After learning the spellings of certain words for ages, he'll take a 5-minute break and then forget them all! But we're very slowly getting there, I think. Very slowly!
JD went on his annual school outing last week - along with half the school (2000+ students). The trip started and ended with a 90 minute journey by coach, with various kids throwing up. The location was just some place housing a handful of animals (pigs, some llamas and a camel) with very little to see and do. The weather was cold and wet.  There was some sort of presentation, but most of the 2000 kids couldn't see or hear anything. It seems that none of the teachers had visited the site in advance and the hosts had been caught unawares by the number of visitors. Kids were unable to do the various craft activities, squeezed 15 to a table. And JD's class had been told not to bring raincoats, so the outdoor activities were mostly cancelled.
JD was so excited beforehand, but returned very disappointed. The one redeeming factor for him was the promise that there would be no homework that day - until three papers came through later in the evening to be completed by the next day! More broken promises. This is the third outing in three years that has been something of a disaster. You'd think the teachers would learn...
I can understand their reasons, and we ourselves now get more daylight in our living room, but it is still quite sad to see dozens of stumps around the neighbourhood.
An all-you-can-eat buffet at a 5* hotel to mark my final year in the 50s!   Lovely hand-painted birthday card from the wife today.
Can't think of anyone else I'd rather travel the world with!  Today I met up with an ex-student of mine from 20 years ago. "Cinderella" was was visiting Kunming with her son who, very sadly, has a serious heart disease, despite only being 7 years old. They were having tests done at a cardiac specialist hospital here. It was lovely to see her again and play with her cute son.
 JD's "girlfriend", QiQi, invited us to join her large birthday party yesterday, [JD & QiQi are in the centre of the bottom left photo].
 Jiajia and I bought some UK Premium Bonds a year or two ago, rather than have cash languishing in the bank gaining little or no interest. We've been surprised at how often we've won small prizes - usually £50 or £100. Every month or two we get a "Congratulations!" email. But our latest win was our biggest!
JD's been sleeping in a home-made bed-den this week. He says it keeps him warm and snug through the night, and cuts down the noise from the construction site at the back of our house. They seem to be working all night recently - banging, grinding and floodlights!
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 AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
December 2024
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