Monday 17th February, 2014            2000

Back to work today and my goodness what a wrench. Despite my intention of getting an early night I wasn’t tired enough until two and had to get up at eight. That took monumental effort I can tell you. In fact I am half asleep now and the hell of it is that I don’t need to wake until midday tomorrow.

My first class was my best one, the ones who helped me move but as today has been freezing and wet and no aircon was fitted in the holiday, today I had to conduct classes all togged up. The second class was one of my larger three year lots but as I don’t have a proper lesson the first class back from a long holiday it wasn’t so bad. Just as well I don’t do a proper lesson as they have no course book for this term. I have given them the option of choosing their own topics or simply carrying on with units from previous books we never covered. Up to them as long as they let me know what they decide by the weekend.

Even today nobody has been paid still and from memory this is the latest it has ever been. I have told Cinny something needs to be done fast because I am down to 240y (two days survival money)and after that I starve.  I have a very small amount in my UK account after twice withdrawing sums because of precisely this but I fail to see why I should have to yet again plunder it, especially as the school is now back up and running. If we are not paid tomorrow then my complaints will be escalated. I am supposed to be treating Linda to a Japanese on Wednesday and it’s my turn to pay.

I did have one ray of sunshine in an otherwise dismal day (both weatherwise and personally) in that I bumped into Joanna as I was about to come home from the campus shops. She is only here for two weeks and then will leave until her graduation in June. I will be sure to take her to dinner at least once before she leaves but if I am honest the thought of her leaving gives me melancholy. I will miss her dreadfully. And I wish I was thirty years younger.

Tomorrow a downpour is forecast but at least Kevin has taken his class back from me so I only have the one early afternoon lot. We currently have some confusion because one of his students told him his two Wednesday morning classes are my old students. Naturally he was hoping I would take them from him (as it stands I have 12 lessons a week as against his 18 although after 7 weeks that will reduce to 14) but despite his protestations I am adamant they must be his because their start date was 2011 and my two sets started in 2010 and 2012 so as far as I am concerned they are his. The trouble is, we can’t figure out who they are so we will only know on Wednesday morning. I hope they are his because if I have to reclaim them there goes my free Wednesday! Watch this space.

Tuesday 18th          1915

Well the forecast deluge transmogrified into snow. Thankfully by the time I had to teach after lunch it had started to thaw and cars had made clear tracks I could ride my bike on without falling over.

Sadly though Linda has begged off from tomorrow night (usual excuses, it’s too cold and she has a cold) but I am sure we will go for dinner at a later date, for some reason she does like me and it is always her that asks me out rather than the reverse.

The pay saga just gets better. Apparently the school remitted the monies to the bank yesterday - still five days late - but I still haven’t been paid. Even betterer, I now find Kevin and Ollivier have been paid so I am probably the only one who hasn’t! If it’s not in my account tomorrow then I may well stage a sit-in at the accounts department.