Almost famous

The weather has, thankfully, got much cooler and I am writing this with the window open, wearing jeans and long sleeves.  Things are sooooo much easier when you don't have to do them in the baking heat.

I was thinking the other day about how kind and polite (most of) the students here are.  Some examples of kindness from the last week:

1.  I arrived in one class to find the teacher's desk dirty and covered in chalk dust.  This, by the way, is not unusual.  The classrooms all seem to be dirty and I spend my life covered in chalk and trying to dust myself down without spreading more chalk on myself.  Anyway, a student rushed forward and wiped the desk down with some tissues before I had to chance to put my stuff down on it.

2.  Power cut on Monday evening about 5 or 10 minutes before the end of class.  When it didn't come back on in a minute or so (having tried to get the mobile phone wielding students to sing a song (!)), I abandoned class.  Two of the students stayed and waited for me to pack up and then guided me on my way with their mobile phones.

3.  Took speakers to class in order to play a song from the textbook via my mp3 player.  Of course there is a CD and a VCD to accompany the book, but no such thing as a CD player or a high likelihood of my getting my hands on one of the multi-media classrooms.  The speakers are quite heavy and as I was leaving the building, the class's form tutor (? - often called 'Head Teacher' here, but that's just confusing for me!) told two of the students from my class to help the 'laowai' [foreigner] with her bag...

Now I know that that last example was due to prompting, but I'd had offers before to help me with my stuff.  In fact, one of the boys from another class actually did help me (unprompted) on a different day.

As for fame, in Pingixang it comes easily and un-asked-for if you are not Chinese or Chinese-looking.  The cooler weather has left me able to have my hair down again (after weeks of having it off the back of my neck at all times).  I'm not sure if this makes me more noticeable or not, but this morning R & I attracted quite a lot of stares, though remarkably few 'hallloooos', it has to be said.  We had a fan club of small girls in the dumpling restaurant at lunchtime, but they were quite cute.

Well, we're on holiday now and the campus is noticeably quieter as some students have gone home.  Not sure what we'll do yet.  Today we went on a shop investigation to a new department store that actually sells proper coffee, Ferreo Rocher (sp?) and plastic cheese.  Hurrah!

It's all about the little things...

Chaos in the classroom

It feels a little bit that way sometimes, particularly in speaking classes.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying they're out of control.  In fact, they come to heel pretty quickly and if any of them step out of line (talking when I'm talking, for example) they soon stop if you single them out.

However, it's just a bit mad at times.

Today, for example, it was really windy.  As I wrote before, it's ferociously hot here at the moment, so the breeze was definitely welcome and there was good reason to leave the windows open.  However, it also meant that every piece of paper not anchored down soon flew off the desk.  I am used to this to a certain extent, as the ceiling fans are usually on right now, but today it was about five times worse than usual.  Joy.

What else?  A few common things: 1) I forgot my lesson plan!  Oops.  Luckily my good memory did its job and I remembered what I'd planned.  More or less.  2) Dropped the board rubber on my denim skirt.  I hate chalk!  I spend soooooooo much time dusting down my clothes and often just end up spreading more chalk.  3) Caught my nail on the black board - I HATE that feeling.

Oh, and my mature student decided to make today his first class.  Oh yes, I have an engineer who works for one of the mobile phone companies coming to my first-year oral English class to improve his English...  Not a problem, but I'm not sure how keen he was on singing 'Stand By Me' with the rest of the students.  Tee hee.  I enjoyed it though.

One more good thing: in English classes at university in China there tend to be very few boys - the most I've got is 5 out of a class of about 50.  They also, almost without fail, sit together at the back of the classroom.  And, I'm sorry to say, are quite often the laziest.  So today I was more than happy to see four boys in the front row of my class.  The reason "It's because we're confidence[sic]."  Hmm... must work on the whole noun / adjective thing.  Next week...

Back in the Middle Kingdom

First of all, apologies for not having written this sooner. I promised lots of [may be a slight exageration - a few] people that I would get writing my blog again once I was in China and I've been here nearly three weeks now and not written a thing...

