China3 - Day 90 - Tuesday 1st January 2019

So what will the New Year bring? I am flying to England on January 29-30th. When I get back from England and meet up with YingYing in Shenyang we are going to Hainan (Southern-most part of China) for a few weeks vacation. Then the current plan is that we get back to Shenyang and YingYing and her brother will think about opening a small restaurant there. If that plan comes to fruition then I  will continue to live between China and the UK and continue with my online teaching. 

China3 - Day 89

New Year's Eve walking to Joy Plaza to look for a new coat for me and a new something red to wear for YingYing. Wanda Plaza yesterday didn't have what was needed........

Passed another pile of share bikes. These are apparently notorious for the oversupply in many Chinese cities, although I haven't noticed anything particularly here in Yantai

Bought a new coat for me in H&M and waited in the coffee shop for YingYing to hunt down a new pair of red trainers....

China3 - Day 88

China3 - Day 87

No money, not funny. No money in my Bank of China account now so I have had to start taking out of HSBC. The charges are stinging. 0.50GBP withdrawal fee and 7.00GBP currency transaction fee when I withdrew 2500RMB

China3 - Day 86

China3 - Day 85

We have found a better room in the hotel which is only 120RMB per night (about 15GBP) and includes for breakfast. It has a window. We are going to be holed up here for a few weeks and it is very cold outside. English-style snowing this morning......

And a little bit more seasonal weather throughout the day...............................................

China3 - Day 84

China3 - Day 83 - Christmas Day 2018

Video recording restrictions mean that for now I am now down to 10 second shots. Apologies......

China3 - Day 82 - Yantai, Shandong, China

China3 - Day 81 - Rongcheng, Shandong, China

China3 - Day 80

Unable to load a video today. Have been looking forward all day to the Southampton game away to Huddersfield and am pleased to report that it was worth staying up for. 3pm kick off in Yorkshire means an 11pm kick off here. We won 1-3. A tremendous effort by the lads and I was able to watch it on YingYing's iPad (I can see all premier league games for free here in China) and listen to the simultaneous commentary on my pc coming from the Saints FC official website! Fabulous! 

China3 - Day 79

China3 - Day 78

China3 - Day 77

China3 - Day 76

China3 - Day 76

China3 - Day 75

China3 - Day 74

China3 - Day 73

China3 - Day 72

China3 - Day 71

China3 - Day 70

China3 - Day 69

China3 - Day 68

China3 - Day 67

China3 - Day 66

China3 - Day 65

China3 - Day 64

China3 - Day 63

China3 - Day 62

My introductory video for the DaDaABC teaching was below par so I have been practicing for a new one. Already on Take 4!!!!

China3 - Day 61

China3 - Day 60

China3 - Day 59 - Saturday 1st December 2018

China3 - Day 58

China3 - Day 57

China3 - Day 56

China3 - Day 55

China3 - Day 54

China3 - Day 53

China3 - Day 52

China3 - Day 51

China3 - Day 50

China3 - Day 49

China3 - Day 48

China3 - Day 47

China3 - Day 46

China3 - Day 45

China3 - Day 44

China3 - Day 43

China3 - Day 42

China3 - Day 41

China3 - Day 40

Interesting discussions today about where to go when we get back from the New Year vacations. One idea is to open a small restaurant in Shandong with YingYing's friend LiXu, another idea is to open a small restaurant in Shenyang with YingYing's brother. Lots to sort out either way....

China3 - Day 39

China3 - Day 38

China3 - Day 37

China3 - Day 36

China3 - Day 35

China3 - Day 34

China3 - Day 33

China3 - Day 32

China3 - Day 31

China3 - Day 30

China3 - Day 29 - November 1st 2018

China3 - Day 28

China3 - Day 27

China3 - Day 26

China3 - Day 25

China3 - Day 24

China3 - Day 23

The Belt and Road initiative is China's name for the strategic investment that China makes using billions of dollars worth of infrastructure development in countries across Europe and Asia and here is a little video to advertise this idea...…

China - Day 22

China - Day 21

China - Day 20

I looked this up when I got back to the apartment. According to Google sources it is actually a guardian lion (C. shishi) and the thing in it's mouth is meant to be a pearl. They always come in pairs facing out and traditionally there is a female (with mouth closed and one paw resting on a cub) on one side and a male on the right (with mouth open and one paw resting on a ball which is meant to represent the property that is being guarded.

