Here I go again...

[Willy The Londoner]

Been in UK a week now.  Saw something of Barrow in Funiss.  My God now I realise why China appeals so much.    They are expecting you back very soon though.  Is that going to happen?  or shall I get them to cancel the pipers.

Willy

[RobertBfrom aust]

Ah Willy , you got that wong , it was cancel the PAPERS regards Robert .

[Scottish_Rob]

Ted great info helped a lot.  So did the rest of you guys...Thank you all

I started this trip with a period of 6 weeks, BUT, when those are up, I will be going to Hong Kong and then back for a further 6 weeks... I am NOT ready to give up just yet...  Barrow in furness (home) of course I'm missing, God I NOT saw a tv in my time here, so just missing the usual drivel that's on the goggle box...As Ted said, once I start 'thinking' I am here for good and NOT a holiday, things will happen.

Yes martin your right, NOTHING is the same, and as Ted said, you gotta adjust to fit, THAT'S WHAT I INTEND TO DO.  There is a saying that' 'Home' is where the heart is, mine is here in China..I know it may not seem like it at times but it really is guys...

I also realised about my conflicting storylines.  I can assure people here that I AM NOT rushing into a marraige... I am prepared for it, doubts happen sometimes in life, now mine are over, and I know what I want..

Pictures are in media section guys...

David I know it ain't Sophies fault I have never blamed her mate.  In fact it was me who told her this...Believe me, when I first started speaking to her about it, SHE was trying ALL ways to prevent it happening...and I mean all ways...  TRUTH BE TOLD... I LOVE THIS PLACE... and Sophie.  Everything WILL fall into place when I least expect it.  She was blaming herself, she thought SHE was not doing enough to keep me happy.  Which of course was NOT the case.  She has been the perfect girlfriend anmd host anyone could have...

Last night for a change, Peter (the son) came out and joined us on our daily exercise and run, this was really unexpected, because all he ever does is play on computer or school work.  We had to prevent him from using the computer because of reasons mentioned earlier, so I think he has resigned himself to the fact, he cannot get away with things like he could before...The neighbours were interested in finding out about Brittish money, so I had to interrupt our exercise (on Sophies's orders of course ) to come upstairs and get it to show them and explain the differnt combinations of currency to the people.  Everyone is really nice here, they are treating me well,.  Someone said that the longer you are there, the more people see you, they begin to trust you, I already feel this trust built up...Hahaha they talk to me in Chinese expecting an answer, and then it dawns on them I can't speak much.  You can sometimes see the frustrating looks upon their faces, which must be on mine when speaking to strangers....

The more I am seen about, the more people chat with me, the less 'staring' happens.  One of the guards here wanted to be my friend, so we exchanged phone numbers, he sends me texts to say hello etc.  He noticed I bought packs of cigarettes (for family etc) to be sent home.  He sent me a text asking WHY I was leaving China, he and others did not want me to leave, I am his best friend he said, and he would be upset if I left...Trying to explain that these were gifts ONLY, he could NOT grasp the concept of posting home   So yesterday, I showed him them wrapped up in a parcel..he finally got the idea I think...hahaha.

Anyway looking forward to this weekend, I 'think' we are going to Beijiing, need to wait and see what her majesty say's...

Willy cancel the Pipers, Papers, Gas bill etc etc..

I meant to say, I tried 'Mooncake' the other night, it was quite nice, a bit stodgy but nice none the less.  Been practicing making Dumplings, cannot 'Roll' them out, BUT can fill them and fold them hahaha.  She like me helping in the kitchen, I figured it out, THIS IS...HER domain...   Won't allow me to wash clothes yet..NO Ted, everything HAS been washed

[Jimmy]

Rob I have been reading you posts and things,  well a long time. You are a pretty sharp guy. It is all very nerve racking. But I know, that you know what to do.
after I quit second guessing myself on a lot of issues. all things have gone smoother. Trust yourself you are gonna be just fine bother.
Glad all is well for you.

[Willy The Londoner]

Ah Willy , you got that wong , it was cancel the PAPERS regards Robert .

OK Papers cancelled andthe milk.  Not the pipers though.  Half of the UK is on the streets celebrating for the visit by the Pope.  Or so I thought. Turns out that they are celebrating the non return of a certain scottish gentleman. The Laird of Barrow in Furniss.