Smooth journey, collected successfully from Changsha Airport and taken into Changsha, where we stayed overnight, in order to have our compulsory medicals the next day. All went more or less smoothly and it appears that we're both fit and well. Phew! Only slight hitch was when R was rushed from the blood sample room to the toilet for a wee sample and mid-flow his arm started off bleeding again. What to do?!!! Haha.

The College is busy and full of students (big surprise there!) We had some respite - only one day's teaching the first week and the first year students missing for the first two weeks. (They have to do military training and we could see them on the football pitch every day, getting shouted at by the soldiers!!)

Teaching has been fine so far. Getting used to the noise of 50+ students all speaking at once in an Oral English class. I quite like it actually, providing they're actually practising their English and not taking the opportunity to have a sneaky chat with their friend in Chinese... I only have Oral and Writing classes this semester, which makes planning relatively easy, though teaching can feel a little repetitive at times.

The apartment is slowly taking shape - we've cleaned a lot and the cleaner has been in twice. Still killing the odd cockroach, but I believe (optimistically) that they are getting fewer and fewer. There was also a scary flying spider last night, but I'm sure that's a one-off!!!

Will post photos soon when I've taken some.

It's good to be back in the land of cheap DVDs, good food and being semi-famous.

Altogether now: Halllooooooooooo!

Blogging again

For those of you still reading this (and I hope that there might be one or two left), usual [or maybe even better] service will be resumed and I will start writing again once I'm back in China (next week).

Comments are good from time to time just so that I know you're reading and if there's anything you're interested in and / or want to know about life in China etc, then let me know.

Laters...

Moving on again...

Wow, it's been a long time since I last posted and I'm aware that I haven't posted much these last 10 months or so in Spain. Not sure why, but I will try to do better when I'm back in China again.

Yes, that's right, I'm returning to the Middle Kingdom.

Thoughts:

Glad to be going home (especially as it's got hot here), but I've gained some very valuable teaching experience and met some great people, visited some fantastic places and eaten some lovely food.

Looking forward to some time with family and friends, though wish it could be a little longer.

Also looking forward to Chinese food, teaching at a normal time of the day and cheap beer.

Definitely NOT looking forward to the lack of personal space (buses and trains etc) or the spitting.

Hey ho.

A Spanish Smorgasbord

Well... I hadn't realised that it was so long since I last wrote a blog, but no-one's complained so maybe it doesn't matter.

Anyway, last weekend I made a trip to Seville on the train. I liked it. A lot. So much so that I could imagine myself living there for a while (as much as I like living in any city). It just felt warm (not only the temperature - in fact it wasn't actually that warm when I was there), relaxed, culturally diverse and quite beautiful. I did a load of touristy things on Saturday and got my hair cut at Corte Ingles (department store) and a few on Sunday morning. On Sunday I also just walked along the Guadalquivir River, enjoying the sunshine and people watching. There were lots of people out and about. Some of them were obviously tourists, but many just ordinary Seville folk enjoying a run / walk / cycle in the sun, or even rowing along the river. It was all very pleasant and not even a down-and-out shouting in the bushes and then another saying something to me (in English) could change my feeling.

I stayed in a cheap, clean and extremely quiet hostal, right near the centre. The guys on the front desk were very friendly and the English-speaking one was one of those guys who kind of wink at you as they're talking to you (there's a guy in one of the restaurants here who's the same...) I did insist on speaking to him in my bad Spanish, however.

I was supposed to be climbing the Alcazaba peak in the Sierra Nevada this weekend, but I decided my high mountain snow skills weren't up to it and instead went on a lower level walk with some Spanish people. Was very nice, though they were a bit perplexed by the rain as we set off, and were unsure as to whether or not we should be walking in the rain. Now of course it does rain in Spain, but from my experience it seems to be fast and furious, then over. My impression is that if it looks like rain, the Spanish generally don't go walking. Which is fair enough. However, if you followed this in the UK then you would almost never get out your walking boots...

