19. School Life: Lunch with the Head of Department

A quite extraordinary response to my last post about Dating. Since then I've been teaching the lesson 'Festivals/Celebrations in the UK' to my older students, part of the lesson was to write a Valentines Day poem. Being put on the spot a few times to help finish students their 'Roses are Red, Violets are Blue' poems, I'd like to add that 'romance', I've still got it. Maybe I'll just have to wait for the day.

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Shirley

Shirley, Head of the English Department at the Jian Qing Experimental school, is quite an awe-inspiring woman. She takes charge of the English classes in the school which caters for ages all the way from 3 to 18. I think that's why its called an experimental school because most schools teach certain age groups. It is the school I am most frequently at, teaching 10 lessons over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

Jian Qing Middle school entrance

 In the English office, everyone is very friendly and we claim to be the most unproductive office due to the chat. However when she walks in I just get an air of royalty about her. Its quite a trick. One which she uses quite well to get me to do lessons plans 4 weeks in advance, but then also acquire a lunch card for me.


She found me in the office today. I'd just taught 3 lessons on the trot, and was having a rest. It is very common in China for Chinese people to 'take a rest' or for them to tell you to 'take a rest'. It is a cat nap that will take place anywhere. So you see teachers with heads on desks getting shut-eye and a lot of commuters on trains with their eyes shut, snoring. In fact on the date, I was actually told to stop talking and go to sleep for a bit when we were on the bus heading to what I thought was the skating. I feel like I have adopted this 'Anywhere, Any place, Sleep'.

After asking how I am coping in Shanghai, lessons, etc, we walk to the lunch hall.

In the lunch hall, I always sit with other Western teachers. It is a chance to talk about anything. It is common knowledge that there is a English teacher table who have an amnesty on the way you eat your rice.

However today Shirley had sat down on a free table of 4, what was I to do? Follow suit? We were talking in the queue, that technically means that we were to sit together, right? Following suit, I walk over, bowl of soup, chopsticks and tray in hand. Getting to the table, where do I sit, straight across, surely not, or maybe I should. Too many decisions. All I wanted to do was just shovel rice with the sweet sweet and sour sauce that had come with todays meat.

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Pre-Shanghai Boom

Sitting diagonally across (I felt we both could do with the leg space), we talked about Shanghai. Then in a pure Louis Theroux role I asked her the more delving questions about her life.

She told me how as the second of eight children in her family, she was programmed to look after other siblings. The one child policy doesn't allow for children nowadays to develop this natural skill. She complained how children nowadays are 'eating from their parents wallets'. They don't have to work as hard because it is all handed to them. They are the only child so all the riches from their parents, grandparents, and their family above them in the tree is passed to them as well as love. How are you meant to teach a child who receives things on a silver plateur?

She had one child, a daughter who was doing very well for herself having just graduated from Stamford University doing Business. This I congratulated her on. But she said she was scared. Her own mother who is 94 gets a lot of help from her 8 children, who will help her when she grows old. She only has one daughter who she predicts will grow up to be very busy. I liked how she had identified her family as the key carers rather than employing a professional carer to come in. She also told me of the tragedy one colleague had had befallen on them, a teacher the same age as her had lost her only child to a freak illness. I could not imagine how inconsolable she would have been. These are problems facing China she says.

She had lived in Shanghai her whole life (I didn't ask her how old she was). She told me of the times when all types of technology were unheard of and buying a simple electric fan for her sick Father was a simple fantasy. When you went into a shop, you not only had to have the money for accessories like this, but you had to have a ration card as there were not enough to go around in China.

She grew up with 3 generations living in the same house, no idea of material goods we take for granted, never travelled, now she owns 3 houses across the city, TV's in each room and has visited places all over the world. She felt people never wanted to go back to what it was like, so they teach the children what China was.

She tells me that Shanghai provides for the rest of China in technology, management and money. I felt inside that Shanghai in some parts may also want to leave the rest of China behind.

I feel that Shanghai was like a caged beast. Now free, the head zookeeper is allowing it to feast, so that he can show it off to its daily visitors coming to see it.

After our conversation today, I'm looking forward to visiting China to experience the more backward parts of it.

18. Dating

Hello! Its been a while since my last post. My absence from the blogosphere has not been down to illness, but more arbitrary reasons like Charity fund raisers, Seinfeld sessions but most often, laziness. So I am sorry. This post is about what happened today. I am sorry if its a little explicit.

