Thursday, 9^th May 2019 0100

Sunday was a “catch up” day for the Friday classes we never had due to the four-day break. I detest catch up days and would far prefer to simply work as normal, with the exception of the official holiday days. However, this is not done for the benefit of the teachers but the students, who, with three or four days off on the trot, often take the opportunity to go home.

Fridays I have one morning class and one afternoon class. The afternoon class simply did not turn up. I am perfectly happy to be given extra time off for whatever reason provided I am still paid, and indeed I got to leave for home just after 1500 once I had interrogated the school by text as to what was going on. Do you know what pissed me off? Not the fact that the class were patently never going to show but the fact they could have told me beforehand so I could have cluttered off home instead of sitting around for three hours in vain!

There was no Marlow Monday this week. Today is my birthday and I shall later be taking Annie and Alice downtown for a meal, hence the lateness of this post, I would rather wake later than 0600 or 0700 in order not to want to hit the hay too early tonight.

Yesterday could have gone either way. You may recall my first class last week saw me walk out when they emulated a graveyard? It may possibly go against everything some of the readers think (but it should be remembered that my classes do not form part of the curriculum and the school has effectively fired me shortly) but I have to say it worked! Suddenly the worst class became the most active! I really enjoyed it and I hope they came to realise that by bringing vibrancy to the classroom they enjoy it too.

Yesterday morning though I had a text from Janet. Where are you? Can you come to my office? Now I never switched my phone on until 1100 and she sent it an hour before but I replied I was at home because my classes never started until 1430. Here we go, thought I, they are going to question me about the walkouts before the Labour holiday! I was though perfectly ready to admit having done so and providing reasons why, after all, what can they do? Fire me again??

Nope, it was to tell me (this time early) that my class on Friday afternoon is cancelled – the same class that never turned up on Sunday. I am guessing they have an upcoming show they are rehearsing for, shame because they are actually the best class, but at least I can leave at noon on Friday, I won't turn down that. And this time I know in advance.

Now I have in the past year moaned that I never had any term-time holidays because they were always scheduled for days I never worked anyway. Well, in my last term here it seems despite all the worry and misery that has knocked on my door of late, I am getting the rub of the green. It worries me that I may be due another apocalyptic event.

Early finish Friday and yesterday I learnt the sports days are next Wed/Thur/Fri and were I so inclined and had the money to travel, I have another almost two weeks off! As it happens I shall probably as usual put in appearances on all the sports days even though it is not necessary and I have been given the tin. I may even compete in the teachers' event, to which end tonight I started a little physiotherapy to loosen my left arm. I may even demand assistance for a little “torture” from the two girls over the coming days so I can give a good account of myself. Just because I am almost certainly leaving does not mean I should leave a bad impression, should it?

And do you know, it's May and our communal heating was turned off on April Fool's. I still have my fan heater on when I am at home constantly, today the high was 12°C when in Chizhou it was double that! Even Marlow was a few degrees higher! Quite why I am resigning myself to another three years in the Arctic is all down to the problems of getting work permits and jobs over the age of sixty!