A quiet sense of achievement

This has been a quite brutal month, and I am glad it is now over.

However, as I review this whirlwind four weeks, I find a warming sense of satisfaction and contentment growing inside me - a feeling that is perhaps rather too rare these days.

In this past month I have.....

1) "Purchased" a new Z visa and the accompanying work permit.

2) Renewed my residence registration at the local police station (just accomplished this morning, with the kindly help of one of the most charming of my former university students).

3) Cleaned and tidied my apartment (about 5 hours of hard graft - long overdue!).

4) Put in a good 40 hours or so of work in the recording studio (factor in that this is probably at least two or three times as mentally and physically draining as just about any other kind of work you can think of). This has paid for my next quarter's rent.

5) Paid my landlord the next quarter's rent on time - without having him try to impose an arbitrary rent increase, or threaten me with eviction, or complain about anything at all. Remarkable!

6) Thrown together, in the space of three short weeks, a new (potentially long-term) deal for organising in-house business English training for an American IT company. This has involved pitching to my original intermediary contact, a Hong Kong businessman, to persuade him to take me on board as a partner in the project, then pitching to the IT company to persuade them to appoint us as their training provider, and then pitching to their HR manager to persuade her of the soundness of my training plan.

7) Entered into fairly promising discussions with an American education company about possibly becoming their 'gofer' in China, and consulting with them on the development and marketing of new programs targeted at Chinese students. We're still at a very early and uncertain stage, and I am hesitant even to mention it, for fear of jinxing the prospect - but, if it comes off, this could be just about my 'dream job'.

8) Edited a textbook, judged a debating competition, delivered a teacher training seminar, and taught about 20 hours of business English classes.

9) On a rare day off, I finally made a long dreamed-of pilgrimage to the Yanjing Brewery.

10) Supported and publicized three fund-raising events for the Sichuan earthquake victims: the Room 101 party on the 22nd, The Stone Boat concert on the 25th, and the Contemporary Art Auction at the Kerry Centre on the 27th.

It really would be nice, after all that, to spend 48 hours in bed - but, alas, I have to work over the weekend as well. Next week, though, is looking fairly slack.