Friday 11th December, 2015            0130

No, not posting this just yet as there is little to tell.

No response to my offer of taking on extra work so far but that could be down to any reason. However I can’t just sit and wonder, it’s not in the nature of the beast so later today I hope to be able to catch Jane (the Dean’s assistant - who was also Prof Fang’s before she moved sideways) to ask what the hell is going on. Nothing makes sense and I seem to be the only person who has been told anything, even if it is extremely sketchy on the details - even my students are aghast when I tell them.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark and I think if I am able, I need to find out.

The past couple of days have blessed me with weather to match my mood; cold, grey and drizzling constantly.

Still no sign of the exam schedules so the spring festival trip is now looking as endangered as a white rhinoceros. Online all the decent train tickets look to be sold out already meaning even if I go it alone I have to pray buses are available although a few days ago the new high speed bullet trains opened from here to Hefei, Nanjing and Anqing. They don’t show on the sites I use but maybe someone who books on Chinese sites could find me tickets on those.

I am fully aware of the old adage that life is a shit sandwich, the more bread you have the less shit you eat but………….

It really does hack me off when one week you can be really looking forward to something, the next worrying that the best laid plans are going awry and the next your employer changes everything without even giving any details.

I try to be the eternal optimist but bloody hell, sometimes it’s hard when so much crap is flung your way. I can’t blame Joan too much, what she said was in good faith but for God’s sake, their other exams start in three weeks and STILL nobody knows what the dates are!

So yes, I am right back to the mood when I was laid up with a broken pelvis, feeling rather sorry for myself and the situation again not being of my own making. Had I been impetuous and done a Cilla “Surprise Surprise!” then I would take it on the chin but no, and this year the adversity seems to be unrelenting. Couple that with the age thing rearing its ugly head soon and just turn the thumbscrew that little bit tighter.

On a lighter note, Molly the middle school teacher who has appeared in photos here, sent me a text during my morning class to ask if the “activity” (her word, not mine) was on December 25th or 26th because she wanted to be a fairy.

Suffice to say she now knows Santa has reindeer and elves rather than fairies so she went off to Google further. I am hoping Sally from the Foreign Affairs Bureau has persuaded enough companies to donate sufficient presents so all the kids get one and also that the local TV company (if they film) call Prof Fang first - she is very particular about that. Not that the school can have any complaints, in previous appearances (and in the papers) I have never placed them in an embarrassing situation. I think I have been on TV four times so far but only seen one myself  by chance in a restaurant and the other afterwards by link.

Payday is supposed to be Saturday but of course admin won’t be working so I’m not counting on getting it the western way tomorrow, instead I will lay odds it will be Monday. I am short, having forked out for flights that may never be taken but with care I can last until Monday, my coin jars may have to come to the rescue but I hate raiding them for anything other than bus fares. I nearly made it to 1,000y once so that’s my target.    

Ok I know, I wasn’t posting but I have drivelled on enough to make it long enough!