In these difficult times, it's good to read words
of wisdom and encouragement ...I think!
of wisdom and encouragement ...I think!
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JD turned seven today. No chance of a party under the current lockdown, but we did manage a Pizza Hut delivery, half a dozen presents and JD's preferred cake. Happy Birthday, Bug!   A blast from the past last week when one of my ex-students, "Daizzy", sent me a photo of us when I was running a teacher training course in her town, back in 2006. Daizzy is now an English teacher herself and married with two kids!
 Last week in XiShuangBanna (just "down the road") Yunnan, a herd of 14 wild elephants broke into a village looking for corn and food. They stumbled across 30kg of corn whiskey. After drinking the lot, they passed out in a local tea plantation! Glad someone's having fun!   After nearly 8 weeks of self-isolation, we have finally seen the end of the COVID-19 virus in our Yunnan Province (pop: 46m) as the final two infected people were discharged today. Now we watch as the rest of the world faces their own viral challenge.
JD's exercise regime today consisted of marching, saluting and ambushing passersby with his collection of Nerf guns!
Jiajia's new "toy" - a combined hotpot and grill. Makes for a fun social meal. And a bargain at £20 (200RMB).  It took me about seven months to organise the necessary application paperwork and another five months waiting to see if the the Chinese Government agreed to grant it, but this week I finally got my "Foreigner Permanent Resident ID Card" (aka Green Card).  It not only means that I don't have to get a new visa each year for the next decade but, more importantly, I'm not tied to any one visa-issuing educational institution. I am free to pick and choose whatever jobs I like, since my work visa is already secure. And there are much better paid jobs out there than the one I currently have, so watch this space!
Things are slowly picking up here. We're still supposed to stay at home (or within our neighbourhood at least) but buses and the subway have started up again and there haven't been any new confirmed infections within Yunnan for a few days now. So, maybe some small Advances towards being able to Go out! Meanwhile, JD has been getting homework projects sent through from his school and I've been keeping him busy with Monopoly, making dens and sorting drawers, cupboards and CDs/DVDs.
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 AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
March 2023
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