Saturday 2nd March, 2013            1830

This going to bed early lark isn’t working! Maybe I should try going to sleep really late and then I might possibly be able to catch up in my breaks as the students do!

I still haven’t gotten used to how changeable the weather can be here. Lovely and warm Thursday, chucking down rain Friday and back to freezing today for my ride to town. I thought I had seen the last of my long johns for a while. On the way in I had a rather amusing traffic incident. Near to town there is a crossroads with traffic lights. The vast majority of cars turn right and here of course they can do so against the lights. There are three lanes, one each for turning left, going straight on or turning right. I go straight on.

Quite why China subjects learner drivers to a test is a mystery for surely once they pass they instantly disregard everything they learnt. I could see a car approaching in my mirror in the middle lane (for straight on) and in plenty of time positioned myself in said lane. The lights turned red and so I stopped. As I braked the car sounded its horn and came to a rapid stop close behind me and with the indicator blinking right. The driver had obviously intended to go wide of me and then cross my bow (could have been naughty had the lights been green) but now found himself too close to me to swing round. Doing what drivers here do without thinking, he simply sounded his horn continuously for me to move ahead and cross the stop line so he could then get into the lane he should have been in and make his turn. I never moved, which must have irked him a little and I was a shade disappointed that another car hadn’t arrived behind him to box him in, for he was in the end - after he realised I wasn’t budging - obliged to reverse first before altering course to starboard.

Two classes and finished just before twelve. Clearly the first day for many of the students because the entrance was populated by parents so I earnt my keep by simply showing up and justifying the higher fees charged as opposed to the schools who don’t boast a genuine laowei. Having had a chat with the owner at the meal last week regarding Chinese teachers sitting in my classes it would seem it will continue and I hope it does, I enjoy it far more when I don’t want to strangle the kids.

Lunch at KBW was busy but I managed to bag a table before getting my food by draping my coat over a seat. It didn’t have much effect though because a man plonked himself down while I was being served although when I got to the table I managed to move him to the opposite side. Unfortunately for me though said table was right next to the food queue. This rather turned me into something akin to a winning contestant on a Bruce Forsyth show where the conveyor belt brings prizes past and you have to remember them to win them. Pretty girl green coat, old man black jacket, cuddly kid etc only the difference is that the prizes gawp at you as they go past.  

Anyway I went to Lottemart afterwards and as planned bought some new trainers. Instead of going for the cheaper ones this time I splashed out. I couldn’t get black and so settled on khaki ones which resemble hiking boots priced at 379y. I had a result at the till because they were marked down to 310y and I simply hope they last twice as long as the sort I normally buy otherwise I will go back to cheapies. I didn’t buy much food because I don’t have freezer room but I did buy some spuds. I may just dine high off the hog on roast potatoes tomorrow if I can be bothered. Not much of a dinner perhaps but as I haven’t had any for thirty months if they turn out ok I will be quite content.

Sunday 3rd     1600

What a lovely day and the promise of more to come. Hopefully it will not be long before I can safely consign my coat and my jumpers to the wardrobe and not have to think twice about whether I can face riding to town. I have come to love the hot weather with the freedom it gives me to just ride out anywhere at any time.

Has the day been productive? Certainly not unless you count cleaning my oven so I can do my roast spuds. I also remembered I have two Chinese sausages - similar to Hungarian ones - hanging in a wardrobe, so I will cook them as well and if I like them I will eat them with the potatoes.

As for Stinky’s shower I have decided to give up on trying to cure her myself. Instead the plan is to bite the bullet and take her to town, probably on Tuesday, and let the vet give her a bath and start another course of injections. It will cost but she is my responsibility and although she is not actually suffering (I cleared up all the raw patches) she looks rather moth-eaten and threadbare. It’s bad enough that people must think I thrash her to within an inch of her life on a daily basis as she is so timid without compounding it with assuming I don’t look after her welfare - even if some of them would rather stir fry her than look after her.

So tomorrow is the start (and a brutal one at that) to my first full week of my extended timetable. Classes all the way through from 0820 to 1510. 2200 has now become the new midnight for me!

I had a call from the children’s school owner earlier. He was wrestling with a question in an example paper for an English exam for primary school children. It was a cloze question (yes, look it up - I never knew there was such a word until a year ago!) as follows:

They were good friends. They were very good w_____ kids.

I confess that hearing it over the phone left me stumped so I said I would get back to him. After a while, having toyed with “willing” and “well behaved” among others I realised they were too advanced for that level of student and eventually the light bulb above my head lit up with the answer. I sent it to him and received the reply that “they were very good with kids” didn’t make sense. Of course it wouldn’t to a non-native speaker probably but it fits perfectly!

Right, that’s it for now. I need to start dreaming up some Mr & Mrs type questions for my first activities starting on Tuesday. I also need to think about organising my internet food shopping list for Joanna to order. I won’t go mad because I am determined to save at least 1,000y this month but I like to keep a good supply of cat litter and the last of the summer’s cheese has gone decidedly dry - now that pineapples are here again I could do with a nice fresh block of cheddar.