Blog

Hallo we end...

31/10/2020

We've gone for a low key Halloween this year. Firstly, our American friends are still stuck in America (and probably won't return now) and they are normally very enthusiastic about organising fun activities which we happily join in with. Then the Chinese Government has been actively discouraging its citizens from taking part in Western festivals (Halloween, Christmas etc.) this year and promoting Chinese festivals instead.

But JD was keen to dress up, eat sweets and play scary games, so I've put together a costume and prepared some fun activities for him and some of his friends to do. Better than nothing!

Son rise, sunrise

30/10/2020

Recently, taking JD to school each morning has meant driving my e-bike through heavy rain and flooding. But one morning last week we enjoyed a dry start and a particularly beautiful dawn sky...

Neighbours

28/10/2020

JD and I visited our den in the Secret Forest the other day.

Bad news was finding that one of the poles holding up our roof was broken (by someone, or just "wear and tear", we don't know) but it was fixable.

Good news was the appearance of another den, next to ours! By coincidence, the builders turned up an hour after we arrived. They are a family we met once before there, who had been inspired by our den to start their own one next door! Early days of construction for them (ours has taken four years so far!) but it's fun to have neighbours now.

Your listening

26/10/2020

I've been involved in the annual Provincial English Speaking Contest again over the last couple of weeks. The first round involved viewing and marking 64 x 3-minute videos then later a live Semi-Final with the 32 best. The Final next week will be for another foreign teacher to do. I've done my bit! The theme this year was "2020 - a year of challenges". Most focused on COVID-19 and China's impressive response to the pandemic. Few mentioned where it originated from...

The most common error was ending the speech with, "Thank you for your listening". But the one that made me chuckle the most was the contestant who declared, "All countries must unite - we need to change the word". And the word was indeed changed!

Good riddance, bad rubbish

24/10/2020

We've finally managed to evict the troublesome tenants from my Wootton Bassett flat. Late night parties, growing weed in the attic, dumping junk outside the house, swearing at the neighbours - they were a real problem over the last year or two. They left the flat in a really poor state and we now have the expense of cleaning, decorating and repairing the place. We'll also spend a little money refurbishing and upgrading it, to try and attract better tenants next time.

Yum

22/10/2020

I always thought a "99" was an ice-cream!

Why botherday?

20/10/2020

Mother-in-law celebrated her birthday this week - her 79th or 80th depending on who asked her. We think she doesn't know.

Ma was her usual "cheery" self on receiving her gifts; a jumper ("Too tight. I don't like the colour"), flowers ("I can't take them home - you look after them") and a home-made gift from JD ("My birthday was two days ago - it's late"). She did manage to fake a quick smile for the camera in front of her birthday cake before declaring, "It's too sweet for me. I don't want any."

Tube 'n us to Toys 'r us

18/10/2020

Kunming's new underground Line "K4" opened a week ago and our nearest tube station is now just 5 minutes walk away. JD and I tried it out yesterday. Our pretext was to head into town for JD to buy himself a toy at Toys 'R Us with his hard-earned pocket money.

It took us two train changes to get to the right shopping mall, but the stations and trains were all high spec, spotlessly clean and not the least bit busy. It's just a pity the line doesn't really go anywhere we usually want to go!

Writing and wronging

16/10/2020

JD's school continues to send inane homework requests through, late in the evening, for completion by the next morning. So one evening last week we were told (at 9pm) to take 3-4 photos showing homework and housework being done. Having already completed all that by 8pm we had to fake photos of JD reading, writing, doing craft, looking after the hamsters, etc. I imagine most/all the parents were faking it.

We duly emailed the photos off to the teacher but have heard nothing more about it, Another pointless exercise?

Flres and quaks

14/10/2020

Bug blog

12/10/2020

JD and I continue to find new and varied wildlife in our Secret Forest.

Bungee blog

10/10/2020

22 years ago today....

Swings and roundabouts

8/10/2020

It's the last day of JD's week off, and so when some of JD's schoolmates invited him to join them in visiting to Kunming's biggest funfair, we could hardly reuse. I'm doing IELTS examining at the moment, so it fell to Jiajia to join the other parents on the trip.