On a slightly more mundane note, I went to recharge my international phonecard in Corte Ingles yesterday. The conversation went a little like this:

Me: I'd like to recharge this card.
Assistant: You can't do that here.
Me: Yes I can - I've done it before.
[Assistant calls supervisor].
Supervisor: Oh hello, it's you again! [This has happened to me before...]
[Tells assistant what to do and recharge transaction is duly completed.]

And then on the way out a cute kid in a pushchair randomly waved at me - made my day.

Photos sometime in the future.

Have a good one...

Only in Spain..?

Look at me: blogging like a crazy thing.

Anyway...

I went to the train station this morning to book a train ticket to Madrid. It's two weeks away, so I thought I was being reasonably organised, but not excessively so. The guy in the ticket office started tapping away on his computer and then told me I could buy the outward ticket, but not the return. Grrr!!! Why? He said something about 15 days before, so I thought I'd left it too late and they were all sold out. Not so. Turns out you can only buy tickets 15 days in advance and I was just way too keen. Me and my Britishness...

Then this afternoon as I was on the homeward stretch of my run, I saw a man and a boy on a horse. On the street. As you do. The horse was really quite beautiful and high-stepping, with its head neatly bent over in a dressage-type way.

On a slightly different note, I think some people have set up a church in one of the nearby apartments. I keep hearing lots of singing in a worship kind of a style. I wonder...

Weekends in the sunshine

So, as it's Friday and I'm limbering up for my last classes of the week, I was inspired to write about last weekend.

I still don't know loads of people here and weekends can sometimes drag a bit. However, last weekend was a definite exception, packed to the rafters with fun and frivolity!

On Saturday I went over to see my friends, Rich and Julia in nearby Torredonjimeno. Julia and I walked up to a local landmark in Martos. It's known as La Pena de Martos, and is thoughtfully situated next to the town's rubbish dump. Rich dropped us off and we started our climb to the top of the hill faced with trucks, rubbish and a huge pile of old clothes. There was a sign, though, just in case we didn't realise it was a tourist spot...

After our climb, one tinto con limon* but no tapas later, Rich picked us up and we headed to the petrol station to pick up supplies. [It being 2pm, the shops were closed for the siesta]. We then walked round to Rich's boss's house. Phil is British, married to a Spanish woman and they have two children. We spent a very pleasant afternoon with them and some of the friends, eating and drinking. It all culminated in a game of chocolate scrabble and a quick go on the Wii. For me it was my first Wii experience, and I was berated for not holding the control thingy as if it was an actual proper golf club. As far as I was concerned it worked perfectly well one-handedly...

I finally caught the bus home at 8.15pm and tried to re-hydrate.

On Sunday I went walking with Paco and Domingo, two of my friends from the local walking club. We set off at 8am, after the change of time, driving past the youngsters just leaving the nightclubs(!)

It was a beautiful day. Sadly, I forgot my sunglasses and was cursing all the way up Pico Magina (2164m). The walk wasn't too difficult and as my walking companions haven't done much exercise since the last time we walked together (before Christmas) I was able to take it easy. And then, as if by magic, a pair of sunglasses appeared. They were filfthy and bit scratched, but fit me, so I quickly put them on and continued in comfort.

On the way home, as well as commenting on the people who were setting off at lunchtime, we called in at the local mountain rescue equivalent (GREA). They had a big shiny luminous green / yellow helicopter, and they let us stand in front of it for photos.

We then, as is usual, repaired to a bar and sank 4 beers in rapid succession. Paco and Domingo chatted with the barman, who kept winking at me, I talked lots of nonsense and then I was deposited at my house, having promised to invite them to my wedding (if and when I ever have one..!)

I had a cheeky nap to recover and by then it was Sunday evening again.

This week has been reasonable on the exercise front and I'm going walking again on Sunday (the cherry blossom is out, so it will be a Chinese-style outing... without the pointy shoes, of course!)

On Wednesday I caught the bus to Torredelcampo and ran back along the Via Verde. About 14kms altogether, I think. All was fine, apart from having to walk past an old guy weeing against a fence in the middle of town. Lovely.

