For longer than I can remember my financial situation has not been good enough for the annual dental check-up. However, I figured in China it should be a lot cheaper so I bit the bullet (so to speak) and went with my friend (providing moral support,) to the dentist to make an appointment. Having answered… Read More »
We can all remember being picked for the team, all lined up against the wall, the best two players facing the rest. And then the dreaded selection, as the captains choose players in order of skill and popularity until the unwanted player is left standing against the wall (and he will be made to go… Read More »
A group of men were huddled over something on the pavement all looking down at the ground. I walked over to the group and pushed myself through the crowd to see what was going on. There on the ground was a small straight-sided grey bowl inside which two crickets were chasing each other across hot… Read More »
I am doing 6 hours of oral English in a university each week. Teaching oral English means getting the students to speak in English as much as possible. Trouble is there’s only me in the room and they can’t all speak to me so my plan is to get them out speaking to westerners in… Read More »
The whiteness of my legs has given my friends and family something to laugh about for as long as I can remember. Whenever they came out they would put their legs next to them to compare the colour and laugh at my milky white skin. As a child I used to put sun tan oil… Read More »
All morning we had been listening to the importance of processes, timing, audio recording, stop watches, what not to wear; noisy jewellery, short skirts (as if!), low cut tops or shorts, told not to be violent towards the students (!), smile, relax, be punctual and professional… my head was spinning. And as if that wasn’t… Read More »
This has brought much amusement to me and Roy in the office today. Two men who kidnapped a Ferrari owner and demanded a ransom of 10 million yuan (£1m) were arrested in Hangzhou last week. The mother of the victim found her son’s red Ferrari in the middle of the road leading to their house… Read More »
I found the school on the 11th floor of Nanjing International Business Centre next to exit 8 of the subway in the heart of town. “Great location” I thought. I had only had email contact with Cameron and, due his Western name and poor English, had assumed he was Chinese. So I was surprised to… Read More »
Finding myself with a few hours to spare and no need to rush back from London I got the number 91 bus from St Pancras to Trafalgar Square. It was a lovely day in the capital and there were hundreds of tourists enjoying the sun in the square taking pictures of each other climbing on… Read More »
If you have never travelled to London on the Wrexham and Shropshire train you have never lived. In a hectic, noisy, impersonal world you will find here a little capsule of quiet respectability, politeness and consideration. “Would you like me to help you with your bag?” the squaddy asked the ex-Pomeranian breeder. Betty Flavel was… Read More »