A picture of a Chinese woman. Taken from Google. Thanks Google.

'Get a girlfriend!'

The useful pointer that has been thrust my way by many helpful people recently. Co-workers who have tried to communicate with me in Chinese and found it kind of a one way traffic situation have offered this invaluable advice. Hell, one teacher even promoted her daughter.

I'm not sure if I'm conservative or Liberal when it comes to these things. I see Western/Asian couples all over the place and both are very happy. But it gets a bad press in my book by the marriages for money and a passport situations. 

Anyway I was in a shoe shop last Friday and a nice Chinese shop assistant starts talking to me. We exchange numbers and later on in the week start texting.

Chinglish

 Her English was a little better than my Chinese. However I would reply to her texts in the pinyin form of Mandurin. Most of the times she could not understand me, so you'd get the 'What/Shenme' text but a few interesting looks at Chinese syntax came out of the texting when she did.

' When 10 clock I fished my work'........'Next day I have free time'.....'Morning? Afternoon? (When I said 'I finish work at 5')....... 'I will take you to a place to have fun, needed on the subway'......'Tomorrow we meet on the shose(shoes) supermarket'.

So a date sealed, the plan was to go skating at 9 in the morning. I was ready to embrace the Chinese culture even if it was at 9 IN THE BLOODY MORNING. Would we have a Girlfriend, number errrrr coming up?

 I went to bed Sunday night with an air of optimism. Saints had beaten Newcastle and although the Chelsea and the Liverpool game had both been fairly boring, it'd been a good day with two new teacher arrivals adding to the party atsmosphere. I woke however feeling like an extra from Shaun of the Dead. Chinese winters have a lot more bite in the morning, especially with no heating. The morning shower is a brutal examination of your kahunas!

I made it to the meet point, a 40 minute trip perfectly placed inside the Shanghai rush hour. The song 'Pulp-Common People' pumping in my ears. 'I wanna live like Chinese people' I thought to myself. Got to the shoe store where she worked, the meeting place. 8:55 I was bang on time, god I really am something else. One song and she'd be here. But the dreaded minute hand creeped past the 12 and continued clockwise, moving slowly, it carried on. I grew cold. I grew hungry. I looked around, hoping she'd show. If I'm honest I did make more than one second glance. But it was a no show. I'd been stood up. 

"Fair enough it serves you right" I hear one or possibly two of you say if you are by chance reading. I am guilty just like any other person of bad etiquette on dates. I remember once oversleeping by two hours to turn up very late for an 11am meet two years back. (I'd been on a close the night before (it didn't wash though)).

I waited a respectable length of time, but enough was enough and I went back to the station, bed was calling. Literally as I was about to get on the train. A text arrives.

'Sorry, i'm washing my close places waiting for me, i'm sleeping too late' 

Unbelievable only I can sleep too late. That's my line! I kind of read over the 'close places' really did not want to delve there at this time in the morning.

'Please waiting for me' she added.

Argh man. Going back to bed was so nearly an option but  I thought, what the heck I'll give her a second chance.

Communication Barriers

She soon arrived. You've got to wonder who on earth makes dates at 9 in the morning. I was of course tucking into these delicious pancake burgers I'd just found. Gave a typical tourist wave with a mouth full of tomato ketchup.

She'd dressed up massively from the work clothes I'd first seen her in. She was actually seriously alternative.  Dyed hair, which was thus ginger esqe, with huge frizzy things going on, trousers with zips in, I honestly thought oh dear Wessely oh dear.

If I'm honest, it didn't go well. Here is the list why: 

we didn't go skating. one thing i actually wanted to do.

she took me to see her friends shop and they all talked about something for about 10 minutes. there was too much laughing for my liking.

we technically went shopping. not a great alternative option from before mentioned skating.

she was eighteen years old. oh dear wessely oh dear.

she took me to a place on the very outskirts of shanghai.  i felt vulnerable.

she had a poor taste of music. apart from 'jerk it out'. 

she listened to her music non stop. you never knew if she was listening to you or not. 

every local stared at you. god if looks could kill. guy fawkes' execution would have looked tame to what mine was like.

On the plus side she taught me the phrase Ni dong da meaning I know. I'll probably soon find out that it actually means I am a massive goon or something.

