Monday 8th October, 2012         2200

Just one class for a double lesson this morning - slightly different to tomorrow’s three classes/six lessons. As yet though the military training commencing on Wednesday is still on schedule so I am looking forward to some relaxation for 12 days come five o’clock tomorrow.

Pepsi seems to be improving with the exception of her lower left jaw, which she must have scratched like blazes as this morning it looked as if she had cut herself shaving. I slapped a load of ointment on it and will continue to do so - at least until Thursday when she is going for another jab at the vets. Robin yet again does not want to come home (except during the day for a nap) and last night a Chinese teacher asked me if I had “forbidden” her to come to my home. No!!!! That’s how rumours start and probably despite my putting the record straight it is now a “fact” all over campus.

I tried to have a siesta this afternoon but just as I was dropping off there was a knock at my door. I ignored it expecting a repeat and it to be Kevin but once the cats had stopped growling and Pepsi had stopped yapping I tried to nod off again in vain. When I asked Kevin tonight if it was him he told me it wasn’t and that some strange Chinese chap had also woken him up. He guessed that he had lost his child and was searching for it. What the hell would I want a foreign tot in my room for? I already have a puppy that shits and pees in here without compounding it with human excretia!

Anyway, I am dog tired tonight, two lovely and meaty bones are cooking for Pepsi (pity Robin chose to eat scraps overnight) and then I have some skewers to reheat for myself. Definitely a night to be asleep before midnight.

Tuesday 9th        1230

Lunch break with one class down and two to go. It is such a lovely day today that despite the size of my next class - forty - I may well split them into groups and take them outside. Regardless, I am sure that by the time five o’clock arrives I will be heartily glad. Tomorrow all I have to do is attend the speaking competition. As I have explained before, only Chinese teachers get to judge the contestants, native Englishmen aren’t qualified to tell which are the best speakers, however we are tasked to ask one question each of the speakers. At least this year we have managed to convince the powers to let us have copies of the speeches in advance so we aren’t frantically trying to think the questions up in advance, however I have a strong suspicion I have been given the originals and nobody else bar the competitors have copies!

Wednesday 10th       2245

Well we had our speaking competition. Kevin left “disappointed”, I on the other hand left utterly disgusted. Four students go through to the provincial finals to compete for a chance to represent their province at the national finals in Beijing - two from English majors and two from non-English majors. The non-English winner was absolutely dire and during the question times for both Kevin and I - where they are supposed to speak for between one and two minutes - the “winner” waffled on so much that Kevin felt compelled to cut her short. I asked a simple question and still the contestant waffled interminably. I tried to catch their eye to give a silent “time out” signal to no avail, resulting in Prof Fang doing it instead. Yet they won. The winner of the English majors was good, so good in fact that they deserved to come second and still go to the provincial finals. But never in a million years nearly a full four points clear of the person who stood head and shoulders above every other contestant in the room. That one came second.

Kevin has lodged a complaint (and I stand with him) and there will be an investigation. Nothing will happen of course because doubtless when the judges’ voting slips are asked for they will have been disposed of conveniently. This happened at the last contest (same two contestants) when three of five judges (Kevin and I were for once asked to score) scored one higher than the other yet two other judges apparently differed so widely with us that it ended up with an identical result to today. The people collating the scores and averages just happen to be students. Make of that what you will but I am becoming increasingly of the opinion that the students charged with the task are blatantly falsifying the scores the judges give to skew the result. I simply can’t believe that teachers here are doing it because it is in the university’s best interests to send the likeliest candidates through as our ambassadors. Ok, so number two who should have been number one will still go and in case anyone is wondering if I have a special attachment to either of them the answer is a resounding “no”. They have both been taught by me and Kevin, and although he might, despite attempts not to, be tempted towards bias I most certainly have no such conflict.

Later I sent a message to the number two, who was thinking of refusing to go to the provincial final in protest (and I understand completely the emotion) that they should go even if only to prove the point that in front of people judging who are completely independent they ARE the best this school has to offer. I firmly believe number two has the potential to even make it to Beijing if they work at it.

My suggestion alongside Kevin’s protests will be that if they must have students collating then the score sheets should be then referred for scrutiny - hell, I don’t need a calculator to add up five marks and then divide by five to get an average in seconds so I would be happy to do it. What I am not happy about is being part of a sham like today again if the format remains the same.

Rant over, but assuredly today is not the end of this little episode.