Thursday 19^th September, 2019 1300

Having been badgered to organise my catch up classes and arranging them for next Friday, I was then told the students would be too busy that day and I should leave them until after the national holiday. As is often the case, there are also catch up classes as a result of the holiday but the bonus for me is that I have no Friday classes to make up, so I shall do them next Sunday instead, before we have a week off. The crazy thing is, I have to catch up again on Saturday 12^th October and then see them again two days later on the Monday!

During the break on my second class today I saw some photocopied photos on a corridor wall. I guessed what they were there for but asked a student for confirmation. They were pictures of messy dormitories! Worse, the number of the dorm and names of the occupants were posted in the Hall of Shame! I don't know about you but that just seems plain wrong.

Friday 20^th 1430

The classes for pronunciation actually went quite well, Jody came to be nosey and ended up leaving after twenty minutes but not before telling me she would come regularly to my classes. I can't be doing that badly then if a teacher wants to attend......

And now, I hope I am not tempting fate.

With Joan having made herself unavailable for next summer, I asked the person I would most like to come away with me – Joanna. I knew perfectly well she would say “no” but you could have pushed me over with your pinkie when she actually told me she would book her annual leave of six days plus two weekends, ten days in total, and come away with me!

I never saw that coming in a million years. I told her I wanted to go to Sri Lanka and also go on safari to see elephants and she was fine with that. But my mind told me she had a preferred option, so I gave her the chance to pick where we go. The choice was Ceylon or England. Sri Lanka, flying up front, elephants, leopards, monkeys or England economy (I'm hardly Bill Gates!) and fish and chips, probably Premier Inn too.

You already know what she opted for, she wants to see my hometown and go shopping.

So provided she can get a visa, it looks as though I shall be back in Blighty next year after a seven year absence. And I will remain on 48 countries. With her I am hopeful of the visa, for starters she has been to Thailand and returned to China (the British embassy loves the Catch 22 of using the fact you've never been anywhere else first so cannot be trusted without a dozen visas for other countries in your passport) and her company's head office is in London and she is sure they will sponsor her.

I hope I haven't jinxed it and that for once my plans do not go awry. Melton Mowbray pork pie, anyone??