Here we are again, the time for reflection has fallen upon me once more. I'm spending my ninth milestone in bed however as food poisoning has finally got me after nine months in China (it was inevitable really) but regardless here it is; do remember to re read my six months milestone (and the others if you're up to it) to truely grasp how my feelings are changing.

My last blog opend with my life seeming to flash before my eyes and what can I sday but dastardly time has some how managed to trick me thrice, shame on me. The time since spring festival has been although not exactly action packed full of some of the more defining moments of my career in China thus far; My Dads visit (blog on that coming very,very soon) really made me take a step back as I relaised 'Wow. i've grown up'. Although I still indulge in childish activties and jokes having my Dad around, taking control of the situation (as I had to) and talking to him again I felt eye to eye. Although we still share the sentiments of Father/Son it felt like a big step since the last time we talked. As well as this were soe of the decisions i've made, rightly or wrongly, over the past few months such as entering a zone where a major incident had occoured only a day prior, sorting visa issues and battling my own battles in school. I've come to be more accepting of the unknown in the past few months; nothing can be more initimidating thn 70 17 year olds. I'm even more so experinced than my last blog and certain events helped spurn that on; China is shaping and redefining me.

I said in the last blog I cannot adjust to not thanking waiters and showing courtises to people and that that will never change. It seems I must eat about half of my words. Although I do still thank staff and show general courtises these days it's in a very Chinese manner either in Chinese or their way of doing things. I still get annoyed by the shouting, the spitting and the driving but so be it. I still stick by my guns. I will never think a man spitting onto the floor of a bus repeatedly for 2 hours is acceptable but who am I to judge? Their country, their rules.

Next thing I talked about in my last blog was my new found burning passion for the Chinese language. This is a flame I don't see extingushing for a rather long time. Since my last blog I started a pursuit of something I initially thought near impossible; the reading of characters. Although, yes, my standard of speaking is ok and I can muddle my way though a lot of conversations at this point three months ago I knew diddly squit about characters. Three months on and I probably know 300-400 of the things with an ever growing vocabulary. I love them. Like the tones in the spoken language the initial apprehension to learning charcters comes from a fear of the unknow, a system i've never seen before. But once you know ten you soon know twenty. Once you know twenty it soon becomes fifty and from there it becomes simple memory games. Once more I found myself falling in love with the Chines language all over again, now spoken and reading. I will keep studying, I will not lose this skill. I am Alex Kidd and I love Chinese.

Time to talk abou teaching once more. I have absolutely loved my time as a teacher and have come to like a lot of my students greatly. A lot of them are very fun, very chatty and very enthusiastic. Equally as many are the exact opposite. Although I have loved my time as a teacher it's finally starting to grind on me although that maybe because the end is in sight. With only four weeks on lessons left i'm starting to get a tad edgy. Honestly I like to think i've helped some of the kids and if even one or two have found value in me being here great. However for all those who do not value me being here I truely have lost inrest in reaching out to them but thats fatigue really. As I said in the last blog I'm not exactly excited to FINISH working but i'm ready to do so.

These past few months have certainly been a lot less progressive in my development then the first six but they have come to show how comfortable i've become with my life in China. It does raise the question, one I tend to ponder upon these days, as to what life will be like upon my return to England. I am getting excited to come back and see my friends, family and the coast again but I sure will miss China. It's taken me by suprise and stole my heart. Here's my hopes for the coming few months; my Chinese is refined a tad more before I return to England, my last few weeks of teaching are prosporus, fun and productive, the summer travels are the time of my life. Lastly though I hope they offer an end to this story. It had a begin, it has a middle and now all it needs is a good end. A happy one, I hope.

Well, thats it. Another milestone blog is up and written. The scary thing is the next one of these I write will be from England. It's not over yet but here's a premptive toast; To China, you have served me as a friend, a brother and a father. May you continue to do so for another two and a half months.