Apologies once again for the break but I really have been incredibly busy. At least the cough has scarpered.
Besides working on a self-assessment of my teaching year in 2013 (another thing I suspect which is down to the impending inspection, seeing as we have never been asked before) I have been translating Chinglish to English as well. Easy enough but when you can’t open the file you are sent and can’t edit the file itself it presents a problem. Even when I managed to open, copy and paste, tidy it all up and then send it back from whence it came, it lost all its format! The problem was that with my not being a geek I was using Works which is apparently “so last century”. It took a while to download something suitable (our internet is still up and down like a whore’s drawers) and then of course I had to learn how to use it. In addition I now have to think up kids activities for both indoors and outdoors.
I was asked for suggestions by the small school which in fairness, some they already do but I wasn’t aware of and some they have now adopted, one of which was taking the kids out in good weather. Last weekend that met with mixed results. The first class had naughty boys who just wanted to climb walls but the second really put some effort into the role play I set them. Yesterday though I was downtown all day because the owner wanted me to double up due to my absence the following weekend when I go to Nanjing. I found some outside activities but also looked at the weather forecast, which for once was correct. It bucketed yesterday - thankfully not when I rode in and rode back - and so it was just as well I had prepared stuff for indoors as well. Another of my suggestions was that I am useless at teaching Chinese children. This is completely true. I don’t speak Chinese and the teachers they already have do a pretty good job. Add to that the fact that as soon as I walk into a classroom there are chants of “play a game!” and you get the drift. Ergo, the school has abandoned any pretence of my actually teaching and now simply want me to play the games!
So yesterday poor old Pepsi was locked in from eight till five whilst I languished in town for a nigh on four hour lunch break before the afternoon classes. As it turned out, I used most of the four hours (and spent a lot of money!) by having lunch, buying medicine, shopping, getting my glasses fixed (which broke in one of the morning lessons) and on the spur going to the bike repair shop.
Some time ago I took Yvonne somewhere on the bike and she managed to bust the bull bars. Not her fault entirely as they weren’t particularly robust. This has meant that the bars constantly rattled when the bike was in motion. Eventually they deteriorated so much I ended up ripping a section off, leaving the machine resembling an e-bike version of an old banger and it’s only 7 months old. For the princely sum of 280y they removed the rest and fitted a new set which is far stronger and has proper fold down footrests for the passenger. What with the forthcoming trip I will not be saving anything this month.
On Thursday I took Yvonne to the German restaurant (see photos), the first time I have been there for well over a year. We don’t go there purely because of the expense - Thursday night cost me 450y for two - as much as it cost to take six to the Sichuan place. Sure, the food was better than last time, we had large Jamie Oliver spare ribs to share as a starter, she had chicken cordon bleu, I had pizza and despite my only asking for one portion we both ended up with homemade cake. Drinks aren’t cheap either because they are all imported. German black beer, a free Italian drink which smelt like Coke but tasted like medicine (she didn’t like it so I had to drink both), I thought she’d like a Baileys but amazingly she didn’t so I had to drink that as well, completed by two actually quite good Bloody Marys. But so expensive. And as I hadn’t charged the bike fully beforehand I worried all the way back as to whether we would make it but thankfully we did.
Late last night when I took Pepsi for her walk I took the bike off charge as we left. While I was doing that another dog which I assumed to be the mum/shutter dog turned up and I never noticed in the dark it wasn’t her. Pepsi went off - she knows the route - and it was only when we were halfway round I suddenly realised to my horror she was being mounted. No problem with that at first because Mum sometimes does it but then I saw it was a male! Pepsi hasn’t been spayed! I hope to God I caught them in time because I can really do without a repeat of the Robin episode with shit and pee all over my nice wooden floor, not to mention the aggravation of trying to farm them out. Fingers and toes are crossed now and from now on I will have to be more vigilant. Hasn’t been a problem previously as the two dogs who normally play with her have always been females.
So far today I have prepared this week’s homework and emailed my self-assessment to Cinny. I still have to concoct a class activity before bedtime. However once I have posted this it is shower time and an outing into the cool but sunny day.
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