Thankfully I had a valid reason of work to leave my first Chinese date behind. She was a bit surprised though and she felt I should take a taxi home as I didn't know the way. The taxi fare would have cost about a days salary. I feel the cultures are sensationally different. The safe bet is to go Western next time, however as they say, when in Rome. 

Yes, When in Rome indeed.


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I'd like to add that I do not often blog about my dates and then post it to the world on Facebook.
This will go into the realm of experiences in Shanghai and I ensure you I will never ever put you through the tough slog of my love life, ever again!
If you do see the girl I so aptly described please hold your own views. I don't want to feel like i got in the way of anything you know.

17. "Jeez what is that smell"

The food carts are everywhere popping up at any busy street corner. There is a great range from stir-frys, to bakery pasty things and dumplings.

However there is one cart which you can smell from about a mile away. Stinky tofu.

To quote some of a Canadian friend, 'its like someone took a turd in your mouth'.

Furthermore, there is always one by my Sunday school train station West Yan An Road. In I come with some delicious Taiwanese chicken, or a burger, egg, cheese, all within a pancake, and I just get hit with this smell. Truly the worst smell in the world. The world I say.

Somehow its a Chinese snack. I will never know how.

16. Eye-care city

It was about 40 hours before I left the flat for the first time well in forty hours.
I think about 20 of those hours were spent watching Seinfeld, such a good show, while my lesson planning consisted of about 20 minutes, no doubt it'll be a late night tonight! SeinfeldLad.

Not much had changed but I had a new mindset to explore. With my explorer cap on, I felt aggrieved I had never travelled east from our blocks so I headed in this direction to amend this travesty.

East of us is the main Shanghai Railway station, I had to go cross the train tracks standing in the way of me and the station, I did this via an underpass. An underpass they always seem to give you the creeps. This one was very dimly lit with an orange glow lighting up a few stalls. The stalls included fake phones, MP3's and a host of old clothes spilled out on the floor like a jumble sale. It was a very bizarre underpass. There were people on moped bikes who used it, as well as sleepers and possibly poo-ers  from the smell in one corner.

I arose and breathed the still polluted Shanghai air. I headed in the direction of a grand looking Holiday Inn, honestly from Snoop Dogg's hit track I would of thought this company was more downmarket of the hotels but these places stand out very nicely in China. It was situated by the station which I decided to check out in mind of future trips to nearby Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The station despite being the main one wasn't really all that which surprised me a lot. The Honguio one I took to Beijing was much much nicer. So I left soon after entering the ticket office.

Outside there was this elevator sitting adjacent by the ticket office entrance which was taking people to Eye-care city. Eye-Care city. What the hell, for me this might as well be Narnia. For the first time I got ina lift with other people and felt a sense of unity rather than that common feeling of distaste to get away from this person as soon as possible! The doors opened again and we entered into a land of fellow four-eyed people. I felt like I was in a secret club.

Whereever I looked there were 100's of opticians willing to do you a set of glasses in little under 15 minutes. Some of the frames as well were out of this world, I could have really gone totally wild with my selection. An absolute far-cry from Mathesons in Alresford where they stock about one or two brands! Yeah I said it Mathesons!

I'd actually been wanting to buy some glasses, my current Specsaver (I'd disowned Mathesons when up in York) brand were getting a little old. So I got some new ones, they cost me £40 and she even asked me for my age, cheeky.

I'm not totally used to them atm, and i'm sure they looked better in the shop. Maybe they had special mirrors or something but yes here I am all specced up.

Geeks Unite!

15. The flat

I remember a bit from Johnny English where he is asked if he wanted to save the world or stay coupe'd up in his flat. He replied with the flat.

I don't blame him. The flat acts as a humble abode high above the hustle and bustle on the streets.

Here in Shanghai, I can sit pretty in my bed garments knowing that no rogue, street level passer-by will catch a glance through our window. It is truly relaxing.

After a long hard week I stayed in the flat the whole day yesterday. In the same clothes, the same clothes I am still wearing, I think its been 36 hours since last taking them off. This is possibly a personal best, and the funny thing is I was thinking of chucking these passed up (not down as from younger brother) pyjama bottoms.

