THE SON OF BLOG

Yes, I'm back in Russia again. I probably should have told you a week ago, but you know how it is. We've got no internet at the school at the moment - it was taken away when our director realised that 90% of our traffic was to either mingers.com or hotornot.com. I almost wish I hadn't introduced the other teachers to these sites now. But hopefully this situation is only temporary.

GARETH MARK 2

I have a new flatmate - a Welshman called Gareth. I don't know, I travel a whole continent to get away from one Gareth only to end up living with another one! Seriously, my mum suggested he change his name (my flatmate, not my brother) to avoid confusion. He was surprisingly amenible to this, until my mum volunteered 'Henry', an unfortunate choice (apart from the obvious) as it is the name of his much loved and recently departed pet dog!

Still, Gareth is working alongside me at Skhodnenskaya and is also working in Mitino - basically what I was doing last year. They originally wanted to put him in Khimki, where Patrick Ketchum got shot at and Rich was savaged by Alsatians, so I think things have worked out for the best.