Sigh.

Well, all the excitement is over. Mum and James went home on the 6th. CK flew back to Beijing on Saturday morning, after which, depressingly enough, I went into the office to do some work I hadn't finished on Friday. After which I went out drinking with Rudi and Richie until 5 in the morning. Less said the better.

Anyway, I'm now struggling endlessly with a series of graded reading passages for junior high school students. I have to take the reading text from each textbook chapter and produce an easier and harder version, with correspondingly difficult comprehension questions. It's not intrinsically hard to do, but it is both time-consuming and tedious. Seriously, it's taking me ages to do each one. I finished work at half past eight yesterday evening.

It's kind of a reaction to CK not being around, though. I just don't have any particular reason to hurry home. This may be a good thing. After the financial hit of the family visit, and having to buy a new laptop, I could do with saving a bit of cash. And not going out or doing anything seems an ideal method.

CK's exam on Sunday may or may not have gone well. She did best on the listening section the first time round, but this time the tape was mangled and tinny and so hard to hear. Seems a bit unfair, but then it is a mainland exam so I'm not surprised. The reason she had to take the exam twice was this - the results weren't released until after the deadline to register (and, therefore, pay) for the test date this month. Incompetence or money-grubbing malice? Answers on the back of a postcard. She passed the first time but thought she might as well have another go since she'd already paid for it.