Well our internet connection is as patchy as a lawn in the Sahara. So this may not get updated as often as I want it to.Teaching is going fine, as expected some classes are far better than others, and it can be very tricky to adapt lesson plans to suit. This is made worse by the range of skills in each class - rather than grouping by ability it seems that the college simply groups people, with little or no rhyme or reason. Sammy and I have enjoyed a couple of vi...

Finally all settled into our apartment in Pingxiang. We've been here nearly 2 weeks, but we've only just got the internet completely sorted, and in this day and age it is a necessity to have it to be truly at home. We've had a good few classes as well, university classes are so different from those we did in Shunyi. Introduction lessons started on Monday, and true content will start the Monday after for most (3 classes start next week for me, so they'll be 1 beh...

Well the weekend is over, and we've finally had a chance to act a little like tourists. After 6 days teaching, the trip to the centre of Beijing to visit the National Museum and the Forbidden City was a complete change of pace. Alas we didn't get to spend much time in the museum (about an hour and a half), and spent far too long in Tianamen square (nearly an hour). The Forbidden City was gorgeous, albeit busy. And as with most things we've done, there was a lot o...

Finally had time to sit down properly and write a post! These past few days have been manic. The flight was very good, Manchester to Frankfurt went as expected, with your typical cramped space, and annoying passenger sat next to us. Our tickets for the Frankfurt-Beijing leg were off however, as me and Sammy didn't have seats next to each other. We queried it, and the people on the desk couldn't re-arrange any seats, as Economy class was full. As the fault was not...

Finally got round to putting this blog together for people who want to keep up with me as I travel those thousands of miles to Pingxiang in the Jiangxi province of China for the next year. Last night at home before heading to Sammy's to fly out on Thursday. Cases are packed (bar the laptop of course), it's a little worrying how much the one is bulging! Hoping I've got everything I'm going to need, and very much looking forward to the upcoming challenges that I'm...