Willy

[ttwjr32]

Willy they might be celebrating Robs non returning, but the celebration will be on a
grand scale when you leave there.

you know the queen is walking around the palace saying these words;

" who let him thru security"
" find out who checked him thru"
" we had him out of here"

[Scottish_Rob]

Willy they might be celebrating Robs non returning, but the celebration will be on a
grand scale when you leave there.

you know the queen is walking around the palace saying these words;

" who let him thru security"
" find out who checked him thru"
" we had him out of here"

And...
I want to Knight him...with the SHARP end of the sword...hahahah

[Scottish_Rob]

Last night I was invited to play a game of 'Yang Shou'...Don't ask me to tell you the rules, I HAVE no idea....   BUT I did my best.  As far as I know it is a milatery type game a bit like Chess, only the discs are 'Milatery', Cannons, Artilary etc...  So I partook,..... after all I had been watching the people playing everyday, it must be easy...right !!!     I must have won, because the man I was playing stormed off and everyone laughed at him !!!   Haha I was just remembering where to place the discs, I have NO idea what I was doing hahaha, but it was fun...

Today while downstairs having my 'English' coffee, 2 teachers came up and spoke with me.  They told me that 'The Headmaster' asked them to 'Invite' me to their class to 'speak' with the students   I had already spoken with the 'Headmaster' the otherday, and I did not realise it, untill 1 of the teachers pointed him out to me this morning   I gratefully accepted their invitation, after all I would be a 'FOOL' not to....

God, things have become so much easier, since Ted's advice and me NOT worrying about things so much...I know it was only a day or so ago that it was given.  Maxx once told me, that 'People' can ruin things for themselves because 'they' get inside their own heads too much.  This I think is what I had done, thinking like a western holiday maker, when in fact, I want to live here.  The good thing I know is that if there is any difficulty with anything, there are people on this site who can help in any (possible) given situation...

I also 'helped' someone move into the flat upstairs this morning.  I know this may sound 'stupid' but, I happen to feel a lot fitter since I come here for some reason, I think the walking and daily exercise is helping me... Maybe because I am watching the kids do their morning exercise, that I am trying to please Sophie  

Another way to look at things, 'A Healthy Body, Leads To A Healthy Mind...'

[ttwjr32]

ALLS well until your body tells you so,methings wrong  hahahaha .
So whats the plan for the class?? what will you proceed to talk about and
do,as they will probably want you to cover 30 to 45 minutes.

Run it by us and we will give you our opinion  hahaha

[Scottish_Rob]

Well the afternoon class was very interesting..  I got guided into the class and there was rapturouse applause for me.  So I settled them down and started.  I wrote on the board, 'Hello, my name is Robert'...
There were 35 students and 3 teachers there, one of whom was the 'Head' - he stayed for about 20 minutes of my talk.

I introduced my self, told them about my family, hahah even drawing little figures on the board to explain their height in comparison with me.  They seemed astounded that I had so many children.. Anything that I could not explain 'properly' the usual teacher explained, which, for once was NOT much.  Their English is not great, but I have heard much worse,  I mean HAVE you ever tried listening to Willie hahah   I told them Why I came to China, and Zhongcheng in particular, well in as much as I came for a holiday, did not want them misconstruing why I was here.  On saying that, once I got them to ask question which they had prepared earlier, the subject of girls came up.  So I explained who I was seeing and when we hoped to marry.  They seemed to like this because I had chosen a Chinese wife.

I took into class with me a 'Map of Europe', to show them the size of the UK in comparison with China, by all accounts they thought the UK was pretty large, until it was explained that the cpouintry can fit inside china about 10 times..hahah.  I tried my best to make the 40 minutes interest9ing andf fun.  The usual teacher was floating about me and I just pretended to push him out of the way and make gestures which the class thought was very funny.  Even the head master at one point, when I glanced over was laughing his head off.

After about 30 minutes the questions came flooding up:
1 what is intersting about China, to make me come there.
2 what's my favourite colour
3 Do I like chinese food
4 what's my favourite chinese food
5 what is Uk food like
6 have I been anywhere else in China
7 what is my favourite place in china, which I aaid Zhucheng - to much applause
8 Can I help them Grammer
9 Is Chinese easy to learn for a westerner
10 whaqt did I think of Michael Jackson
11 AND... Will I sing a song for them...So I gave a rendition of 'Happy Birthday to you' - there was much laughter at this choice...hahah
 
And there was a few other questions which I cannot really remember. Then it was over. 

