Lost the morning as we didn't get in until 6:00. When we did get up we decided to go shopping. We had not been to sucessful in the shopping malls so we decided to try the shops in the market area. These were much better - far more 'normal' clothes and a much better prices. When I say 'normal', I actually mean a bit plainer as the Chinese have a habit of taking a nice piece of clothing and completely ruining it by sticking decorative jewels all over it. We got a r...

Got up early to go and explore the local area and found that we are only a couple of minutes from the lake and mountain area with loads of places to go walking. This afternoon we had to go and register ourselves with the local police station - in China they like to keep track of where you are and so you have to 'check-in' every time you are staying overnight in a different place. This took longer than it should have because the people from the school had not brou...

Lessons this morning and then at lunchtime we finally moved into our apartment. It's quite nice - very spacious with 2 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. It came complete with a 42" plasma tv, small garden, broadband, a piano and 4 fish!! The only things not so great are the kitchen and bathroom which are decidedly Chinese. The bathroom we will have to get over (at least we have a Western toilet) but we have already agreed not to kee...

It was Teachers Day and so at the start of each lesson, the children stood up and wished me a Happy Teachers Day! The also bought me presents - moon cakes, flowers, sweets and a lamp - and one of the classes had written me a lovely letter thanking me for coming to China and telling me what good friends we would all become! It was lovely - I didn't even mind them falling asleep after that!! After school all the teachers and office staff were taken to a restuarant ...

The weather here has taken a change for the worst - until today it was lovely and sunny, but today it was chucking it down - hope this is not the end of summer. We have a couple of bank holidays coming up soon so I asked the teachers when they were - as I'd been told they were big holidays and if you want to go away you have to book in advance. Anyway, one is this weekend coming and the school still hasn't decided whether to give the Friday or Monday as a day off...