HUAIROU, Beijing Province: Didn't do much today, only had one class and then the whole afternoon off. Did some more marking, getting very bored reading about fish & chips and roast dinners - making me crave English food loads!

HUAIROU, Beijing Province: Last week I gave all my classes a listening test about English food, so spent the morning finishing off the marking so I could return the tests this week. Really should bear in mind how many students I have next time I decide to give a test!!

HUAIROU, Beijing Province: Bit of a hanging day today, but to be fair - it's now the only day when we have the luxury! Went back to the hotel (where we stayed for the first fortnight in Huairou) to try out their restaurant - although our room was pretty manky, the restaurant always seemed really popular and it was an A-grade! Ordered way too much food, but it was all very tasty - definitely a place we'll be going back to!

HUAIROU, Beijing Province: Started the day with my first Korean class. Went into school for half 8 to sit in Efren's classes with them to get an idea of what we're actually teaching them! The programme is to get them to memorise poems. I think it's a bit pointless, but I have to test them at the end of each session and if they fail they're not allowed out for the rest of the weekend! So harsh! When they told me the students' English was good, I had no idea how ...

HUAIROU, Beijing Province: Had to be in school for half 8 this morning for a meeting with the Korean Department. We've been asked to teach on Saturday mornings - two classes each, which I think will be quite fun. Basically, it's a Korean school in Korea, but there's an exchange programme or something, so some of the teachers and the students are living at the Chinese School. I think it's to help the Korean students to learn Chinese to get into a Chinese Univer...