Bulgaria with Noodles

Yes, it's confession time.This post is really just an excuse for lots of old photos from my five years at Green Oasis School. Why are Chinese children so completely sweet and adorable? Well, most of them were, most of the time.  Even when one or two of the students at GOS were a little bit naughty, the parents and the school's administration were very firm and supportive. Another probable reason why GOS was such a positive place was that many Chinese schools have a reputation for being absolutely dreadful and unhappy places, so the children loved being at a happy school where the teachers wanted to be friendly and make learning fun. When I was at Lord Wandsworth College, more years ago than I care to remember, most of my lessons were staggeringly dull, uninteresting and predictable. At GOS, I really tried hard to make my lessons "hands on", fun and different. Practical Science lessons are a headache for teachers, but the students love them and, even more importantly, ...

Happy Easter! Christos vaskres! Yes, when I started writing this, it was Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian Church’s calendar. But which church? Normally Irena and I go to the evangelical church in Veliko Tarnovo. The services are all in Bulgarian, of course, but it is good to be with other Christians. I was not brought up as a Christian. I don’t remember my mother or Eric, my step-father, ever encouraging me to pray or to read the Bible. I hated going to church at my public school, Lord Wandsworth College, and it was at Oxford that I become a Christian. Although I originally signed up for Classics, I changed to Theology. So what about our new Archbishop of Canterbury? It is now a few days after Easter. There have been a few pieces in the newspapers and on TV about the new Archbishop. Half of me says, “Hooray! Yes, why not? It is about time we had a lady in Canterbury. After all, we have female airline pilots, lawyers, plumbers, mechanics, soldiers, etc.” I am ...