The countdown is on until my last class… no, hang on just a minute - the countdown is over! I got a text Wednesday morning, just as I was snoozing the alarm (again), to say that class is over and not to come in, so I finished my stint as a TEFL teacher two days early! I’d said goodbye to everyone at Kindergarten 1 on Tuesday, so at least I got one set of goodbyes...

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I can’t believe I’ve only got two weeks left of being an intern; there’s so much I haven’t told you about! Let me start with pomello, since I’m eating some as I type and everyone should know about pomello. It’s a citrus fruit we first had at Andy’s house back in the day when his fiancée made hotpot for us. I think it’s known as Chinese melon, but I can only ever sing the name...

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Sometimes, I hate my job. I was heading up the stairs to my last kindergarten class, and as I rounded the corner I saw, on the emerging landing, a small boy gleefully weeing on his friend’s shoes rather than the bucket so placed for the purpose. OH MY LADY GAGA. I’m developing strategic tunnel vision and deafness and can ignore the stares and phlegm hacking of adults and kids using the toilet pots in the...

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The leaves have fallen, the heating’s on, and it’s getting dark. It’s been a week for change. Our Canadian big brother Andy has properly moved away from Handan to the south of China to be closer to his fiancée Nancy. Great for him, I’m sure they’re going to be really happy, but sad for us. At least we’ve got our other big brothers, Charlie and Kan, and our disreputable uncle Dan. As a Lilac Education...

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Ok, half way mark has been hit so it’s time to start thinking seriously about what to do once January 15th hits and this internship is over. Here are the options that I’m running over in my head: 1.       Go straight home. 2.       Travel around China until my visa runs out (5th Feb) then travel home. 3.       Travel around China until my visa runs out then explore South East Asia until my money runs out...

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It’s just gone two months since I climbed aboard a train and set off for an adventure and there are three months to go. I’ve past my mental milestone (get as far as your birthday and you’re home free Clare!) and now it’s a case of girding myself up for the long haul. Not that three months is a very long time really, not on paper, not in the grand scheme of things. However, the...

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The week’s holiday that China takes from 1st – 7th October is known as Golden Week, and I cannot think of a more appropriate description – it has been pretty special. Not only did we decide to spend our holiday with a bunch of other i-to-i/TTC interns in Shanghai, but it was also my 24th birthday! I’ve always wanted to go to Shanghai because I like the word (and I think it should be used...

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I’m sitting here on my bed writing this, munching through a packet of chocolate biscuits and I am thinking in a vague fashion about food as you do when you’re tucking into biscuits. On a day to day basis, I have claimed breakfast for the West, gastronomically speaking – I tend to have oats, sultanas and a chopped up banana with yogurt and a cup of tea. I have to say, I don’t know what...

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It’s funny how life throws you curve balls and gives you what you need, not necessarily what you want, right? Well, I did not want Kindergarten. I wanted anything but Kindergarten. ANYTHING. My general attitude to children goes along the lines of they’re as fine as soon as they’re old enough to ask funny questions and have opinions, toddlers are fun to chase for about ten minutes and babies are mostly boring but they can’t...

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We’ve been in our new apartment for just over a week and in Handan for nearly a fortnight, so it’s time and past to update my first impressions of Handan. The first few days were hard, there’s no doubt about it. What surprised me is that the thing I’ve found the hardest is being back around people all the time again. I’ve become much more solitary than I realised and I’m going to have to...

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