It's shaping up to be a hot one again today so I'll spend my teaching time opening and shutting the classroom window. Traffic noise / unbearable heat...? Traffic noise / unbearable heat...?

Roll on 8.15pm...

* Red wine with Fanta limon (or similar). Served cold, a very nice summer drink.

Hiking... the Spanish way

Now, usually when I go walking with the walking club here, it's a fairly serious affair, generally up a steep hill with much sweating involved. We often go for a beer and tapas afterwards and I invariably end up home at about 3pm, more than a little tipsy and completely exhausted.

But it's all done in the correct order: walk, drink.

However, the other weekend I went walking with one of my friends, Paco, from the club. His wife came too, plus another couple who are friends of theirs. We walked along the Via Verde, which I think I've talked about before. As an old railway line that's been developed for walking, running and cycling, it's easy walking. We walked to Torredelcampo, a nearby village, which is about 11 or 12 kilometres from Jaen. A reasonable distance to walk, and very enjoyable in the sunshine.

At Torredelcampo we went to a bar for drinks and tapas. We sank several beers, a glass of wine and a small glass of something which looked radioactive and was very very strong. The tapas was good and included some mature cheese, hand-cooked potato crisps and goat (I think!)

It was all very pleasant I began to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Shame about the 12kms we had to walk home... The journey passed quite quickly (!) but it wasn't ideal. By the time I got home I was fit to drop and had the beginnings of a hangover. Oh well...

Last weekend I visited Cordoba, a very attractive city which is famous for its 'Mezquita Catedral', a combination mosque and cathedral. I know, I was a bit surprised too. It's a very attractive building and it, and the rest of the city, are well worth visiting.

Portugal this weekend for a long weekend.

Hasta luego...

Adventures in urban running

As I was on the last bit of one of my favourite running loops yesterday, I pondered the hazards of urban running.

Now that particular loop is a relatively new one, but I like it a lot. It does involve some pounding the streets and dodging shoppers, but it also includes a good steep climb, some quiet bits below the castle, and fantastic views across the city to the mountains beyond. On a clear day (which here means most days) it really is beautiful.

However, the street bits do require some patience and concentration as there are plenty of potential pitfalls for the unwary runner. Here are some:

1. Sudden stoppers / direction changers;
2. Congregators (people who walk in a big group, taking up the whole pavement);
3. Drifters (often too busy looking at their mobile phones to steer a straight course);
4. Arm swingers (some people do this very heartily as they're walking!) and
5. Last but not least - that which dogs leave behind...

And on that note, I'll bid you farewell for now, except to say that I've had to purchase an oven glove due to a more than acceptable number of burns to my hands recently (see photo).

A new term, a new year...

Just over a week into the new term and in some ways it feels like I never had a holiday. However, motivations levels are still not as high as they should be, so I know I've been away.

What is it about teaching? I know lots of teachers and of course we always talk about it. Why do we teach? Well, for most people it's to avoid working in an office, because they enjoy the challenge, the instant feedback and the sense of achieving something. Now I know that Monday mornings are difficult for everyone, especially so after a holiday. But when I worked in an office I found that you could 'hide' to a certain extent if you weren't feeling on top of the world. Not so with teaching. It really is performing and you have to get up there and throw all your energy into it, however you feel. It means 'getting into character', especially so if you're not the most out-going of people.

I'm lucky really where I'm teaching. My classes are mostly small and the students are mostly nice and want to learn. However, I do teach quite a lot of teenagers and their expectations can be quite high. I prefer days when I have the younger ones as well, who are quite happy to bounce round the classroom pretending to be kangaroos, or just play 'teacher' and give commands.

And being back in Spain? It's nice to see the sunshine again and to need sunglasses. I went out with a friend of mine on Saturday for a drive and bit of a wander round some Spanish villages. It really was beautiful - clear, blue skies, warm in the sunshine and lots of attractive views. So, it's not bad really...

Happy New Year!

And so, thanks to the deafening (well, almost) cries of 'keep writing', I will continue.

Watch this space...

Thinking...

... of giving up on this blogging lark.

