Let the good times roll

Well it's been a fun couple of days. Things have settled since that freak left and we've all gone back to normal. Wednesday was a good day. Some of you may know that Wednesday is my half day where I (and the other teachers) only have classes in the morning. So at lunch Matt and I went out to get something to eat and after eating we parted ways. I went to Break Through because there was a jacket I had my eye on that I wanted to get. When I got there though, the jacket was still there but I tried on an extra large and it didn't quite fit. Then I tried on about 3 other jackets and they were all too small even though they said extra large. So I left my favourite store empty handed. So I went to some other stores and did other shopping. Bought some more DVD's and other things. The other thing I purchased that I was surprised to even find here in China was a flag representing Trinidad and Tobago. I had to buy it ofcourse but I was very surprised to even see it here.
On Monday, Annaick told me about this girl that owned a fantastic pizza restaurant that was having a short cooking class on Wednesday and in the class we would learn how to make baozi (b-aw-zuh) which is a chinese dumpling. So after getting home I got ready to go out again for that.
Bre and I were going to meet Annaick and Angela there.
We got there, met a french friend of Annaick named Valerie and started to learn how to make the baozi. This was really cool and is quite a simple recipe. I can't wait to make it on my own. Anyway, after making baozi, we ate it and then ordered a pizza. The pizza was so very good. Brick oven pizza and was better than anything at Pizza Hut. If I ever have a craving (which is rare) I'll be going there. Plus the owner speaks english and is very very nice.
After we had eaten, then the socializing began. I met some new people and we exchanged contact info. Then for the longest while I was chatting with this chinese guy named Jason. He spoke very good english. We were talking about just stuff in general. He was asking me how I felt about China before and how I feel about it now. He's a student at the university and is studying history. He's a pretty cool guy. I'm actually kinda glad I made friends with him because I was almost getting tired of hearing Annaick talking about her french friends and all the fun they have. I mean it's good in a way to have friends outside of the frat house because after a while you could go mad but it just became a bit nauseating hearing her go on and on. Finally I have a friend outside of the frat house.
So apparently the restaurant has an english chat corner on Sunday afternoons and Jason asked if I'd like to come by. I wouldn't be learning any english ofcourse but I might be able to help and then he could also help me with my chinese (which btw is getting better everyday). Then he told me that he would take me to a good place to get chao kao. So I have something to look forward to on Sunday.
Now apparently Valerie had some other french friends, that Annaick had met at one time or another I suppose, that were supposed to meet us there. They got there very very late but they were actually pretty cool guys. They were younger than the other gentlemen friends of Annaick I met before and did me a "favour" by speaking more english. Plus because they were younger, they made jokes and kept things lively. I had a pretty good time.
After a few beers, pizza and alot of laughs it was time to go.
Thursday (yesterday) was another intersting day. I went to class in a so-so mood but by lunch I was hyper. I was talking to my mom online and she told me that her ticket was purchased and that she would be coming to visit me here in China in February. I was beyond excitement. And to make things better I was having sugar in the form of a lollipop and was bouncing off the walls in no time. I even went to class with lollipop in hand and mouth. My students were all amazed and laughing. Teacher has a lollipop. She's eating a lollipop in class. Oh my gosh, teacher eats lollipops just like me.
Anyway Sophia and I had made plans last week to go out to a Thai restaurant for dinner that was supposed to happen yesterday. I love thai food and Matt does too, so he said he would come with. Everything was set and Damon came by to pick us up. The original plan was that Sophia would meet us there because the restaurant is in Hankou and that's where she lives now. Anyway, he gets to the frat house and says that Sophia said that she couldn't make it. Something to do with her boyfriend. So we decided to go on our own. The menu was different than the menu I was used to at home but the food was very good. Then halfway through dinner Damon gets a call from Sophia saying that she was going to come to the restaurant in about half an hour. An hour goes by and she's nowhere to be found. Damon calls her and she says that she's waiting on someone and she'll be there in half an hour. Another hour goes by and still no Sophia. Then Damon calls her and tells her that we would be leaving and we could get together another time. She understands, cause the thing about it is, we're waiting on a chinese person who's waiting on another chinese person. If we continued to wait, we'd proabably still be there now.
Anyway we hop back in a cab and go home but on the way, Matt kept saying that he wanted to pee and was asking Damon if he thought the driver wouldn't mind stopping somewhere so he could go. Damon just laughed and didn't translate but halfway home, the car started jerking, then sputtering, then it just stopped all together. Well Matt got his wish and was able to get out to pee but then we were stuck on the side of the road. Luckily it's the road that leads to the bridge from Hankou to Wuchang so it is pretty busy, but there are no shops or houses or even people on the road. Anyway we were able to get back into a another cab fairly quickly and got home safely. It was a pretty interesting night.
So that's the mini adventures that I've had over the past couple days. Trying my best to keep you posted.

TTFN