Monday 9th October, 2017                2145

First day back after Golden Week and all was not well.

When I left home it was raining slightly, didn’t really need one but I took a brolly. When I got to the campus entrance road I was amazed to see the cars all covered in white - it had snowed during the night. Suddenly I regretted only wearing a fleece, it was plainly not enough.

The school minibus gets more ridiculous each week, this morning we ended up with four people without seats, one sitting on a lap and three on the floor. Whether due to my frame, my age, being foreign or perhaps they know if I get no seat I will simply refuse, I know not but at least I was given one, albeit one of the awful fold-down ones with virtually no back. I shudder to think of the carnage were we to have a collision. In fact that bus should be scrapped, even with a “comfortable” seat I arrive and alight like a geriatric.

From there the day just went downhill. The students don’t have the book yet, nor I have just learnt do the Peili campus students. The Peili lot ARE English majors and I am assured they will have books next week and that is not a problem, with English majors it is far easier to concoct a lesson but with the others it is simply a case of “teacher does all the talking” because they are mute in class unless they are chatting to their neighbour in Chinese. Especially annoying as the campus knows where to buy the books having done so previously and also had 3 months to do it. Peili told the students to buy their own online as it is cheaper and I understand that. Plus they only had a fortnight.

Then the classroom computer did an excellent impression of Norman Collier. All last term I complained, the IT guy came loads of times and got it working after a fashion and buggered off. Nothing was ever done. Today he finally admitted he could do nothing. Today Janet informed the leader. It is madness, I went looking for another room with a working set and before I found one, set myself up with everything working perfectly. Except not one student thought to tell me that there was nothing showing on the screen! There was no projector!

Someone tell me why it is so much trouble to simply take the tower from there and swap it for mine?

Oh yes, and I still don’t have a login for the school network although the IT man logged me in using his details. His ID was too long to memorise and of course the password was hidden. I will make a nuisance of myself again on Friday. I am really not enjoying the 4.5 hour breaks even with computer access. It’s almost worth spending an hour and a half on public transport to have a couple of hours at home and return again.  

So that was my day - how was yours??