Sorry to hear about you being mugged!! I can't beleive it.. pickpocketing is quite common, but a mugging! Awful!

Feel for you in front of 4,000 kids.. I had to do a speech in front of 8,000.. The kids and teachers from my school here in Hebei.. I was terrified!!

You're apartment sounds nice! Lucky you!

Know what I miss a lot? A nice hot bath. Showers are good but I'd love a soak right now!!

O well done Katielou....kudos for you too. How wonderful to get such positive feedback. What part of China are you in? North, south east or west?

So far my students have been fantastic- have taught 12 classes so far this week with 4 more tomorrow. Looking forward to the weekend when I can relax and gather my thoughts after a frantic first week. Had a phone call from my senior FAO last night to tell me the students have said I am very experienced and they think they will learn a lot from me....high praise after just one lesson for each class...and certainly a positive boost for me.

Oh Katie, what a scary start to your experience.  Well done for facing 4000 at assembly - I thought I was scared talking to 100 at a school here in the UK this year!  Hope this turns out to be a fantastic experience for you.  I'll be following your progress.

OMG you poor thing...not a nice welcome to China. I know how you feel about being the only foreigner in a sea of Asians...I get stared at every time I go to Indonesia because I am always in the company of an Indonesian....and where we go, they never see white faces. You must feel really special there. ;)

How daunting is it to teach such large classes? 

Oh no, so sorry to hear about you being mugged - glad you're still keeping positive though - sounds like everything else has been going pretty well - what are your students like?