return of the king

First and foremost. Happy birthday to my niece, sister and father, in that order. You shall all live long and eventful lives. Second I think I have found a way back into this blog but who knows how long it will last before the nefarious reds get at blocking it. so I will continue to post here and at www.defendbeijing.blog.com as well. The winter holiday is nearly finished for this year. A bit earlier then I was initially led to believe. You see before the end of last term my boss told me that the new term would begin on the 1st of March. I made travel arrangements and thought nothing more of it. One would expect the department head to know when the term begins, I was also told 1st of March by the FAO (Foreign Affairs Officer) who deals with all matters related to foreigners. So I was confident that 1 March was teach again day. I got a call the afternoon before my plane left for Thailand(ahh thailand) and it was the department head informing me that school would begin again on the 22 of february. Right because 9 days is the same thing. What was I supposed to do about my travel plans? What was I to do about flights? Of course I got all manner of excuses (I remember my father used to say that excuses are like assholes: everyone has em and they all stink.) the chinese must have sixty or eighty orifices for defecation because I have never encountered a people so capable of passing the buck. Needless to say I will be having a discussion with the higher ups this week about the "cultural differences" that we have. You see my boss doesnt like that I schedule my free time to maximize my life. Apparently I should be here in the red menace all vacation long so that if something changes it is not a problem. My need to go see the world, my desire to spend time outside of my apartment, my audacity in expecting to be told what the start date for a new semester is. How culturally imperialistic. Anyways it was a grand vacation and I miss it already.