Hello Everyone,

Preparation for class, specifically lesson planning, just kills me.

1. I always liked it if I could just copy lesson plans, or the previous teach had the course prepared down to the minute.

Unfortunately, that is a dream.

2. Any other top websites, books, etc.?

3. Again, it takes me five hours to do a 30 minute detailed lesson plan.

I just wish there was a way to get far more efficient.

A good way to be more efficient is use a template. Write down the lesson aims and have something basic like

45 minute lesson

5m: Intro
5m: Warmer
10m: present language
5m: basic excercises  (gap fill/multiple choice, etc.)
10m: productive excercise (make sentences/dialogue....)
10m : Fun activity using the language (game/interviews/role plays etc)

then you can just put your stuff in

There are loads online, the big websites like British Council and OneStopEnglish have free lesson plans that you can download and use.

Like most creative stuff it's usually finding a direction that is hard and once you are going it's actually fun

Anything outside the mainland restarts the clock, including HK or Macau.  All they want to see is that you got checked out before the deadline.  I was in on a tourist visa in 2009 and had to do this. If my memory hasn't failed me, I vaguely recall it was a 30 day limit back in those ancient days.

If you go to Lowu/Lohu, you'll have to take the East Rail line down one stop before coming back.  Some of the other HK border crossings will let you do a u-turn just after clearing HK immigration and customs.

Or, since you went to all the effort to cross the border, spend a day or two playing tourist.

I've made that point many times to her and the realtor/owner.  It doesn't get through. I will just have to hold my ground cuz I know that water damage can be very severe and subtle. 

Word of the day: "Geomancer". A person who tells you the cosmic implications of any location where you're looking to buy.  Good, or bad, juju apparently

Thank you

Certifications of singlehood for foreigners typically come from your country's Chinese embassy or consulate.  I doubt the local Bureau of Getting Hitched would care which one it comes from, but it wouldn't hurt to ask them directly.