Boxing day 2012                 1730

There’s nothing quite like going to work on Boxing Day after an alcohol fuelled Christmas night out. Even worse, you may recall I thought I would escape having to teach this weekend to make up for having next Wednesday and Thursday off? Remind me not to be so popular with my students. Both the classes I am supposed to teach on Saturday want me to find them a multimedia room and show the The Kings Speech! Great, I have seen it already and now have sit through it twice more on the same day!

Just to make it worse, today was appallingly cold with wind, rain and sleet - definitely a trip on the bus tomorrow because I simply cannot handle this sort of temperature any more. I was even frozen stiff in the classrooms so I am seriously considering at some stage buying a small but powerful convection heater to take with me to lessons.

This afternoon’s class comprised exams and indeed aside from Saturday the rest of my time until Friday next week will be the same. However this afternoon saw the oral test for “Bonnet”, real adopted English name Mickey. Of all my students she is the biggest problem. Not because she behaves badly but because she never contributes, when I ask her a direct question she just looks at the deck. The last lesson I caught her doing her homework for another lesson for goodness sake! Rather than revenge, this was a perfect opportunity to deliver that boot up the backside, and that’s exactly what I did in what I like to think was the correct and caring manner. The upshot was that I told her by rights I should fail her but wouldn’t if she promised me to take part in my classes next semester. She promised and I informed her she would get a really low mark, although I in return promised her it would be just sufficient for a pass. Now a student in England would take it on the chin and think themselves lucky but not here. “It’s not enough she said. Quite right, said I, so it’s up to you to improve your marks next semester”. Somehow I don’t think she was expecting that response!

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As for feeding the pets tinned food - that was the first and last time. Little Lottie was the only one who even tried to eat it and the rest went out of the window ten minutes ago. There is a school of thought which says cats are not capable of plotting revenge on their human servants but I would like them to come and live in my home for a while. My lot, if not fed properly, wreak havoc and destruction during sleeping hours, for I awoke this morning to find my room carpeted with Twinings tea bags. One of them had managed to dislodge the folded cardboard I use to keep the cupboard door wedged - thankfully none of the other stuff such as food ingredients suffered and I was able to salvage all bar six bags.

I went out with Pepsi half an hour ago for my shopping and it wasn’t raining then but was by the time we came back. And yes, bitterly cold. When I got back home I emptied my coat pockets and was confused by an alien set of keys. I have absolutely no idea how they got into my pocket but shortly thereafter I received a garbled call regarding them followed by a pause and then Yvonne coming on the phone to explain her classmate had lost her keys and did I have them? They came a short while ago to reclaim them but I am still none the wiser as to how they came to be in my possession. It is of course entirely possible that I am going slowly and not so quietly insane here.

I also made another loaf of bread tonight, this time following the same recipe as Kevin does, including using butter instead of oil and milk powder. It is still on the heavy side so I am at a loss and can only think that possibly it is the fault of the flour. He buys it for 24y per 5kgs and I have been buying the most expensive at 35y - maybe therein lies the problem. I WILL find out even if it kills me.