Teecher!

Sue's and my cup is running over.  She took part in a blowpipe competition at one of her schools yesterday and was given one as a present by a teacher who had been given it by his grandfather when he was a boy.  An honour indeed.  Following a period of indolence I am now working flat out.  After some tweaking of my prices for English lessons to encourage groups of four and five to get together, I've had a rush of clients and now find myself with thirty odd students in seven classes and our downstairs bedroom has been transformed into a classroom complete with tables, chairs and a whiteboard.

Although I trained hard for my teaching English to speakers of other languages course in November last year, I am still a novice and having to work up lessons for seven separate groups has been very hard work, even though I have only about ten contact hours per week.  So for the last three weeks I've been hoovering up like a maniac illegal copies of English course books from dodgy Russian websites.  I now have a bigger selection than Foyles and I can get cheap copies run up by our local photocopy shop for practically nothing.

My students are almost all Chinese and range from a delightful group of nine year olds up to a very focussed bunch aged nineteen who are determined to do well in their final school exams.  I'm not sure about the students, but I'm learning a hell of a lot.  Unfortunately, Sue and I now hardly see each other as she leaves home at about six thirty most mornings and returns at about three in the afternoon and I start work between five and seven in the evening and finish at eight thirty.  We actually met up by accident for lunch today in one of the cafes in Saratok.

So, here I am in steamy Borneo, teaching Chinese boys and girls English in our large semi-detached house to an audience of geckos.  Nine months ago, who'd have thought ...