Talentless show

In a break from the routine we had a day off for Qingming Festival, otherwise known as Tomb Sweeping Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival.

This was followed up by two days at school that required no teaching due to the participation in a national English speaking competition. It's a bit like Pop Idol but with kids speaking English and performing a special talent, like singing, telling a joke, playing an instrument or in one unforgettable instance a thirteen year old boy who wowed us with his magic trick; it was a paper model of a UFO which he dangled from his finger with a very visible piece of string. He twirled the UFO and said that he was holding it in the air by magic. This went on for a little over 5 minutes before the string snapped and I could contain my guffaws no longer.

Some nervous faces in the waiting room

 

All of the teachers were required to be the judging panel and score each child on their linguistic prowess plus their expressions and general performance. I was with one of my Chinese Teachers, Alice.

 Alice and Glinda, the two teachers I work alongside.

 

 One of my managers, Brian, Emily and Dave preparing to be judgemental

Some kids breezed through, some had stage fright and froze and some spoke in unintelligible Chinglish. It was a hoot to watch and we also enjoyed giving the student we both dislike intensely very low marks, because we are mature like that. The winners go onto the next round and the ultimate competition will be held in Beijing. The whole process is being filmed for CCTV (China's state television channel) so I have unexpectedly kicked off my new career in telly. Move over Cowell.

As with everything else, it was a communal effort to get the marketing balloons blown up and ready to dish out.

 Fish, my other manager

 

Fish and her husband Sean

Mr Yu, whom I call Mr Fixit cooking up a storm in an empty classroom. He cooks for us each weekend and his food is goooooooooood.

 Mrs He

Da Management. Fish and her parents Mrs He and Mr Yu who own the schools and the apartment in which I live. They're a great family and I'm fortunate to have landed on their patch.