JD is fearless when it comes to big wheels, rollercoasters, high swings, whizzing roundabouts etc. So he had a blast. They also took in a couple of shows, before sharing a big meal on the way home.

Sunny and Windy

6/10/2020

With a full-time University timetable, IELTS examining and looking after JD I don't normally take up any of the fairly frequent offers I get to do private tuition. However, when a good friend of mine asked for a personal favour on behalf of two friends of hers, I said I'd give a try.

So every Saturday morning I meet Sunny [left] and Wendy [right] in an office not far away for a 90 minute Speaking lesson. They are good fun, committed and happy to accept any advice or corrections, so it's quite easy to teach them. And the money is a little bonus, too.

Gr..eighty!

4/10/2020

My wonderful Mum turned 80 today. Isn't she looking good? I was able to join her, my Dad and two brothers (and sis-in-law) by Zoom to see Mum watching the video greetings we had put together for her. So many friends and family had contributed to that and the kind words expressed by all were well-deserved. Lovely to (almost) be a part of the day's celebrations. What a woman! Here's to the next 80 years!

Tweaked week

2/10/2020

Unusually this year, Chinese National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival fall on the same day, so there is a full week of holiday throughout China. Apart, that is, from my University where we have just have one day off! They blame COVID, and promise we'll get an extra week in the Winter holiday. But I'm suspicious ...all the other Universities and schools in Kunming have got a full week. Mean!

That's mocking!

30/9/2020

Happy Bir...!

28/9/2020

Today is JD's half-birthday. So, as is traditional in our household, we celebrated by unwrapping half a present and a torn card, eating half a cake and singing just two line of "Happy Birthday to you!". Happy 7½ year Birthday, JD!

Go, Johnny go!

26/9/2020

Despite JD's four regular weekend classes, we still try to find time to get out and about, and the Secret Forest is usually our number one destination while it's still open (it closes in the dry season). Our den continues to grow and develop and JD enjoys inviting different friends to come and get the guided tour. The friend above is "Johnny" who was a classmate of JD's at Kindergarten and recently moved into a flat a few doors down from us. There's always some surprising wildlife too.

Flashback: This day in ...2006

24/9/2020

Another in my occasional series of "Flashbacks" looking back at blog entries made before this Weebly version started.

KuiXiang (literally, "Strong Taste") is the second school on my training tour of remote Middle Schools. It's quite a large one - 2000 students and 100 teachers. Half of the English teachers are new graduates, fresh from Teaching Colleges. Their spoken English is better than the more established teachers, and they have a real enthusiasm for teaching and improving themselves (which sadly fades with time).

This visit will stay with me for the surreal moment at lunch, when I was asked by one of the teachers, “Are you Jesus?”. I assumed I had misheard, but she spelled it out for me “Yes, Jesus, J-E-S-U-S”. I replied that no, I was "Paul". “Oh. Well I am Jesus!” she continued. Fortunately, another teacher spotted my bewildered expression and explained that she meant she was a Christian!

It turned out that three of the new teachers profess to be Christians - converts of their foreign “teacher” at College! I wonder how long their new faith will last, amidst the overwhelming religious apathy of China? Having said that, I was told that most of the Miao ethnic group in town are also Christian, having been converted by missionaries in the late 1800s! So, who knows? As you can see from the photo, I was persuaded to don traditional Miao clothes myself for a photo - a taste of things to come, with ethnic groups comprising 85% of JiangCheng’s population, the place where I will be based from this time next week.

Top Toffee Team

22/9/2020

Admittedly only two games into the new season but my team, Everton, find themselves at the top of the Premiership! Great start, Toffees!

Parental chinwag

20/9/2020

With Jiajia away on business it fell to me to attend the parents meeting for JD's class. It lasted two hours and I understood about 10%. Fortunately they only have one per term, so I've done my bit, pointless though it was!

Diamond couple

18/9/2020

Married for 60 years and still happily together.
I'm so proud to call this couple my parents

Happy Diamond Wedding Anniversary, Mum and Dad!

Bugged

16/9/2020

The current spell of hot, wet weather is bringing out all the bugs!

Well, that's life!

14/9/2020

When one wrong letter changes the entire meaning...