So here we are, 10th December, contemplating the future. For the past 2 months I’ve taught the most lessons each week I’ve ever taught in China, as well as taking up some tutoring of some 5 and 6 year old children. I’ve been writing my CV (resume as the Americans would have it), cover letters and Job applications with little success and more than a little stress to go with. It seems that I’ve had no time to pause for thought or have a decent rest. This has had a dual effect of distracting me from the worry about facing joblessness when I go home in January, but also preventing me from finding real peace and quite, to sleep and rest well. This is the second cold I’ve had in 2 weeks, and I think a result of the exhaustion I’ve been feeling, and winter being winter. The prospect of returning home, alone, away from Miao for 6 months is also not a happy one. Miao’s been away for business for nearly a week now, and although I’ve appreciated the alone time, I’m beginning to miss the family atmosphere and company that she brings to me.

I’ve almost completed lesson planning for my remaining lessons, but still have papers to mark and type into my excel spreadsheet of marks. The fact that I’m going home is posing a very real motivational black hole which is sucking my energy and passion for teaching and leaving only laziness, so quality assurance is a priority for me at the moment so that I can do my due diligence. The atmosphere in classes recently have been tired, ill and passionless. Just the emotional effect of winter and the problem of having such a long semester of 18 weeks. Also the fact that I’ve been preparing the students for their final exams, puts a limit on their enjoyment of the topics discussed.

On a positive note, a while back the Deputy Dean of English asked me to correct a book that he had written or edited, and last week I was given a copy of the book, published by the Peking University Press, and it has my name in it. So not only am I a published photographer, but now I am a published corrector or editor, or whatever you call the person who checks the English of any publication.

On a technological note, I will order another Radeon HD4850 and 2xKingston DDR2 800Mhz 2GB Ram and take them home on the plane. This will give my computer a boost to it’s life span, and gives me redundancy if one of the graphics cards dies. My Flickr pro account expired, and I’m back to the limit of 100MB / month. I’ve got a huge backlog of stuff to upload, so this is a bit of a stumbling block for me. Zooomr has no become my default backup solution for photos. With regards to website hosting, I’ll be switching from Rimu-hosting to Media temple in the coming new year, as I’ll have the time and money to support the inevitable problems that will entail.

My iPod is on it’s last legs, the hard disk is getting corrupted, and I’ve had to restore it a number of times. The problem is when I reinstall windows on the computer that is synced with the iPod, I loose my iTunes library and partnership. The iPod is fine when it’s got stuff on already, but getting stuff onto it, in a reliable way without it using the corrupted areas is painful. A fully stocked iPod is a requirement for long-haul flights, especially when trying a new airline whose entertainment system might be dubiously acceptable at best, so this is a concern. I do however have my PSP, but the card I have is only 8GB, so videos and music are limited options, and the battery is no longer at it’s best. Any system that I normally have depends on a combination of the two for redundancy, variety of content and length of time that the battery is good for.

TV Highlights

• Glee – Especially the music numbers.
• Dollhouse – Can’t wait to see the end, even though Joss Wheadon didn’t get what he was initially aiming for, and I’m sad that it’s ending.
• Mad Men – Last season finale was superb, eagerly awaiting next season.
• Stargate Universe – Really enjoying being back in the SG world.
• Castle – Standard police procedural, like the lead male actor.
• The Unit – Cancelled after it’s 4th season. Wish it weren’t so.
• Bones – Police procedural, like the geekiness.
• Numbers – Police procedural, like the geekiness.
• Top Gear – Production values produces beauty incarnate, also like the comedy.
• Scrubs – Don’t know if I like the new season or not.
• Big Bang Theory – Really Funny.
• Chuck – This is the thing I’m really eager to see come back.
• Paradox – Unsure so far.
• Better off Ted – New season released recently, hope it’s as good as the last one.
• Grey’s Anatomy – Enjoyed it, feel much emotion from the show.