Before I left the teacher asked if he could get a picture of us together, of course I said yes.  Once that was taken, well 2 were taken, he asked if any of the students wanted their picture with me, the whole class rose in unison.  I thought was the f... hahaha     So their were obviously no room in the classroom for everyone, so they were taken with a few of us at a time..  Once that was over, there was much applause  and everyone wanted to shake my hand including the other teachers who had stayed for the whole lesson.  At that the teacher walked me out, and told me that he and the head master would be talking today. with the prospect of offering me a job because they wanted me to work there !!!  This I did not expect, I thought it was just a little introductory session for the kids, maybe that's why I did not feel any pressure !!! anyway here's hoping 

So can only now wait until Monday to see what happens

[maxx]

Rob good job.See what happens when you don't over think things.

[shaun]

Way to go Rob!!!!  Hoping the best for you.  I told you to stop over Maxxing things and everything would be fine. 

[Willy The Londoner]

I just knew my vocal training sessions with you would pay dividends.  The bill for your course will follow shortly!!!!!!

Willy

[Scottish_Rob]

So I thought we were going to be heading for Beijiing this weekend..   Seems like I was wrong, AGAIN

aS IT HAPPENS, WE WENT TO another park, this will have been my third one since I got here.  This time it was the Dinosaur Park.  Apparently,  Zhucheng has the oldest Dinosaur fossils in the world, so I thought 'OK, this should be interesting'...

We get to the park finally, and have a walk about, like everything else here in China, things are on a grand scale, they don't do things by half these Chinese...   After about an hours walk within the grounds, NOT even a third of the way around it yet, I ask Sophie to take us in to see the fossils!!!.  We precede to the main door and go up to pay the entrance fee!!!  She asks the lady how much it is, and the reply comes back 80 RMB.  Sophie drags me away from the door and starts to walk away !!!   I am like, 'Ok, whats happening?' She tells me "it is too expensive, we go next time"..NOW, I am beginning to get a grasp on her way of thinking..."NEXT TIME" = NEVER COMES

We start off again and I'm thinking to myself, what the F..., I would like to have seen them, it must have been showing on my face, because she takess the translator from my hand, and writes, they NOT real, real ones in Beijiing...So, NO pay that amount for fake to see...The one thing I have really noticed about her, is that she will NOT pay over the odds for anything.  When I am with her and want to do something, she tells me to wait, and goes and does the deal without me there.

As we are walking and looking at everything, she notices a boat on the lake, and tells me she l'Likes this',  so I take her hand and go looking for the 'boats.  We find them and again tells me to wait.  She goes away for a few minutes and then shouts on me.  I go around and we are then guided to the waterfront boat.  We clamber (and I mean that sincerely...Clamber) on board sit down and start to pedal ourselves.

This is really good fun, except for one tiny little detail, I have to lie back so my feet can reach the pedals...hahahaha we go around the lake, once, then the second time, she tells me to 'stop'.  I mean HOW do you stop something from moving when on the water...Anyway I stop peddling and we just sit on the boat, talking and nearly falling asleep through tiredness of the legs, we do this for about 35 minutes,talking about everything and about our upcoming wedding..  I found out she cannot swim, because I started to 'rock' the boat from side to side and I started laughing my head off.  The look of fear that swept across her face, made me stop doing this right away,.  Once we came back to land we again went looking about the place.  We found a swing and a fairground, so we started to have a go.

Once we left the park after 4 HOURS, we went to a gymnasium and  swimming pool.  From what I can gather, these were built for the Athletes from Shangdong Province that were taking part in the Olympiocs in Beijiing.  Man you should see them, they were fantastic, It being Sunday they were closed to the public, but she spoke to the guard, and he let us take a walk around the place..  On the way home, rather than take a bus or a conventional taxi, we got onto the back of this very small lorry which had no sides or roof, and he drove us.  She loved this idea, I did too although it was a little scary... Last night after dinner, she just dozed off untill this morning.  I got this mornings breakfast prepared for her, before I dedided to go to bed...

This morning once she had gone to work, she texted me, apologising because she had slept all night..   I obviously tell her not to worry, I was tired too (ever the gentleman ).  Today I went a little walk, just as I got downstairs, the 'headmaster' of the school was on his way up to see me, (he said).  He asked me if in 5 days time I would like to teach in one of his classes (year 1).  I said yes, He wants  me to go into the office to see him when the school starts back from Mid-Autumn holiday.  So I THINK I may have a job...

Ok gonna go for now and prepare the stuff I need to take to Jinan with me and Sophie tomorrow.  This is where I get my single certificate  ;-)

[RobertBfrom aust]

That last little bit is great news Rob , so pretend Sophie is one of your pupils and practise with her , good luck , regards Sujuan and Robert .