The Wanderlust Notebook

Yes, the title is a quote from Lord of the Rings. Yes, I am a total geek. No, I don't care. Grade 1 It was with great sadness that I said goodbye to Jucheng Primary school and Xiaolan last week. That place has been my home for 5 months. It welcomed me, loved me, entertained me and taught me more than I could ever imagine. Grade 3 It has been hard. The working hours were long, the expectations were high and I often spent time at weekends doing extra work. But it was all worth it. I learnt so much about teaching and it was an experience like no other. I know I've said this before, but the children were truly amazing. They are hard working but always cheery. I am going to miss them so much. When I went in to say goodbye to each class, I wondered if they understood what I was saying. As I said 'I have to go home to the UK', I could see a number of faces turn from smiles to tears. I didn't expect that, I had only been there 5 months! And because they starte

With Grade 1 So it's now January 2018. That means I only have two weeks left at Jucheng Primary School and in three weeks I'll be back home in the UK, freezing and suffering from jet lag. I was an awesome bear! As predicted, it's been a busy two weeks. Since hanging out with pandas I've had Christmas, new years and the English festival closing ceremony. I also went back to Zhuhai for a day (this time minus the borderline heatstroke!) and worked some overtime at the Bond weekend classes. Chinese Christmas Christmas games with Grade 3 I fully expected Christmas here to suck. How wrong I was! Two days before I helped with the Bond christmas party, where I somehow ended up in a teddy bear costume. I couldn't see anything or anyone, so I just kept dancing. Apparently I was one of the happiest ones on stage! Wendy made a big deal out of it. She got each of us a little stocking filled with sweets, the parents of the children we teach got us presents, Gra