Bulgaria with Noodles

Last Saturday, it came round again: the World Scholar's Cup. (Why can't the apostrophe be after the "S"? Is there only one scholar in the whole world?)  Although the WSC wants to get into the Guinness book of Records for the most tacky trophies given out to children, it is a lot of fun and the young people who take part do get to debate some very tough motions. In the Junior Rounds, we had some tough motions and in the Senior Rounds they were even tougher: "Resolved: That schools should teach classes on how to make mistakes", "That only the original writers of a movie should be allowed to write the sequel" and "That leaders of big countries should first practise being leaders of smaller countries." I did not have to do any judging in the morning, as we had quite a surplus of judges. I went along to the training session for the judges, up in the "penthouse" at St. George's, and then I went along to see a few...

Recently there was some discussion on the TES Teaching Abroad forum about whether or not to go to China, in view of this new health scare. Well, the great and good Harry Deelman (of Search Associates) always said that "a gentleman's word should be his bond". Therefore, in my opinion, if the job still exists in August, then you should keep your promises and get on the plane for the Middle Kingdom.  Although the new virus is worrying, the reality is that hundreds (maybe thousands) or people die every year from ordinary strains of influenza. As per usual, I completely agree with the view that it will probably have fizzled out in another month or two. By then, the BBC and CNN will have found something else to exaggerate. (HD also had some wise words about "the CNN factor".) A few months before we left for Kenya, a friend of ours told us lurid stories of expats getting murdered in "Nairobbery". We imagined that we would have our throats cut as so...