Okay, I got the net working in my flat at last, which is a huge relief. Now I can bore you guys with my blog at weekends as well as during the week. This is going to be a massive post: I'm going to recount everything that's happened up to now, as I have the time. Anyway, where was I?

7th September: I was nursing an almighty hangover so I stayed indoors the entire day, resting mostly. I had missed the F1 qualifying to go to the beach (a good choice, I think) but no way was I gonna miss the real deal. I called up my brother [removed] (or the other way around) and we both commented on the start and finish of the race over the phone. For the middle, I fell asleep - not that it was boring, but after last night I suddenly felt super tired around 3pm. I woke up to watch the thrilling climax, however - then to find out on BBC World that Lewis had been cheated out of victory in what most level-headed people have dubbed the worst decision in F1 history. I wasn't best pleased.

I later found out that fellow teacher [removed]'s girlfriend [removed] is a Ferrari fan. Hrmph.

8th-12th September: Week two, and surprisingly it already feels like business as usual. Not much to report during the week (I seldom get up to anything really interesting on weekdays as the routine is pretty straightforward) so I'll skip forward to the Friday night. We went to a club called 44. We were going to go to a sushi place - Japanese food is abundant and inexpensive in Kyiv, so if you fancy cooking or eating any of it, this is the place to be (in Europe, obviously). Shops provide all the stuff you need to make your own, and places like Sushiya sell reasonably priced sushi etc all over the place, and in the case of Sushiya 24 hours a day. On Prospekt Peremohy (the main huge avenue that runs towards the centre of Kyiv) alone I walked past three or four, and there are more to find. Anyway I digress...

This club, 44 (named after its address - like the old 76 Club in Burton, if I recall), is a somewhat small establishment, and one of the surprisingly few in Kyiv offering live music. There was a band playing there, and I think it cost 40 UAH entry, which is a lot but not exceptional (and for live music, it's certainly much more reasonable than the Caribbean Club, for example). I honestly didn't see much of the band, however, as the place was so packed and difficult to move around that I spent virtually all of my time in the room next door, guzzling beer that I ought to have contributed more money to. The service left something to be desired: in a country that often still abides by the old Soviet principle of giving everybody a job, regardless of their redundancy, having 3 barstaff for maybe 200 people is both a surprise and simple bad business. The beer was neither too much nor particularly cheap (shops and kiosks are much, much cheaper than any kind of pub or club, so you've just got to take what you can get). I got talking to a few interesting people, which I'm always keen on doing. After being finally turfed out by the barstaff at past 3am, it was another ripoff taxi home and bedtime.

13th September: Surprisingly, I didn't have a hangover - I was more tired than hungover. I got out reasonably early and went to the shop by the Metro station to get some essentials - it's a weekend , so I kind of need to. Eventually, I left the house at 2ish to head to [removed]'s flat for an almighty triple-header of football. I didn't think I'd stay for the whole time, but it's surprising how the time flies when you've got company and beer. I ended up watching all three (on and off) and a good time was had by all, though there was a bit of trouble finding someone who'd deliver a pizza to us on a Saturday night: Mama Mia, the most popular (it seems) pizza place, said they couldn't get a pizza to us for two and a half hours. Me and [removed] scoffed at that, but then [removed] comes from a country where it's there in half an hour or it's free. Fortunately, Google turned up a place that didn't take so long and for a reasonable price. By this point - over six hours after the start of the first match, and with only crisps and the like to nibble on - we devoured the four large pizzas like hungry wolves, and they lasted a very short time.

[removed] and [removed] headed off to play pool in town, and I foolishly joined them - foolishly because I'm not particularly good at pool, and don't particularly care for it either. The fact that the game that we tried first was Russian pyramid - think pool, but you can hit any ball off any other ball, and the corner pockets are 4-5mm bigger than the balls - explained why one game took almost an hour. The damn things wouldn't go in the pockets, so just getting a pot was a cause of congratulation. Fortunately, they then had a game or two of American pool, which went a lot quicker, but by then I was way too tired, and I felt like I'd thrown too much money away to be playing pool in a super swish pool club: no 50 pence pieces left on the side of tables here.

14th September: I got my internet to work, yay. I spent the entire day browsing the net, watching TV shows and so on, so there's not a lot of interest to report really.

15th September: Today, that is. I went to Megamarket near the school (I wanted to go this morning but I was so damn tired I couldn't drag my arse out of bed), and was under the impression that it was rather big. I wasn't quite prepared for HOW BIG. It's gigantic. Everything you could want in Ukraine (or out of it) is here. I was in heaven: for too long I'd been without certain essentials (like a mug - we need one at work) and here it was, in one vast room. Twenty years ago, Soviet citizens would've wept at the sight. The fact that I spent a full five minutes deciding which lunch box to buy gives you the idea how much stuff there is here. There's pelmeni (Russian ravioli) as far as the eye can see, and I like my pelmeni (though for some reason they don't eat it with sauce here - I do, though). There's a surprising amount of fish for a near-landlocked country.

I wanted to buy a webcam to talk to the UK, but the ones in Megamart made no indication of having a microphone, which I think is pretty damn important. Oh well, another day. I know that talking about a supermarket is hardly a topic worth blogging about, but after my struggles in the previous few weeks I walked around the place with a big beaming smile on my face.

Well, that wraps up my current travails. At least I'm up to date now, so I can keep you guys informed (the five that are reading) of what happens to me day to day in Kyiv. And don't worry, there's more piccies on the way. I just can't be bothered to look through them to show you tonight (I've written a bloody essay here, so gimme a chance).

Keep watching.