Yesterday afternoon, I was supposed to teach at Outdoor English College. That is what Simon and I had agreed upon. When I arrived at OEC, however, it turned out that Simon had hired a Swedish teacher... Simon wasn't even there to tell me this face to face. He called the school, because he knew I'd be there. The guy that answered the phone, passed the phone on to me. Simon told me that he'd hired someone else. When I asked him why, he said:'Because she looks friendlier'. What?!? I was so fed up with this guy! I told him that I thought it was really unfair. Then he told me that he thought it would be better if I went to a school in a town 3 hours from Yangshuo. No way! On Tuesday, Simon had asked me how I was. When I didn't answer, he'd started guessing. '22? 19?' Yesterday, I told him my age and I also told him that I'm not a kid anymore and that I'd had enough of his childish games. I was really angry. Shame that he wasn't standing in front of me... (He's half my height, by the way...!).

Now, I know it's hard to believe, but after my phone call with Simon, I really missed my office job. Yep, I really did. So then I thought 'This is NOT good. I'll go to New Start and tell Joe that I'd like to become a volunteer'. Since OEC and New Start are on the same road, I didn't have to walk very far. When I went into Joe's office, she said:'Carola, nice to see you! I was just about to send you an email, because I may have a job for you and I think you deserve a second chance after your demo class'. Right. This was not going according to plan.... I had a long conversation with Joe in which I told her that I was nervous when I had to teach five teachers and pretend they were students. I also told her that I didn't want to teach fulltime and that I'd appreciate a little bit of guidance. After having talked for almost an hour, we agreed that I'd meet the students on Thursday (today), talk to their current teacher and then decide whether I'd accept the job or not. Deal! So I went to New Start this afternoon, sat in on Vanda's class, talked a bit with Vanda and now I'm still none the wiser. The students have a say in this as well (if they don't like me, I'm out), so I hope to receive the 'verdict' tomorrow. To be continued...

Yesterday afternoon, after my conversation with Joe, I went to the park to climb the mountain. It's a mountain with steps and it isn't very high, with for me, it's quite a challenge. When I'd finally reached the top, I was soaked, because it was really hot. After a few minutes, however, it started pouring. Oh no! The steps were very slippery, so I decided to wait under the arch until the rain would stop. I waited and waited, but it was still pouring. I really wanted to go to yoga at 6.30 pm - I figured folding my body in weird positions would help get Simon out of my system - , so at 6.10 pm I went downstairs. The Chinese people that had been waiting with me under the arch were very loyal: they went downstairs with me! Maybe they were thinking 'We might as well go all together'? Anyway, I was in time for my yoga class and I felt much better afterwards. I had dinner with Steve, an American guy from Atlanta, Georgia (with matching accent!).

Tonight, I had dinner alone for the first time in days. Poor me! I had to eat early, because I was expected to join English Corner at New Start. Sinan (from Belgium) was at English Corner as well. The topic for tonight was 'Sex Education' - needless to say that the Chinese students were very interested in this topic! It was good for them to practice their English and it was interesting for me to learn a little bit more about their culture. After English Corner, Sinan and I went to a bar downtown. Tom and Dan (both from England) joined us a little later. Tomorrow night, I'm going dancing with Kathy and her students. I'm really looking forward to that, although I'm not sure if I can dance on my Teva sandals... (Unfortunately, there wasn't any room in my suitcase for my dancing shoes....)

It's bedtime on this side of the planet. Have a good evening!