Holes in your nose

Miss M got this book out of the library last week:

It is quite mind bending to read but she is fascinated by it. When I noticed the Japanese name on the cover it got me wondering whether or not it was related to the book "Everyone Poops" that I remember Rove having on his show a few years ago.

Sure enough:

http://beeskneesbooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/boogers.html

If I am struggling to spend time with Miss M now, how will I cope when I am working 8 til 6 (possibly) 5 days a week, in a foreign country? On one hand I know it will make the time we do have together more precious as it will be the only time we have. We will also be alone and probably won't have TV (or at least, won't be able to understand any of it!). We will hopefully have the chance to do lots of wee trips together.

I am also hopeful for a job where she will be allowed to attend the school. Some stories I've read of more rural schools seem to paint a more flexible picture. I've also found an advertisement for a part-time toddler room job. Mornings only. Naturally working part-time might mean we can't afford to live (especially when I am supporting a child as well) but at the same time I have discovered the variances in pay between international/expat style schools and more local schools. The latter advertise salaries about 50% of what they are offering in the expat schools. Not all the expat schools are exactly that - some of them cater for local students but simply follow an international curriculum.

At the moment it looks like the going rate in China (this is for a fully qualified teacher) is around RMB 10 000 in local schools or early childhood centres and RMB 20 000 in International schools. So feasibly, a part-time role in an International school would be a brilliant stroke of luck. On top of earning the same as someone in a language school, I would also expect to have accommodation and airfares included, as well as visas, medical, tuition and et cetera.

The job is through one of the larger recruiters who send me out job mailers all the time yet cannot find the time to respond to my emails, so I am going to have to bombard them. There's a whole other post in that...

To come full circle, while Miss M is currently engrossed in nose picking and boogers, Mummy is currently reading 'Eat, Pray, Love' which has such widespread rave reviews that I couldn't help but purchase it (especially as it was 50% off). I am about a 6th of the way through and although the writing is great, it is a little irritating and I am worried that I might end up putting it in the crap book pile. I hope not. Even Julia Roberts and Oprah have bought copies for their friends.