Happy Holidays!

Back from a lovely holiday in Rhodes, Greece with Kat. We were only there for 5 nights but it was a really nice and relaxing break - just what I needed! We were staying in Pefkos which was completely deserted because the season doesnt start until May apparantly. But it didn't matter as the weather was lovely and the important things were open (a supermarket and a bar where every drink came with a sparkler!). We spent the days relaxing in the sun, drinking lots of wine, eating lots of good food (overdosed on tzatziki and feta cheese!) and reading lots!

This is the view from our apartment balcony! Beautiful, and our own private beach! My expectations from our cheap Groupon deal were definitely exceeded!

We also spent a day in a nearby town called Lindos, where we climbed to the very top of a cliff where there is an old fort (though me and Kat thought they had tried a bit too hard making it look Greek - the collumns looked suspiciously new!). The view from the top was amazing!

We also had a lovely meal (and some great wine!) at the restaurant below - I have added a photo to show Steph we were thinking of her!

All in all a great holiday :) Now back to work for me! Though I am going to see Rock of Ages tonight, so not all bad!

Zai jian!

Wǒ shì Yīngguó rén (I am English)

That is what we covered in my last Mandarin lesson. I am still really enjoying it and feel like I am getting to grips with the tones a bit better now, though the pronounciation of some sounds is still very hard to get my head around - dōu (meaning all/both) is pronounced as doh (think Homer Simpson!) whereas I automatically read it with an ow sound. Likewise hē (meaning drink) is pronounced as huur. I think teaching phonics to my class is making it harder as I am looking at the sounds and thinking of the silly actions we do to practice them (like pinching our arms whilst making the 'ow' sound!). Still it is all good practice, and we have a small class (only 7 of us) so we can work on our pronounciation.

I had a lovely day in London today. Clare and I went on a little walking tour of Greenwich as I havent been before and we had always talked about going. And what better excuse than the Easter holidays! Sadly the fan museum was closed (gutted - over 350 different hand held fans spanning centuries...!) as was a random museum that claimed to have a lizard with a topaz encrusted tongue and collar (who wouldnt want to see that?!) but we wandered through Greenwich Park up to the Observatory. Amazing views!

 

The camera on my phone doesn't really do the view justice but I was excited to find a panoramic setting :)  

                

We also saw the Cutty Sark which was nice as Adam always used to go on about it and I vaguely remember visiting it before the fire with my parents and Steph.

I now have 4 months left so I want to do a few more 'Londonny' things before I leave. As I am into making lists in a big way at the moment these are the things I fancy doing:

Visit the Highgate cemetry

Visit the Imperial War Museum

Watch Singing in the Rain (not particuarly Londonny but I really want to see it!)

Go to Wimbledon to watch the tennis again (maybe camp this time!)

Go on a walk to find the different Banksy's in London

That seems like enough for now, and yet again I am rambling!

Zai Jian!