China3 - Day 19

China3 - Day 18

China3 - Day 17

China3 - Day 16

China3 - Day 15

China3 - Day 14

China3 - Day 13

China3 - Day 12

China3 - Day 11

China3 - Day 10

Last night we cooked a hotpot in the apartment and LiXu and YaTo were our guests...……

China3 - Day 9

China3 - Day 8

On Monday I met a small girl at the food van who was very interested in the fact that I was from the UK. She took out her English school book and although she was very shy about it, wanted to practice a little English. Since then I haven't been there at the time she passes the food van but she asks for me every time she goes past. I am wondering if encounters like these that could lead to some tutoring opportunities. LiXu's daughter is learning English at school and I have started to give her some free tutoring and the plan is that I will see her again for an hour tomorrow night

China3 - Day 7

Harvesting greens in the allotment below our balcony window.....

China3 - Day 6

YingYing's cute nephew in the ball pool in Harbin can remember us playing there together and is telling me that he misses me aahhhh….

China3 - Day 5

China3 - Day 4

China3 - Day 3

China3 - Day 2

China3 - Day 1 - Thursday 4th October 2018 - Yantai - Rongcheng

Cambodia - Day 80

Cambodia - Day 79

Cambodia - Day 78 - Monday October 1st 2018

Cambodia - Day 77

Cambodia - Day 76

Cambodia - Day 75

Cambodia - Day 74

Cambodia - Day 73

Cambodia - Day 72

Cambodia - Day 71

Cambodia - Day 70

Cambodia - Day 69

Cambodia - Day 68

Cambodia - Day 67

Cambodia - Day 66

School pets

Cambodia - Day 65

Cambodia - Day 64

Cambodia - Day 63

Cambodia - Day 62

Another exhausting day teaching Chinese children from the living room. Often rewarding and sometimes really annoying. At 9pm I had a 1-2 session with a 14 year old boy and a 10 year old girl. The content, which is mandatory, was basically teaching the song 'Miss Polly Had a Dolly who was Sick, Sick Sick' and that was more or less it. The 14 year old boy was on time for the class and made it clear that learning this song was not a priority for him. The 10 year old girl was late for class and there was a problem with her sound and she sent me a message to let me know that she was shy and needed plenty of patience. At this time, after a 14 hour day, patience was in short supply. He rated me as 10/10 and she rated the class at 1/10. Looking back at my ratings for the last month, about half the students have made a rating of me. Of the other half (43), 32 students gave me 10/10, 9 gave me 9/10 and of the other two that rated me, one gave me 2/10 and the 10 year old girl gave me 1/10!!!

Cambodia - Day 61

Cambodia - Day 60

Cambodia - Day 59

Cambodia - Day 58

Cambodia - Day 57

Cambodia - Day 56

Cambodia - Day 55

Cambodia - Day 54

Cambodia - Day 53

Cambodia - Day 52

Another busy day at work. Strikes me again today that I am teaching phonics to the students so that they can get used to the sounds of English but there is no local back-up because the teachers are unable to produce the correct sounds. Again thinking about giving up on phonics and concentrating on grammar. Very wet tonight so although it is my 'Friday night' I am staying in......

Cambodia = Day 51

Cambodia - Day 50

Cambodia - Day 49

Cambodia - Day 48

Cambodia - Day 47

Cambodia - Day 46

Cambodia - Day 45

Cambodia - Day 44

Cambodia - Day 43

Cambodia - Day 42

Cambodia - Day 41

Cambodia - Day 40

Plus another Health and Safety bulletin from Phnom Penh for painters and decorators.....................

Cambodia - Day 39

Cambodia - Day 38

Cambodia - Day 37

So YingYing was listening to this song and singing along to it all day but I haven't got a clue what the lyrics are. Well I have got a clue because the lyrics are subtitled but it is a bit of a job to decode them from this format so that I can use Google translate. It's annoyingly catchy...

Cambodia - Day 36

Cambodia - Day 35

Cambodia - Day 34

Cambodia - Day 33

Cambodia - Day 32

These men are taking down the scaffolding from the apartment block next door. They are six floors up working barefoot without anything to stand on and without harness or hard hat. Elfin safety.

Cambodia - Day 31

View from our balcony at night

Cambodia - Day 30

Absolutely shattered at the end of the day...….

