What's the English for faux-pas

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.....I finally clean the bike. Not long after I have to go to an area a few blocks north of Wenchang road. With the west gate closed (the larger new one also still under construction) Qinyou road on the east side of the school under reconstruction, parts of it being excavated & huge piles of earth & mud all over plus rain the previous night.....I must clean my bike.....

.....when the smaller west gate is open for the kids to return to the school it is a state of chaos with all parents & carers needing identification checks. There have been several incidents of stabbings at kindergartens, including nearby Taizhou, in which unemployed men have taken knives & killed students & teachers. It's a sobering thought in what appears, on the surface at least, to be a well disciplined & well ordered society.....

.....I remember Peng Xiaojie, (Miss Peng), the student who had a breakdown due to the stress of living up to the punishing expectations of the education system. I find a picture of a koala I took in Australia. It only costs a few kuai to get it printed & find a frame. I drop in to the hospital. Her mum is there. They both look happy to see me, she is obviously much improved & this time chats quite easily with me. The blank look has disappeared & she is almost ready to go home. She is very happy with the photo.....

.....I am told she weighs 80kg, quite considerable in China even given that she is reasonably tall, & that she has to lose weight. Chinese people often happy to discuss those two great western taboos, age & weight (theirs & yours) in everyday conversation. Anyone thinking of visiting should be aware of this.....

.....another new friend, Dou Dou. He's waiting for his visa to go & study in Christianstadt in Sweden. His English is very good, though, as usual, he's apologetic about it. If my Chinese were half as good I'd be letting everyone know how good I was. We go for another meal at the vegetarian restaurant restaurant at the Living Mall. One of my favourites. On Thursday to his apartment that he shares with his mum. Grandma & Grandpa (see photos) are there. Great cooks. They want me to show them how to cook some western food. I am beginning to feel nervous......

.....the online dictionary, the curse of intelligibility & source of unending amusement for people who love Chinglish. Having said that, it works both ways. I caused no little amusement when I got my word order wrong recently. Chao gao is type of fried rice cake, Gao chao, albeit with different tones on the vowels, means "high tide" the Chinese euphemism for orgasm...... I certainly have a lot to learn & even next year here will only scratch the surface.....

.....Parent's Day. Several teachers are required to perform a demonstration class, in their school suits of course, in front of all the parents. Grade 3 had the idea of getting all the parents & children together on the Elementary school sports ground &, after Kelly & I start off leading the kids in some songs, playing games. The parents & kids all love it & I think the teachers do too. Ten out of ten for whoever thought of this one.....

.....a short one this week, you'll be relieved to know, as I spent a fair amount of time working on a presentation for my job interview. Yes, I know I have already accepted a position as a grade 4 teacher next year, following my current students to the next grade. However Cathy has had enough of China &, after four years, going back to Canada, to her old job as a dentist's receptionist no less! It means that her position as Director of Foreign Teachers is up for grabs & Paul (the most recent Australian teacher) & I applied. My fifteen minute presentation didn't go too badly I feel but there are three other applicants, two from outside the school so results will be known later....


Great fashion faux pas this week: (I checked - faux pas is the same, singular or plural)

…..Kelly & I, walking to the sports ground for the Grade 3 Parent's Day show see an elegantly dressed, obviously well heeled mum walking towards us. At least, she appeared elegantly dressed until close up it was evident that the crotch of her panty-hose was below the level of her skirt.....

…..Penguin Man, our self-appointed school traffic monitor & general busy-body, with his jet black toupee. The unnaturally black, luxuriant hair is suspicious but the slightest misalignment is a dead giveaway.....

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