Just out of interest, is anyone still reading this?

Can you send me a comment if you are, please.

Ta.

The Humble Queue

What can I say? I'm British...

Now, I'm sure I've written about queuing before. I was deeply frustrated in China many many times by the almost complete lack of queuing. Anywhere. I remember getting excited [I know!] at Bank of China because there was a system of taking numbers and waiting your turn. It did go a bit wrong from time to time as someone tried to push in for a 'quick' query etc and wasn't turned away by the bank employee... but still. Then I was pointed in the direction of the 'foreigners only' queue and found that I could blatantly jump the queue. It all felt a bit wrong.

Still, there were still bus stations, train stations, bus stops, fast food restaurants, public toilets and, well, you get the idea.

So, it was great to be back in Britain over the summer and participate in effective, civilised queuing (mostly!) Coming to Spain, I didn't really know what to expect with regard to queues, but so far things have been entirely satisfactory. From experience at the post office and the doctor's, even if there is no obvious line in sight someone will invariably announce as you arrive that they are the last person in the queue, so you just have to watch them to know when it is your turn. And if no one does make such an announcement, then feel free to ask around for the last person. Long discussions can ensue, especially if someone was going to join the queue, but then went to check if they were in fact in the right queue. So are they still (despite being physically absent) in the queue? And don't forget to take into account the (usually) older members of the queue who may have decided to sit down on nearby seats, not necessarily in order...

That said, I still prefer going out in China. All done and dusted by 11pm (at the very latest) and you have plenty of time to recover from the evil baijiu you've been 'forced' to drink.

Hasta whenever...

Running.

I decided that my running needed some sort of focus, so I entered myself in a 10k race here in Jaen. It was part of the annual half-marathon, only this year they decided to open up a 10k as well to enable more people to participate. This suited me as I haven't been training for a half-marathon and didn't think I was really fit enough to do one (I now know I'm not!)

Anyway, I decided I'd push myself to see how fast I could go (despite the fact that it was the hilliest 10k I've ever run) and I did OK, coming in 3rd in the womens' race. It was a small field, but there were definitely more than 3 women running in the 10k!!!

I am now the proud owner of a (quite large) trophy and I had to stand on a podium to collect it. Very, very random, but fun.

Picture may follow.

Pottering along

I’ve felt lately, and I was feeling a little like this towards the end in China, that being home, i.e. in Britain, for a while would be nice. I miss things, such as being able to communicate freely with everyone (though this is less of a problem here in Spain than it was in China), things I am used to, things being easy.

However, last night I was also reminded of one of the pleasures of travel and living in the different places – meeting new people.

One of the other teachers at the school where I work, an American, invited the other teachers round to his house for dinner. He lives with his Spanish boyfriend in a house they have lived in together for six years. Their house is beautiful – decorated in a really interesting way and really cosy and homely. We had the open fire lit (the weather here has suddenly got cold) and it was nice being in a proper ‘home’ rather than rented accommodation. The meal was also really nice. We had salad with ranch dressing to start, followed by pork tenderloin with vegetables and then orange cake for dessert. I have to admit to eating quite a lot, but it was so tasty and it was really good to have someone else doing the cooking for a change.

It was a very good evening, the only downside being that I got home at about 1 am. Still, no chance to sleep in this morning as some builders were making a lot of noise somewhere nearby.

Still no internet, two weeks after having ordered it…

Something I was puzzling over the other day was the pecking order for bin scavenging. I was watching two people going through one of the big bins on the pavement here. (As many people live in apartments, they bring their rubbish down to the street and leave it in big bins). As I watched them, another person arrived to scavenge through the bin with them, and I wondered, as you do when you’re by yourself and possibly a little bit bored, how it works. Is there some kind of first come first served basis? Do they have to fight it out? Or is it all amicable and friendly. One to ponder… maybe…

On a different note, I had a great long weekend last weekend, cheaply exploring a few places in the immediate area. The next long weekend I plan to travel a bit further afield. This weekend I am taking part in a 10k race to get a time so that I have something to work towards for the next one I’m doing in December. Sadly the course here goes downhill on the way and uphill on the way back. That’s my excuse prepared anyway!