To some this is natural, but I must inform people that this couch living is not really something I have partaken in ever before. Alas I have experienced it and perhaps dabbled myself, I dearly remember the line up of House and Jeremy Kyle being a morning call in early third year Uni life. But past girlfriends may attest that I find it hard to sit still, so lying horizontal is truelly quite alien.


So before I write a next post about whats happening down on the Shanghai streets. I will give a brief description of the flat I live in.

As fore-mentioned it is my first flat I have lived in. It is on the 31st floor of a building which continually makes me feel like the boss. It is not the top unfortunately though, the guys one floor above us and holding top dog position are two Germans who held one hell of a flat party a few weeks back. They have a balcony, but pay 1000 extra remnimbi a month for that privelege.

Back to our flat, you walk into a big living room, dining table on the right, at the far end opposite you is the view looking out. Picture below:

Flatmate Sean's bedroom looks out to this, there are cupboards in his room which have a real rich glow to them. My bedroom is left of the entrance doorway, again plenty of cupboard space and a balcony/portal to put clothes is very nicely linked to the room.
The kitchen which has two working stoves, again plenty of cupboards, a sink and fridge is opposite my bedroom doorway. Unfortunately no oven though :(. While the bathroom, which has a toilet (Western-best to clarify) and everything else you'd find in a bathroom including a fan which will probably come of use in the summer.

Best buy: either the couch, bought it the day we moved in from a guy we found on greggslist for 500 remnimbi. its very comfortable and has great presence.

We have a cleaner who comes on a Tuesday. I used very broken Chinese to ask for one a few weeks back, so was very surprised when she just turned up one day. They come with no cleaning equipment so kind of just use what you have, like hand towels to clean the floor. She does a good job. Unfortunately she speaks no English at all so I struggle to tell her. Quite funny she turns down coffee but will have beer whilst working.

The apartment is situated in the 'Brilliant City'. A complex of about 100? other high rise apartment blocks that kind of sit around this man made lake which is well lit. I find the Chinese when building these massive blocks try very hard to make it feel like you are out of the city, so you will see tropical trees and nice pathways at the base of these massive buildings. A nice touch I find.

The place I live in its not quite whole address is Apartment 3104, Block 38, No 100, Zhongtan Road, Shanghai. Not sure of the post code. Rent is 2600 a month, which is about £260. Not bad.

We're yet to find a local pub atm so we are trekking a few stops to Ellen's atm a real studenty cheap bar. Other than that I'm very happy in the current location!

14. Tour to Beijing: Yellow Sea Cup

A little belated I write this post about my experiences on tour in Beijing on the week-end!

This being the first post where there is more of a story to proceedings, I will start at the beginning: booking the week-end off.

Yes, I feel I’m in a bit of trouble when I next go into office on Sunday. My company would not give me the Sunday off (I already have Friday and Saturday off) so I pulled a sickie.

Feeling slightly guilty as I had to pop into the office anyway on Friday to pick up my passport, which was badly needed on all train rides in China, I headed to the meeting point. 3:30pm at our sponsors, the Big Bamboo. The sponsors later on I would find, had very kindly subsidized the trip so beer was free basically.

We took the high-speed train. Leg-room was serenely spacious. I was sitting in with two Americans who were the medics on the tour (a handy friendship) and Babe was for some reason showing on loop. The speed at which it got to Beijing was a plus, as it reached speeds of over 300 km/h.

There were 56 people who went on tour, pretty mental ay! Girls, boys, vets, the lot and we all crammed in to the Holiday Inn before hitting up some late night McDonalds.

GAME DAY.

Quite possibly the coldest I’ve ever been on a rugby pitch. We arrived around 12 at Dulwich College Beijing. I’m pretty sure it is a sister school of one back home. The pitch was akin to a classic prep school pitch, it brought back the days,

However this was the only pitch and our team (the Hermits) had to watch as the girls (Jenny Crabs) and the first team (Hairy Crabs) played on the pitch and unfortunately lost.

It was then our turn to play in a 10’s format style against our Beijing hosts. The pitch was muddy, I was kicking off and the ball would not bounce. Anyway, this is what England is famed for so I suppose I was in my element.

We went ahead. Before the other team won a kick chase to the try line. We were playing 4 quarters of 15 minutes each and at the halfway stage it was 5-5. We then surged into a 17-10 lead, making a conversion on this was honestly my greatest contribution as it had to be a drop goal, and held out to win 17-15 bringing home a victory!

