke. I'm sorry, I love you.) I don't think there would have been much difference. It was strange seeing that. It made me realise how far I've come this year. I showed Mum the Mars-like world that is the Desert and we had some fun making jokes while wandering around the Desert, looking for the reservoir. We also spent a few days having a lovely walk around Century park, both the main garden-esque bit and the waterfront. There was something soulful about just taking a walk while chatting with my Mum. It made me think of how she must have done the exact same thing with me when I was very small, way back when we still lived in Strathaven and in the early days of Riverside. My mother, the figure of control, order and guidance along the mysterious, winding path and I, the child, trustingly and unquestioningly following along in wonder and awe. I couldn't help but feeling on these blissful walks in Century park that time had somehow caused these roles to be swapped around and I didn't know if this made me want to cheer, or if it made me want to break down and cry. I did a lot of thinking this week, whoops.

At the end of every day, when all the sightseeing, consumption of food and buying of souvenirs/more food had been completed, I would spend around half an hour drinking tea and talking about the days events, what my Mum had done in China prior to her coming to Karamay (she was on one of those package holidays), what she would do afterwards and just general stuff that had happened in the UK whilst I was gone. I think this was one of my favourite parts of the week because it gave me a chance to reflect on everything we had done and how incredible it was that just days before we were on separate sides of the world and then, in the blink of an eye, we were both leisurely sat in a couple of mediocre hotel chairs drinking green tea. This was a really good week. The week is over now and I had to get up at 6am to see my Mum off. Her plane was really early, I guess. Also, Mum's guide had a weird thing for me. She was 30. No. I hugged my Mum for a solid minute, once again, but managed to hold back tears this time. And, as I sit here writing this, I have to admit I feel somewhat cavernous at the moment. I suppose I'm sad that she's left again. I keep telling myself that I'll see her again in only a few months, but the empty feeling remains. So, that's it for today's entry. I'm sorry that there's no cheery end note to it this time, but I just don't feel like writing one. So...see y'all next time.

NAH, f*** THAT! POO! POOPY POO BUTTS IN A SMELLY POOP CHAIR FILLED WITH FRANKS, FRANKLINS AND BENJAMINS! AND BENJAMIN FRANKLINS! AND BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: THE LEGEND OF FRANK!

I love you, Mum.

And I love you, guys too.

As always, remember to stay beautiful, you cool cats!