by Some positive news at last. That was supposed to be the point of this blog when I started it.
“You’re doing nothing wrong but you’re still making my life intolerable. Now please bugger off.” It wasn’t easy to say this to my flatmate on Tuesday night, and of course that’s not what I said. I said I’d need my own space well before I go away, and talked about my anxiety levels and lack of sleep. He was taken aback – I’d given no verbal indication that I was struggling. He’s happier here than he was at his parents’ place – a large house in Kelburn in the same street as a number of politicians and diplomats – and in his mind he was here for the long haul, beyond late September when I intend to go away. He agreed to be out by the end of May, although nothing was put in writing. That’s still a long time (80-odd consecutive days of having to interact with this guy), but I can now see light at the end of the tunnel, and I’ve slept much better as a result.
I’ve learnt a lesson here. I’ll need to be extremely careful before I ever think of taking on a tenant again. (This is where blogging comes into its own. It’s really helpful to keep a record of this bad experience because I sure as hell don’t want to repeat it. My mind filters out bad experiences.)
I found out yesterday that I’ll be starting my English teaching in the next week or two. I’ll be teaching an Ethiopian refugee of about fifty. He arrived in Wellington in 2009 but doesn’t speak good English and is only semi-literate, having had virtually no schooling in his home country. He clearly gets by all the same. When I was down south, I watched Dad fly his glider at the model aero club, and there was a bloke there who (according to Dad) couldn’t read. It amazed me that anybody could get by in the modern world without a reasonable level of literacy, but here he was, flying model planes, fixing cars (he worked as a mechanic) and, somehow, buying parts on the internet. Anyway, this promises to be quite a challenge for me but it’s one I certainly look forward to. This also means that I can start making travel plans.
Ethiopia. When I was five, if someone had asked me to name a poor country, I probably would have said Ethiopia. But apart from famines and wars, I know precious little about the place. Until yesterday I would have guessed that it had a coastline and a population of, I don’t know, 30 million. A pure guess. It turns out it’s the most populous landlocked country in the world with 100 million people. I’m sure I’ll find out more in the coming months.
The only two realistic presidential nominees on the Republican side are Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. If either of them become president, heaven help us all. Trump is a megalomaniac who says he wants to make America great again, without giving any clue as to how, other than building a wall along the entire border with Mexico and banning all Muslims from entering the country. At least he’s funny, I’ll give him that. Cruz is far more competent than Trump; he’s cold, he’s calculating, he’s evil. I met some lovely people in America last year but I really fear for that country right now, and if they do elect one of those two guys, the shock waves will spread far beyond the country’s borders.
Some more good news: zero-hours contracts have been banned here in New Zealand. The UK should follow our lead.