Red tape and randomness.

As is generally the way, and as I knew they would, things are starting to settle into some sort of pattern.

It is currently the 'Feria' in Jaen, though I have yet to make it inside the gates. Last Saturday night it was 3 or 3.30am when we got there and I had just had enough, so went home! I can't get used to the time people go out here and I've decided that I don't particularly want to. That night my flatmates got in at about 9 in the morning. As far as I'm concerned that's getting up late, not a time for getting in... hey ho.

Yesterday was a good day as I finally got my N.I.E. (Numero de Identidad de Extranjero), which should make things generally easier and ensure that I don't get taxed at 25% any more. Getting it was less than easy, however. To start with I needed to fill in a form (of course!) With that form I had to have a certificate of registration in the city. To get that certificate I needed a rental contract with my name on it. First hurdle. I had to wait until we had found a third flatmate for the landlord to come round and sort that out. That done finally, I returned to the Town Hall for the certificate, which of course involved two trips. Then I had to call the Foreigners Office and make an appointment. That involved dialling many many times and the number seemed to be constantly engaged. And then, even when I turned up for my appointment I had to queue to get a number to go through to the inner sanctum where my documents were processed.

That done, amid much queuing with mostly North African men, I had to go to a bank to pay some money to the National Treasury or something. Then back to the Foreigners Office (but only at 12pm), more queuing and finally I was sent away clutching a certificate with my number on it. Yippee!!!

And it's supposed to be easy for EU residents to work in other EU countries.

Apart from that, I had an interesting conversation with an old Spanish man yesterday. He sat down on a park bench next to me and asked me if I had a boyfriend. He then proceeded to tell me (I think!) about some cousin of his in Madrid who had some woman on the side and to warn me about the dangers of living in a different place from your boyfriend / girlfriend. I think he just wanted to talk to someone and seemed content with my brief nods and the occasional 'si'. The only slightly worrying thing was that he seemed to be leaning closer and closer as he spoke to me. Probably a bit hard of hearing or something...

So today I'm going for a day out with one of the other teachers at my school. She and her boyfriend have a car, so we're going to make good use of it and actually do something during our four day weekend. Saturday I'm going walking with a local walking group and at some point I'm going to try and sign up for the 10k that's going on here in Jaen next weekend.

More soon...

Exercising in a foreign language and all things Chinese...

Yes, I am still in Spain, but China seems to be following me. More of that later.

Exercise is a constant theme in my life. I like to exercise and I don't like the feeling of being unfit. Wherever I am, I always have my running shoes. It's free, you can do it almost anywhere and apart from the wear on the old knees, it's an excellent form of exercise. I've run in Australia, in the French Alps, through the fields in China and now here Spain. I've also recently joined a gym and have started going to the exercise classes there. So far I've done 'Body Pump' (EVERYTHING ached the next day, so it must've done my muscles some good), 'Pilates' (brilliant for a Monday morning) and 'Step' (confusing). My Spanish is still a bit ropey, so I'm kind of slow at everything, having mostly to wait for a physical demonstration rather than being able to use the oral commands to help me... Never mind. The women in the classes tend to be a little bit more vocal than those back home, shouting out 'Es muy facil!' [It's very easy!] or complaining when an exercise is a bit more difficult. One woman sat massaging her chest after a set of exercises meant to strengthen the pectoral muscles...!

I've also found a walking club and will be going on my first outing with them a week on Saturday. I'm very excited about that. It should be good for improving my Spanish and will get me out in the hills - yippee!

And so, China. I've already written that I miss the place. More than I thought I would. I'm particularly missing the food, so need to go shopping to try and find some of the necessary ingredients and try to cook my own.

I went for a Chinese meal when a friend came to stay with me, but of course it was Chinese food for Westerners and not a chopstick in sight... There are quite a few Chinese restaurants in the town. There are also lots of Chinese shops, one quite close to where I live. I went there on Monday and it was a dazzling Aladdin's cave of, well, tat, basically. But very cheap tat. I'll definitely be going there again! Here in Jaen (and maybe in the rest of Spain?) the name 'Chinese Shop' seems to be synonymous with very cheap and selling everything...

