One of the new school subjects that JD is enjoying is Design Technology which, this term, takes the form of cookery classes. And we are enjoying it too, for example these tasty low-sugar muffins which appeared the other day. Yum!
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Last week, I started to build a large Lego technic BMW motorbike which I had shipped over from China. But one of the early stages required me to attach two tiny elastic bands and, despite searching through all the bags, I couldn't find them. Friends told me Lego would replace these if you applied online, which I did. However, I got an email back saying the "validation process had failed", so they wouldn't send them! I tried again, but got the same response. Rather frustrated, I ordered replacements on e-bay for £2.50.  But yesterday, I thought I'd persevere and try to find out what "validation I'd failed". I had a text conversation with a chatbot for while and was finally put through to a real person. They asked where I'd bought the set and where I lived now. And that was apparently where the problem lay - the set was only sold in China, and I had a UK address. So after explaining my situation, they agreed to send me out the missing parts. Well done Lego, though a little annoying to have bought two of the elastic bands before finally getting them for free...
We went to my cousin Esme's wedding yesterday, in the beautiful (if cloudy!) Herefordshire countryside. She was marrying Sajjan, a terrific Indian guy whose parents had been flown over for the event. It was a really relaxed, fun-filled event with lots happening, but plenty of time to chill and chat.
It was lovely to catch up with family, meet old friends I've not seen since my teenage years and make new connections (we were sitting opposite Sajjan's Indian pastor and his lovely family). And we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea together in the converted barn.  All the Hider cousins got together for the first time today, in a pre-Wedding meet up (Esme - centre - gets married tomorrow). The oldest, Harry (right), had never met the youngest, JD, before. So it was quite a rare event!  JD's school closed down on Monday and Tuesday this week, due to a "catastrophic power failure"! Despite this, JD continues to rack up the e-praise points online, passing 38 in total today. And a nice spread of subjects too...  An old photo passed my way the other day. Taken on one of a number of canal boat holidays we had as kids, it shows my brothers, my parents, my grandparents and half of my aunt. It goes without saying that I was the captain of the barge!  Yesterday I bought this smashed up Dinky "car" in a charity shop in Marlborough, recognising that it was a Spectrum Patrol Car from the 1960s "Captain Scarlet" TV series, rather the worst for wear.  I already have one in my collection [below], in rather better condition, but today I found a website which can supply missing parts for a wide variety of vintage vehicles. So I may pop it away in a box or I may try my first ever restoration! We'll see!   I was diagnosed as borderline diabetic six weeks ago. However, the doctor said it is usually reversible if patients can lose about 10% of their body weight.
Spurred on by that, I've been dieting and exercising, and have so far managed to lose about 1kg a week. If I can keep that progress up, I will have reached the 10% reduction in a further month. Despite being resident in the UK now, my decades-long love of Chinglish means I still get sent examples now and again from my Chinese friends. For example...  One of the questions I'm often asked now I'm back in the UK is, "Do you have a job?". I'd love to say I'm retired or even semi-retired, but there is a certain pressure to be busy and bring in some cash (despite the wife often earning in a day what I earn in a month, from phone business to do with her Chinese fashion shop!). Anyhow, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the last decade of my working life...  I needn't have worried. Once we settled in and the initial flurry of paperwork calmed (change of addresses, tax, biometric immigration card, school registration, child support, bank accounts, insurance, TV licence, "loyalty" cards for six supermarkets, etc), work found me!
A friend of a friend introduced me to a lady in Bath who was looking for online tutors for Chinese students and, before I knew it I had four weekly classes. She is now talking about doubling that workload. Also, my brother Dave [training above] runs a very busy and successful leadership training consultancy (Mind-gap) and, as the work has continued to grow, he has found he needs more help. So I have also been involved in proofreading, research and course development, with more opportunities to come. He has also encouraged me to join one of Mind-Gap's "Leadership and Management" courses. So I've also committed to six months of study to gain a qualification in "Coaching", equal to two years of a degree. Alongside moving house in December, I don't think I'll be twiddling my thumbs anytime soon! This was the Chippenham Half Marathon yesterday which starts down the end of our road. I was there to cheer them on. Maybe this time next year I'll be taking part? Maybe not...!  I was one of 250 people running 5 kilometres around Monkton Park this morning. I came 133rd...  ...but I got a PB, finishing in under 30 minutes for the first time.
I had a very pleasant tip to Oxford the other day to meet up with a couple of my closest friends from Westminster College, where I trained to be a teacher some 40 years ago. It says something about my priorities at that time that the girls were part of the catering staff, not fellow students!  Ratch [centre] emailed me daily throughout my whole time in China. Rosemary [right] was my bridge partner at College and still plays regularly. We had a great reminisce and caught up on our current semi-retired lives either side of a tasty lunch and a game of "Qwirkle Cubes" (...don't ask!).
 JD was thrilled to see pig's ear and chicken feet in our local supermarket the other day - until he realised it was dog food!
It's early days for JD at his school but, after he won 10 "praise points" in his first 3 days there, we spotted on the school website today that he is currently top of his whole year group, so far at least.  Great start JD - keep it up!
 JD, Jiajia and I have been trying our luck at buying little things at car boot sales in order to sell them for a small profit on ebay. The trick is in spotting something in good condition which has the potential for resale, despite whether you personally like it or not. So far I'm winning the informal competition, having already sold 5 of the 9 things I bought over the last two weekends. It's more for fun than money, but I reckon I've made over £20!
 Big congrats to JD who got through his first proper day at a UK school, earning 6 merit points in the process. He was a little nervy beforehand, but came back full of smiles and anecdotes, helped along by his new friend Liam.
Highlights for JD included finding out that he will learn German (not French), which he really wanted to do. Also Spanish. And choosing his own lunch - paid for by fingerprint! Early days, but a promising start.  ....and our garden work is pretty much complete.
Now it's just a case of arranging the flowerpots. Work has begun on our garden - repaired fence posts, new seating area, railway sleeper borders, planter boxes, power-hosed patio slabs, shingle centre ...it's all happening (slowly!) 
JD and I spent the day up in London yesterday (Jiajia was ill). JD's first choice was to revisit the HMS Belfast - we were last there 6 years ago [see photo below!]. We arrived via Paddington Station, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.  After five hours onboard (full audio tour, 2x talks, a craft session and picnic) we walked and tubed to Borough Market, St Paul's, MacDonald's for an ice-cream, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and St James' Park. Finally, a late train home for a well-earned rest!
I wasn't expecting to get a name check in the Garden Centre!  So lovely to be visited by my old College mate, Claire, yesterday. Having not met up for 8 years or so, we had a lot of catching up to do! 
A lovely day yesterday as we drove to my Uncle and Aunt's for the day. We haven't seen them on over a decade. We chatted, visited Stourhead (using our newly bought National Trust membership cards for the first time) and ended with a meal at a tasty Indian restaurant. And despite some early morning rain, we enjoyed blue skies throughout our visit.
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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
September 2024
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