Unfortunately no showers. So all 56 of us crammed on to this public bus and started on the bevies. This was essential as I could barely feel half of my body.

Back home and changed we hit the Beijing Rugby teams bar. A dive if ever I saw one. Free beer though, so many down offs were had by captains and dicks of the day alike.

Then came the messy bit a curry house with a free buffet and free beer (almost handed to you by the staff). Yes with grenade, shark and all kind of rules in play this was a very messy few hours. Especially when toilets were a good distance from this restaurant that was situated in a late night shopping mall.

I would have liked to stay in Gangi’s. But alas the party moved on back to the bar for the England-Fiji game, almost a blur for me. Danny Care sinbinning and Charlie Sharples’s fine try were some of the memories I had in the morning, and a few other things.

Back to the hotel room safely I started the next day ‘fresh’ in the clothes I finished yesterday in.

The morning dragged a bit as there was due to be some kind of Kangaroo court, a punishment centre. I had breakfast, exchanged now awkward conversations and played darts.

A group of us (the medics and Derrell- a Singaporean guy who was on serious form) felt this wasn’t really Beijing. So we headed to Tianamnen square. I knew about the student protests of 1989, but little else. I was truly amazed. Derrel gave an expert tour, even though he had never been there before he had studied Chinese history back in Singapore and spoke fluent Mandarin. Many photos were taken in the square, but some what bizarrely the ones outside the square looking in were forcibly deleted by the guards before you went through a police screening to enter. Photo below....

We took the train back. It was a lot more eventful with Kangaroo Court taking place where people were fined. There was a prosecutor and a defence and there was banter, yes lots of banter.

In summary, not quite the heights of previous tours to Doxbridge. The company was good and the deals on the hotel, beers, food, trains in the location of Beijing were quite fantastic. I look forward to Hong Kong 7’s now where having known the whole team a bit better it will be more of a culmination of a season as I am still very new to the club atm.

13. Pre-Tour Prep

This blog is not hugely about Shanghai but about the huge excitement I have for tomorrow. I am just hoping it all goes to plan. I have paid for everything the only thing I need now is my passport. Atm my passport is still with the visa office, I am hoping that they process it tomorrow and my man Alex (Welfare officer) can drop it off to me.

So if all goes to plan I'm catching a high speed train from Hongquio Railway station at 5 and it'll get into Beijing for 11, pretty quick ay. We're competing in the Yellow Sea cup, a bi-annual tournament contested between teams from Shanghai, Seoul and Beijing. Beijing have won it the last two years and according to Wiki are now considered the most successful team in China. Quite a status!

Kit wise, I've picked up some cheap ass boots from the Chinese Decathlon for like 119 remnimbi. Phil Denison of Nottingham, an employer of the global brand I hope can vouch that the boots will stay together.

Arguably the biggest story in the world right now will be happening this week-end in Beijing. The Communist Party is making its once in a decade leadership change. So the security is going to be quite tight I suppose.

Anyways Saturday night promises a lot even if we win or lose there will be 3 teams in Beijing ready for a big time, carnage is guaranteed. Full story next time!

TOUR!

12. Crisps

I can't do this. I just can't write a blog which isn't about food! I'm really not fat I tell you, I'm just inquisitive to all the tastes found in Shanghai.

The crisps here are just a different matter. When I open crisps I think of my friend Dalton, he would upon tearing the packet open plant his nose right into the opening that the rip had make. He'd inhale the scent and get munching. I've taken to doing this and have been dazzled by the different flavors on offer.

The main brand is Lays (in Chinese script) there are all kinds of flavours, my favourite is the blue one which is Italian Red Meat. What makes the tear even better here is that the packets are so pressurized inside, they're not crunchy but airtight balloons ready to be opened.

There was quite a packet I had today, burger munch. The taste of a chicken burger and then the crisps were shaped as a burger!

You may be able to tell but the last two days have been spent in front of the TV, watching many many an episode of Seinfeld. Thus I am now quite the Chinese crisp connoisseur.

11.McDonalds, McDonalds, a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut.

This post arguably could have been titled 'Food no3'. Thus sending across the impression that I am pigging out over in Shanghai. I can not deny that claim. When you travel you have a tendency to treat yourself a bit more. I liken it to a night out in another city. I believe that you are always more likely to get a takeaway at the end of the night when in another city to the one you usually go out in. Its because you are allowing yourself just this once and its also a subconscious survival that when you are in another place you are always on the lookout for food. Its very primal.


