I’m sorriest today that I have no camera as I really have no words to describe the magnificence of the snowy mountains here with their great Christmas tree forests. The last few days were quite grey and snowy but the day dawned clear and bright with the sparkling pure white powdery new snow blanketing everything as far as the eye could see. Truly wondrous – my wonder was something akin to the boy in the Snowman as he flew above unbelievable sights.

The gym yesterday was a neat place- we didn’t go to the aerobics class but to the room with all the strange machines. The place was an all round leisure centre,just round the corner from here, with language classes (including bosnian for foreigners) and jewellery making and all kinds. I did 10k on the orbitrek and then tried to experiment with the various weight/ resistance training contraptions- I lasted roughly 2 minutes with each but I feel much stronger now :) Mrs N’s lovely daughter was there too but sadly she had an impending dissertation and couldn’t stay to undo all our good work at a restaurant in Travnik for lunch.

I do have photo evidence of the great restaurant Mrs N took me to, but it’s on her phone so I don’t have it on hand- it was pretty cool anyway with interesting details, like using old fashioned sieves as lampshades. I was hungry after our 1 ½ hour chatter/drive + exercise, so I quickly gobbled up their specialty Tarhana soup which contained a satisfying kind of doughy rubble. I also munched away at some yummy rustic cornbread while waiting for my main- which was dumb of me because, of course, no matter how enthusiastically I attacked my juicy roasted potatoes and veal to begin with, the portions were inevitably too big so I end up being like the last kid eating lunch in the school cafeteria; slow, plodding and pleading with my dining companions for help. The sad story repeated itself today at the smart, well hidden Feri restaurant we went to in the mountains today. Everything is delicious but I’m not a Bosnian giant/ giantess and yet I still receive BFG portions. I was entertained by the Smileys mind-boggling revelations of physicky phenomena- including some freakish stuff about the idea of left and right which I can’t even begin to explain. Speaking of Physics, Mrs Smiley was full of beans over her team's triumphant win over their archrival school in yesterday's competition. Sounds like it was hard fought and there will be glory awaiting them at school tomorrow.

I must plan my first lesson now- fortunately most of the teachers are roughly the same level so I can teach my lessons 7 or 8 times over to different people, suitably adapted of course, with Monday’s Aida being my weekly guinea pig, poor dear. I like the fact that their needs differ so widely- from the Maths teacher who is chilled out, secure in the knowledge that her symbols and diagrams are “the same in every language” to the RS teacher, who not only needs to get into thorny ethical issues with her students, but also adores the Premier League, London life and has a globetrotting son, and therefore is interested in a wide range of social language functions. Should be fun either way though- I’m being encouraged to explore the town with the teachers and get them to take me to cafes and museums and such. Not bad work if you can get it hey?