Fabulous wreath home-made by JiaJia this week.
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As of this afternoon, we are the proud owners of our long-term home.  
  I'm still tutoring 3-4 kids each week online, but the numbers aren't growing much and, once our house move is over, I need to think where I want my career to go - advertise for more tutoring, move more into "Coaching", stack shelves at a supermarket, or something else. Thankfully my wife makes up for any financial deficit, so we have time on our side. Something usually turns up.
Santa abseiled into Chippenham's (only just unflooded) High Street this afternoon, watched by hundreds of revelling residents. He proceeded to turn on the lights after which folk were serenaded by a pop group as they perused a dozen street stalls under a flurry of artificial snow. Christmas is certainly on the way!
Back to Hereford for the second day of face-to-face training for the Coaching qualification I am studying towards. We started outside, chilling for a few minutes in the countryside, which was no bad thing after a rather stressful, flood-impacted drive to get there!  Later in the day we were thrown into a first coaching session. I found it a little awkward, but not a total disaster. Plenty more of that awaits!  We're having heavy wind and rain here in Chippenham. Some roads have been flooded [like our High Street, see below] and JD's school closed for two days (much to his delight - nobody likes playing rugby in a pond!). Strange times.   I've spent about 30 hours over recent weeks putting together the first of three assignment towards the ILM Level 5 Course in Coaching for which I am studying. My first draft was only ⅔ "pass", so I strengthened some sections and my second draft has now passed. Onwards...
 JD had his best friend Liam over for a playdate the other day. Liam's parents are French, but Liam's as English as they come!  We played Risk, I took them swimming and then, after a nerf gun battle, they enjoyed a duck pancake meal.
 We drove up to visit my friend Claire and her kids today - and I was quite taken aback to find 60th birthday decorations, an amazing buffet, terrific presents and a chocolate cake! So kind of Claire - a very memorable early birthday celebration! I'm still in my late 50s, but only for a few more hours!!
After our most recent trip to my parent's house we were able to bring back another carload of boxes from their attic. One was a selection of board games my brothers and I used to play as children. JD is now expanding his repertoire from "Monopoly", "Risk" and "Scrabble" to some new games. It's no good forbidding him from hours of playing on his phone if you don't provide alternative entertainment!  "Formula One" and "The Mind" have gone down well, as has the collaborative "Thunderbirds" game [see above]. Less gripping were dominoes, Wari and "Shoulder to Shoulder". And we haven't even attempted "Colditz" yet! 
With our good friend Krista away in India we thought it would be nice to invite her husband Stuart over for a meal last week. Jiajia excelled herself with a delicious chicken and veg meal for us all. 
 JD spotted his favourite ever registration plate on
this Aston Martin last week. Start saving, son!  I ran a personal best at yesterday's Park Run - under 28 mins at last.
Our move to Chippenham, and indeed to the UK, 6 months ago would have been sooooo much harder were it not for our good friends, Krista and Stuart who previously helped us purchase a couple of properties whilst we were in China, and then furnished our temporary house in preparation for us moving in.  In our first half-year here, they have been invaluable friends - showing us the Chippenham ropes, taking a real interest in our lives and making us feel so welcome. We attended their church last weekend (it's 50m from our house!) to see Stuart leading the service and preaching. And we are hosting them for a meal on Christmas day.
We spent a lovely few days with my folks this half-term week. Despite bring in their 80s, they cope really well with life's complications and they complement each others mental/physical short-comings perfectly! It occurred to me the other day that I can't remember the last time I had an argument, or even a sharp word, with my parents (or my brothers come to that!). That's what family is all about.
 We met up with Ratch, my good friend from College days, in London today to visit the British Museum. So much to see, and quite busy, but we saw the main sights by the end and left exhausted for a spot of shopping and some pancakes for dinner.
Despite seeing the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, Easter island statue, Sutton Hoo helmet, Lewis chessman, etc, I think my strongest memory will be handling the flint knife [bottom right] which the "hands on guide" assured us was crafted around 400,000 years ago. I mean, wow!!
Free pumpkins were being given away in Chippenham High Street this morning. So, this afternoon, JD had a lot of fun carving his first one.
JD finished his first half-term at a UK school today. He's settled so quickly and done really well. On Monday this week, he played with Year 10s and a teacher in Badminton Club. Yesterday he came 4th in the Lego Club Finals (despite being a team of one against 7 other teams of three!). And today he cooked spaghetti bolognese in Cookery class.  Then today we registered JD to take a Mandarin GCSE examination next Summer. And JD now has 87 online praise points - second in his class and top 10% in his year. We are really pleased with so many aspects of his work/play. Good job, son!
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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
November 2024
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