Shanghai is rife with Western goods and services. However it was only recently that China opened its borders up to foreign good and vice versa. Deng Xiaoping, a forgotten leader almost because of Mao's popularity here, made economic reforms which transformed China into more of a global market, thus beginning the mass economic climb of China.The first McDonalds was built in 1978 in Beijing, 40 years after the first restaurant was started up in LA.

Being a Westerner, I am inadvertedly drawn to the Golden Arches or as of yesterday to the Pizza Hut. (I think I've ever been to KFC once anyway when I was in Nice that hasn't changed since i've been her). This is not on a daily basis, but probably about twice a week (this is including McDonalds takeaway which if I haven't mentioned before is quite surreal).
The restaurants are a lot cleaner than back home. Some you might think have just been opened. There is a staff member solely to open the door for you in Pizza Hut. The prices are also a lot cheaper, I paid 33/£3.30 for a decent sized lasagne, however if I had waited a day for it to be on special it would have been half-price. As for McDonalds, you can get a big Mac meal for 26 yuan/£2.60 but between 5-8 this price reduces to 15/£1.50.

So the prices are quite good, the service is also impeccable. However, this might just be me saying this but there really is no rush/queues for Western fast food joints. And Thank God there isn't.
It felt weird yesterday when for the first time here I was given a knife and fork to cut my lasagne with. I feel using chopsticks is as much engrained in Chinese tradition as overcrowding a metro. Therefore I feel it is only the more liberal Chinese family who would go in to a fast food joint but the more conservative Chinese resident would not touch it, even in the Western stance of Shanghai.

I find Westerners are looked up to anywhere you look here. 3/4 models on billboards tend to be Caucasian/Western looking. This I find a bit strange. Surely the model should relate to the market it is modelling or is the model acting as a model human being to Chinese men and women?  However this post is for another day, from my time sitting in a fairly empty McDonalds I pose the question : Is Shanghai just catering for the ever increasing expat community or are they pushing Chinese people to drop their traditions and further embrace the Western world?

Me personally, I'm going to try and drop the hamburgers. As stated previously I love the school meals. I love the chopsticks. There is oodles more taste to find in a Chinese meal anyway.

10. Rugby

Leaving England for Shanghai had its downsides. There are a few events in the year which I knew I had to sacrifice if I was to make the trip to the Far East. One of them was Christmas, a day best spent with the family and Derwent Rugby Old Boy's re-union week-end.

A rugby team is like a family, a brotherhood which you go out with, look out for and protect on the pitch. This is why today was quite a momentous day.

Derwent  Rugby, fine represents of a college with a cracking spirit, are a cracking team. Fantastic lads, bloody talented and party animals. Today though I went along to the training session of the Shanghai Hairy Crabs RFC.

The club which was founded a few years ago, has three teams: a fresh water crabs, the hermits and the hairy crabs first team. It has about 70 odd members and serves the expat community. Most of the members are French, but the language of the club is English. It is certainly a growing club, there is a tour to Beijing next week which I have paid for and I am genuinely very excited about. There are also plans to go to Australia for the lions tour in 2013 and in the past the club have toured Malaysia, Korea and loads of places around China. The trips are also subsidized because of sponsorship.
The membership fee of 1000 yuan may be the best buy I make in China.


Training went well. I am one of the younger players but I was drafted in to play Fly Half for the second team. Most of the moves are familiar already to me so I had no problem with that, and the second team with a new coach and a pretty much new team put a really good show against the first team of which most of them are utter units.

On the way back, I had my initiation. It involved drinking loadsa beer and sculling it. I am not the best sculler in the world so with all the times I didn't do it fast enough more beer was had. There were also songs I had to sing to a newly wed man and a birthday girl. I was sat in the aisle. There was one bit where I was Spiderman hanging from the top of the bus. I was felt up by what seemed like the team bicycle, she then continued to walk over me as a 'massage'. It was my first initiation and it was fun, however my lesson plan I have to do now are clearly going to suffer.

Anyways, a rugby team is a family in my books. So joining a team is a perfect remedy to homesickness when abroad.

I'm now very much looking forward to tour, just hoping i can get the time off and my passport arrives back in time from the visa office!!!!