Monday 29th September, 2014                  1330

Yesterday I met the first of my new students. A class of thirty, three of whom are boys. They are not as yet particularly active although they are quite well behaved and their standard of English seems quite reasonable. Time will tell if there are any real outgoing characters in there.

I finished at noon and after collecting Pepsi Kevin and I went to have a cold one seeing as it was up around thirty degrees. We went to the “business street” where all the new restaurants have opened and sat outside at a table in the shade. Pepsi managed to find a small shrub to cower under whereas were she a normal dog she would have come and laid down by my feet! When he went off in search of a chicken burger I went to office number three to have a couple, whereupon I became so weary I decided once I left I would have to take a nap.

Said nap was ;punctuated by nightmares of all sorts and when the alarm went at 1800 I hadn’t a clue where I was or what day it was. All I did know was that I was hungry. Pepsi was treated to a second outing and I cruised on the bike past all the new restaurants looking for inspiration as to what to eat, I wasn’t keen on cooking for myself and anyway everything was still frozen. I found a little place that sells sushi so bought 30y of that on an assorted platter. A couple of them were disgusting to the taste but the rest were fine and it made a pleasantly alternative meal, especially as again I could sit outside and this time eat.

Needless to say, having had a kip, I couldn’t get to sleep before three this morning, resulting in my sitting here now almost as tired as I was yesterday! I must resist the urge to repeat as I have classes in the morning and need to be up and ready at a reasonable hour for my train on Wednesday. Today I had yesterday’s class again but instead of the meet and greet we had a proper lesson which went well. It seems odd that this year I will meet the majority of my new students a full month after they checked in at school but then that is due to the vagaries of the lunar calendar.

As my class ended at noon I was visited by first Carol and then Anna, who are both competing in the eliminators for the national speaking competition which are to be held in twenty minutes time. They both wanted me to listen to their speeches and Anna also wanted to record me delivering hers, Carol having done so before the cinema the other night. I had mistakenly thought today was Tuesday seeing as I taught Monday’s class yesterday and was convinced I would be teaching  but I realised that I was free so very shortly I will go off and show my support for them even though they are Kevin’s students.

It is raining here now, dismal after a few really lovely days, my gammon steak which has been in the freezer for two years is defrosting and I am determined to finally have it with chips, peas, egg and pineapple. I just hope I can eat half a pound of meat!

1830

Well the elimination heat for the competition is over. Yvonne never went through and neither did Anna but Carol was awarded quite high marks and so shall be at the school finals. Professor Fang’s assistant Jane asked me what I thought of the freshmen (who I presume she told to take part) and my answer could only be that I didn’t know which were freshmen and which were Kevin’s students as I have only met one class so far!

Tomorrow I need to make the decision as to whether to put Pepsi in custody or leave it until Wednesday morning. If the weather is fine then she is for early incarceration because it will give me a more leisurely morning before my train to pack and shower, plus I can eat in town before returning.

Right now I have a gammon steak begging to be cooked so I shall resume this tomorrow.

Tuesday 30th                  1930

The gammon and trimmings was indeed a rare treat, sadly given its cost I could get nowhere near polishing it off so that task fell to Pepsi who must have thought it was Christmas, having previously been given a meaty bone. Tonight in contrast dinner is baguette, cheese and pickle.

There were substantial numbers of students missing today (surprise surprise) as they sneaked off home early for the holiday. At least this time they told the truth and never invented headaches, fevers etc. It’s only taken them two years to grasp that I prefer honesty and I didn’t come down with the last shower of rain.

My plan to take Pepsi to the vets after class went astray the moment I rode to the morning class when I noticed the bike hadn’t charged overnight. The on/off switch on the extension had somehow gone to off so I charged it at lunchtime and then after my afternoon class put it on charge some more and waited. She is now locked in a cage and I went to RT Mart to buy drinks for the train and the hotel along with the baguette and some gouda. The only cheeses they do are burger slices, gouda and emmental.

The reason for the baguette was not to be tonight’s dinner (however I didn’t want to waste half of it so that’s what it became) but something for the journey. Having tried a revolting and expensive train meal previously, I thought that as I am going to be in transit for eleven hours it would be wise to have something with me. I doubt I will want to go for dinner when I arrive at 2200 tomorrow. Anyway, just as I got back to campus the bike slowed drastically, something it never has before, so I just managed to limp back. I will take the rubbish out later and double check that it is still charging!

So later I will leave myself a list of things to pack in the suitcase in the morning so I don’t forget anything  and get a sensibly earlyish night.