Sunday, August 23, 2009

China, China, China...

It seems that China is the theme for the last few days.

Since being unemployed, I've been applying for teaching jobs across the world. Today, I received an offer for a school in China. I'm not sure whether I'm going to accept it or not, but I'll inform all my loyal (non-existent) readers as soon as I make a decision.

My blog has also had a recent attack of spam from Chinese porn websites. If you could tell me what...
最近様々なメディアで紹介されている家出掲示板では、全国各地のネットカフェ等を泊り歩いている家出少女のメッセージが多数書き込みされています。彼女たちはお金がないので掲示板で知り合った男性とすぐに遊びに行くようです。あなたも書き込みに返事を返してみませんか

...means, I'll be much obliged.

Anyway, that's all for this post. A plus!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Back home, and unemployed!

Ok, I haven't updated in 5 weeks... But that's because I've been ridiculously busy and the internet at Swanage wasn't particularly reliable. So, I've been a teacher for 6 weeks. Apart from the rather interesting arrival at Harrow House, the rest of my time there was really enjoyable. Ok, it's hard work teaching 6 hours a day and then going on excursions on Saturdays (well, I did every other Saturday), but it was really fun. The other staff were awesome and I got on with them really well. (A special mention goes to Emily who has her own blog) But now that's over, and as I lie in bed in the morning, I actually feel as if something's missing, as if I should be standing in front of 16 apathetic teenagers who want to be in bed as much as I do. At least there's always next year!

Of course, it's good being back home, and I've been rather busy despite the lie-ins. On the Sunday that I left, my dad forced me to walk five miles to a nearby village (Worth Matravers) just to go to the pub there, the Square and Compass. Ok, so the views on the walk were wonderful, the weather was amazing, and the pub was very cool, but it was exercise! On a Sunday! And there was no rest for me on Monday, either, as our house experienced its annual invasion by the Hampton clan. It was lovely to see them all again, but goodness, don't they talk! What I'm most impressed by is how two Hamptons can talk at each other simultaneously and still apparently understand what the other is saying, although I'm not convinced...

On Tuesday, I went into Southampton. I had to buy a new pair of jeans because I didn't realise until it was too late that I was wearing an old pair of jeans which had a nice big hole where you wouldn't want a hole, and had no pockets either since we cut them out. So after buying said new jeans, I went to see where Thomas works, then had my haircut (I've lost a stone in weight by doing that), and went home. In the evening, I went to Southampton again for a school reunion. My friend Karen is getting married tomorrow and then moving to Germany, so a group of friends from school decided to meet up. In total there were six of us, and it was the first time we'd all been in the same place for five years I think. It was great to catch up with everyone and share stories. We should definitely do it again.

Yesterday I didn't do too much. I applied for some jobs, I did some cooking. On Monday, someone, who we've worked out was probably me, didn't shut the freezer in the garage properly, so all the food inside defrosted. So my brother and I had to cook what we could save.

Fact(s) of the day
  • "Uncopyrightable" is the longest word which has only one of each letter in it.
  • My favourite punctuation mark is the ellipsis...

    So, that's it from me, and hopefully, since I now have more time, I'll update more often.