And finally, I went out last Friday evening with the new Erasmus students. My flatmate works at Jaen University and so gets to gatecrash such things. It was all quite noisy, with the Italians in particular making lots of noise. However, I ended up sitting next to four Chinese students, three from Nanjing and the other one from Changsha, of all places.

It's a big country and it casts its net wide...

Tomorrow is the start of the 'Feria' in Jaen, so there will be lots of eating, drinking, making merry and a three-day working week for me next week.

Hast luego.

Sunshine, bullfighting and singing 'Head Shoulders Knees & Toes' .

So, finally, I get the chance to write my blog again. A lot of time has passed since I last wrote, or it feels like it at least. I'm now in Jaen, in Southern Spain, with China seeming a million miles away in some ways, but definitely missed.

Term started at the private English school where I teach on 13th September. Things are gradually settling into some sort of pattern, though I've yet to stop feeling nervous and to fully gain control of one particular class of 7 year olds, but I'm working on it. I've also yet to get my special 'Foreigner's Number' (an ID number which means I'll no longer get taxed at 25%!) In order to get that I have to go to various places with various bits of paper, none of which can be done until I have my rental agreement. Happy days...

A friend visited last week and at the weekend we visited the Cazorla National Park area, which was beautiful. We only saw a small part of it, so I'll definitely be back to see some more.

The weather has been pretty warm, though is just starting to get a bit chilly. I'm struggling a bit with working afternoons and evenings - you basically spend all day waiting to go to work. It's also difficult to go to bed early and therefore difficult also to get up in the morning. However, I've joined a gym (yet another test of my poor Spanish!) and will be trying to get to the 9.30am classes at least (the 8.30am ones might be a step too far...)

Next week and the week after are short weeks - 4 days and 3 days respectively. Yippee! The second of those long weekends is also the Feria here in Jaen, so I'll definitely be reporting back on that. Which brings me nicely to bullfighting. Very much still part of the culture here. I've watched it a little bit on TV and no doubt I'll go to one just for the experience, but I can't say it's something I really understand.

And finally... 'Head Shoulders Knees & Toes'? The old favourite. I've sung it in England, France, China and now Spain. Can't go wrong...

Adios and hasta luego with some more photos hopefully.

Back home

I've not posted for a long time, but I've generally been enjoying being back in England.

The journey home was reasonably smooth. I called in at Pingxiang on the way [kind of] and had a last visit to my friends, Steven, Rose & Jasmine. Jasmine (now aged two) is speaking quite a lot and was even persuaded to say some things in English. They tried to get her to call me 'Auntie Steph' (in English), but the best she managed was 'Auntie Douf' (as in 'dou fu' - tofu), which cracked me up! I also called in at Shenzhen and met up with a former Pingxiang College student, Maggie. She's now working in Shenzhen and it was really nice to catch up with her (plus she found a nice hotel for me to stay in). I also had my one and only visit to the beach in China and it was so weird! We went in the evening and so it was very busy - people arriving after work and avoiding the heat of the day etc. It felt like the whole of humanity was either on the beach or in the water. This was made worse by the fact that the people 'swimming' were all inside a limited roped off area and most of them were wearing rubber rings. It was surreal. Difficult to imagine the scene unless you were there...

Anyway, I flew from Hong Kong to London with only some minor turbulence and the annoyance of the person next to me spreading out a bit too much while she was asleep. (I was also jealous of the fact that she was sleeping as I managed an hour tops). A chatty guy originally from Pakistan collected me in a taxi and I made it back to my sister's by about 6am on a beautiful, clear morning. It had only been eleven and a half months and I know that people are away from home a lot longer, but I was really glad to be back.

Since then I've been catching up with friends, bonding with my niece, running, swimming and enjoying the simple pleasures of empty pavements, being able to chat to random people in shops, old people on park benches etc.

Spain next. Watch this space...