Cambodia - Day 29

My demo class for another online tutoring company...……

Cambodia - Day 28

Sunday today. Still working the block of flats next door...…….

Cambodia - Day 27

I spent pretty much the whole day planning the script, working out how to annotate and practicing and filming this self-introduction for an online company called italki

And in the evening I was rewarded with two live EPL games on cable TV here in the apartment

Cambodia - Day 26

For a school outing this morning we took some of the Bridgeton school children to Wat Phnom, the historic centre of the city and the highest temple (at about 30m above the ground; not very high)

Cambodia - Day 25

Cambodia - Day 24

Cambodia - Day 23

Cambodia - Day 22

Cambodia - Day 21

Cambodia - Day 20

Cambodia - Day 19

Cambodia - Day 18

Yesterday I opened a bank account with the help of the school principal. Unfortunately it poured down with rain while I was there so we couldn't get back on his moto which meant that I lost the money that I would have made from two classes. Hey ho swings and roundabouts...….

Cambodia - Day 17 - August 1st 2018

Cambodia - Day 16

Cambodia - Day 15 - Back home!

Cambodia - Day 14 - Bangkok

Sunday morning paid to go on a tour to Ayuthaya, which used to be the capital of Siam until, we were told,  the Burmese invaded and destroyed the place in the 18th century at which point the capital was moved to Bangkok

After the coach tour we took a boat for a nice lunch and a cruise back to central Bangkok

Even better than that was the free tour that Charles organized for us in the evening - visiting temples after dark when there was no-one else there.....

Cambodia - Day 13 - Bangkok

Having bought a new pair of trousers, two new shirts and a new pair of shoes we went to Erewan Shrine to see what was up...…

Cambodia - Day 12

Settling in today. Here is the view from the main Southern balcony. The East balcony is for the washing machine and the West balcony is covered in a gigantic dust sheet that drapes the entire height of the block of flats because of the building work going on that side

Met with the Bridgeton School principal this morning and we agreed that I would start work next Tuesday. I need to wear formal clothes long sleeve shirt, long pants, polished shoes in accordance with the school policy boo

Election day coming up this weekend and there will be mucho disruption so we are trying to escape to Bangkok to do some shopping for formal clothes boo....

Cambodia - Day 11

Cambodia - Day 10

Cambodia - Day 9

Cambodia - Day 8

Cambodia - Day 7

Cambodia - Day 6

Had a message from Mr Cheer this morning about a couple of new apartments so we went along to have a look at one. Absolutely fabulous but no washing machine which was a deal breaker

Mr Cheer offered us a peek at another one this afternoon up on the fifth floor in a brand new block of flats Koh Tral St (65) close to the corner of Streets 61 and 86. Services in and most fixtures and fittings and they say that they can put in washing machine, cooker, internet, cable TV and have the place cleaned in time for us to move in on Tuesday 24th.!!!! It might be a goer

Cambodia - Day 5

Final swim before leaving Sarina Boutique Hotel yesterday

Spent today looking round apartments in the Daun Penh area and this was the best of the bunch, There were two apartments in this block, one on the second floor and one on the fifth floor. They were both the same size but the fifth floor apartment seemed bigger and brighter because maybe of the better light coming in from higher up

The other three apartments we looked at were not so great so we went back to have another look at our favorite on the fifth floor

Cambodia - Day 4

Cambodia - Day 3

The day started well with a swim before breakfast but ever since then it has not stopped raining so today has been a little indoorsy……..

Cambodia - Day 2

Cambodia - Day 1 - Monday 16th July 2018

China2 - Day 24

China2 - Day 23

Very hot and clammy again today - massive thunderstorm in the afternoon - YingYing's uncle and auntie are staying in the apartment too at the moment so it's all a bit claustrophobic, Managed to get out to get 20 copies of my short CV done so I can hit the ground running when we get to Phnom Penh. Stayed up to watch the England - Belgium play-off for third place and wished I hadn't. It was like watching Saints play - high on enthusiasm and low on creativity and penetration

China2 - Day 22

China2 - Day 21 - Family picnic

China2 - Day 20

China2 - Day 19

China2 - Day 18

China2 - Day 17

China2 - Day 16

England play Sweden tonight in the first QF appearance of the FIFA WCup since 1990! I am a bit excited!