Training and more training

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Phil went training in Heshui (another county) this week for a few days as a follow-up to the training we did there earlier in the year. I stayed home alone. I met up with a friend who had recently returned from a holiday to England. I visited her school and we did a culture lesson with her students about England and China. It was interesting to hear what they thought about England. They seemed to think that everything was great in England - I had to put them right on a few things and explain that some things are better in China and some things are better in England. They were surprised to learn that a lot of manufactured goods are made in China!!
10th September was Teachers Day. It was a normal school day in the morning and then an award ceremony in the afternoon. School finished early (5pm) and everybody was delighted as well as surprised. Even the sixth formers got the evening off. (They are usually in school until 9.30 pm). We went for a meal with some other teachers and had a nice evening.
At the weekend the 6th round of the training started but this time it was in the town where we are living so we were able to live at home as opposed to staying a hotel. Weekends are not really weekends here. They are really just another working day. This is sometimes hard for us to get used to. We do, however, try and make sure that we get time off in the week to make up for it.

On the 18th we set off to Zhengning to deliver the 7th round of CB training. Saturday and Sunday we worked with Middle school staff, Monday and Tuesday it was Primarys turn. All seemed to enjoy the sessions and remained enthusiastic throughout.

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