Tuesday 13th June, 2017                                    1300

Sometimes I wonder why I bother explaining things to students. The middle class yesterday, on being reminded that this was the last lesson and that next Monday I only wanted 20 of them to come for examination, reacted with utter consternation.

Although I had already gone through this last week I was met with a barrage of questions. Is it a reading exam? No, I teach oral so it is a speaking exam. But Janet told us it was reading? Janet was wrong (unless she neglected to tell me!). Can you give us the topic so we can prepare? No because then I would get perfect Chinglish from everyone after you spent a week online and memorising the results - that will not test your ability to speak English.

I spent quite some time reassuring them that no, it was not going to be a hard exam and I will not be testing them as I would English majors or Cyprus-bound post grads. I explained that under school guidelines, if they haven’t missed a class (or had asked me for leave) then they automatically had 25 marks towards the passmark of 60. I also pointed out that if they have been active in class by answering/asking questions or volunteering for pre-set dialogues they could get another 25 marks. That, if they simply turned up and took part in class, merely left 10 points to achieve from the remaining 50 in order to pass.

They were told all this at start of term yet there were still some worried faces after this - the ones who have missed half the lessons and the wallflowers who never opened their mouths other than to chat with their neighbour despite being told the dangers. Welcome to the western method of testing!

At lunchtime I hiked to the China Tobacco shop near campus and cleaned them out of all the cigars I smoke. They only had 100 but that buys me another five or 6 days. I also splashed out on a McDonald’s double fish burger meal. Hardly gourmet fare but I had taken nothing with me for lunch.

I was going to go to the supermarket this morning, I was certainly up early enough but changed my mind. It can wait until tomorrow. As always, my thoughts turned to dinner. Yet another omelette with chips? Granted, Shona and Jens brought me enough cheese to warrant using it quickly before I end up cutting mould off it.

It was an option but then I Googled “what can I do with cheese and onion”. Plenty of things that required hard work and pastry and ideas for another day but not today. My eye alighted on “Mam’s cheese, potato and onion pie”. Intrigued, I opened the recipe.

Simple. Why had I not invented it myself? Like a cottage pie but onions, cheese and spuds all mashed together, put in a dish and topped with more cheese and slices of tomato, then baked. Ok it should be cheddar but I only have gouda but I will give it a go. If nothing else it should prove to be “shovelling” food. Just the ticket seeing as I have eaten nothing since yesterday lunchtime. I hope it freezes well.

1700

I managed to go shopping at the stalls and unbelievably, given that food-wise I only needed to remember spuds, onion and tomato,  forgot the bloody tomato! I blame the stallholder because every time I go there he tries to sell me something else I don’t need and in my earnest denials tomato slipped my mind. Hopefully it won’t matter.

And even before I have started to book arrangements for my tour, the Steve travelling curse has already hit a home run. One of the prime visitees in Shanghai is slated to be in London the very week I planned to go.

So all is up in the air until I get definite news or decide to delay a week. I could go a week earlier but that would mean leaving before official end of term and I would rather not. I can’t change the order of the four cities either because then that would remove Alice from the equation and she wouldn’t get to see two new places.

And students ask me why I hate travelling. It’s not the seeing new towns and cities but the getting there that I abhor!