Happy many things

Happy sports day. Thursday was sports day and that wasn’t too bad. We spent most of the time cheering on the teams and timing the events. Everyone was pretty exhausted at the end of the day because we had spent it all standing in the sun. The good news was that we had no classes. Friday was the second half of sports day but we were told that we would have a half-day of school. We got there in the morning and didn’t do very much nor were we assigned to do anything. Then Lisa and I figured we had had enough of that and decided to go out to Jiefang Lu and do some shopping. We got back to school just in time to leave for the day. It felt so good to have the half-day to come home and just relax. Anyway, I didn’t do much in the afternoon, then later we got ready for Jane’s Halloween party at Giano’s. I went as Medusa. Well not really, I put on a black top with a long black skirt, my boots and I made a few snakes out of bristol board to attach to my hair. Not the best in the world but pretty good considering my limited resources. That was a pretty good night. There weren’t a lot of people there but the music was good and I had fun with everyone. Costumes were at a minimum and hard to detect but I think everyone tried their best. In any event, we didn’t stay there very long and headed home by 1am.
Saturday. Happy Anniversary to me.
This past Saturday marked my 12th month in China. Pretty significant accomplishment if I say so myself. It’s the longest and furthest I have ever been away from home. It’s not too bad. At least, it’s a lot less worse than I thought it would be. Anyway, by evening time I felt a little tired and decided to take a nap. This time, learning from my mistakes of the past, I set my alarm. When it went off I was kinda pissed but I got myself together and looked great for my evening out at Vox and the celebration of my anniversary. We headed out to Vox and the music was great. I didn’t hear my song but then again I didn’t request it but I figured it was good for a change. That Saturday wasn’t just another day, it was a special day. Anyway, Vox had it’s own Halloween night and costumes were a bit better. Actually I met a guy there that remembered me from Giano’s and I also met some other really nice people. All in all, it was a fabulous night.
Sunday. Happy daylight savings time.
Ok, I know DST is nothing to celebrate. But it is something to remember. While they don’t change their clocks in China, it is something that I have to try to remember. Instead of everyone back home being 12 hours behind they are now 13 hours. My Sunday was pretty un-eventful. Although, there is a growing mold problem that is occurring in our building but is the worst in my room since I’ve had so many water problems. I closed a cupboard and a big cloud of mold erupted from it. Of course I had no choice but to inhale and I noticed that I had a cough almost the next day. It got worse as the day went on and was so bad that yesterday and today I took the day off. My cough is deep from my chest and today was at it worse since my abs and my chest now hurts from all the coughing. Staying home today was a good idea I think, I should be back to normal or at least close to normal by tomorrow. This upcoming weekend I’m going to go out and buy some cleaning supplies to help get this problem under control.
There was a rumour that was told last week Thursday, that Maya heard from the principal, that next weekend we’ll be going to the hot springs. Everyone was so excited except for me. I told them all that I don’t believe any news that’s told to me a week ahead of time. I told them not to get their hopes up and that it was best that they waited until the day before our supposed leaving time before they got excited. By Saturday, Klaver told me that the hot springs wasn’t going to happen and that they would be taking us out for crab instead. What a consolation prize, I know. But I tried to tell them, Chinese people don’t operate like that. They very rarely give us notice of anything so far in advanced. Anyway, I look forward to this week coming to an end. With me not being at 100% I know it’ll just drag by and I don’t know if I’ll be fit enough to go out this weekend. I haven’t had a cigarette in 2 days and I tried to have one today but it didn’t go over well. My lungs aren’t ready but my body still wants the nicotine. Klaver keeps asking me if I want to go to a doctor but I’d rather die than go to a Chinese doctor. Heck, they might end up killing me in trying to cure me anyway. I’ll suffer through and see what I can do about fixing the problem myself. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, right?

TTFN

This and that

Well after a lot of ‘maybe this’ and ‘maybe that’ it was finally revealed to us that there will be a sports day today and tomorrow. Which is cool because we need a couple days away from the classroom. We all agree that almost all the time we are just so tired. I got Matty stix’s opinion on the matter since his would be the most important to me out of everybody and he’s really the only one other than myself that can compare last year to this year. We both agree that we’re working a lot harder this year and it is taking its toll. Plus with our Wednesday afternoons that are supposed to be free, but they are forcing us to go to these show lessons, well we agree that this is a waste of our time for so many reasons. The time could be better spent marking tests or preparing for another lesson or even going out to run some errands. Heck when the weekend comes, yes we party but we usually spend the rest of the time sleeping as well because we’re so exhausted. Not just from partying but from the entire week. So I talked to Matty stix about it and we agreed that I should talk to Mr Ye and let him know that these Wednesday meetings have got to stop. I think if I present the info to him in a reasonable manner, we should be able to get rid of this. I think this year they’re walking over us a bit more because there’s no one to really complain. Last year, Matt from upstairs would bring things to their attention and Nick could do it as well and do it in Chinese. This year, not so much. So, in us not really saying much we’ve given them an inch and they have decided to take a mile. Well it stops here. Mr Ye will know that this Wednesday afternoon meeting thing has got to stop and I’ll be laying out all the reasons why. Two lesson plans, four classes, 180 books to mark, 180 tests to mark, two tests to write plus teaching aids to prepare. Take all of that and add the fact that I can’t take my books home to mark (which I shouldn’t do anyway) I have to wake up early to catch the bus and go to bed early enough to get a good night sleep. Just the travelling back and forth becomes tiring in the traffic. Plus me and a small group of us have the added benefit of teaching kindergarten on the side. Yeah, it’s becoming much. So the request will be to give us our Wednesday afternoons back to do with as we please. Heck, there is nothing in my contract that obligates me to go to these meetings but there is an obligation for the classes I must teach.
That’s how it goes so far. Keeping you posted.
TTFN

This is why I don't take naps in my own bed

Ok, so Friday night came around and I was very much looking forward to having a good time. Well, I didn’t have a good time, I had a GREAT TIME. I met Gary at CC. We had a beer and then we headed over to BS. BS was bumping. The music was great. Even the boys were there and I was really happy to see them and I was also very excited for Gary to meet everyone. Anyway, Friday night I was the dancing machine. I can’t remember the last time the place was so packed, the music was so good and I felt so amazing. It was really an awesome time. Then the boys left to go somewhere else. I hung out for a while longer and then I headed home. I came home to find Klaver in my room (since I’ve recently given him a copy of my key) and then we had a little after party in my room. After some time, the night of frivolity had to come to an end and I went to bed.
Saturday, I didn’t do much. I had a bit of a hangover so for the most part I just stayed in. I got Klaver to make a Mc D’s run and that kept me good for the day. I don’t think I got the best night sleep on Friday because I was pretty tired all day long on Saturday. In the late evening I decided to just take a short nap. Now, I’m not a huge fan of the nap and sleeping in the day is one of the biggest turn offs for me. Every once in a while I will indulge but if I do take a nap I try to do it in someone else’s bed. It’s a psychological thing for me. If I’m in someone else’s bed, then I’m aware of that and I never go into a deep sleep. Well this time I napped in my own bed and was supposed to wake up around 11pm to meet everyone at Vox and party another night away. Well I lay down and the next thing I know is everyone walking into my room at 4am, after they had already been to Vox. They all told me that they really liked it and we had to go again. They were all wondering where I was and they really liked the music. That’s the second time I’ve missed Vox on a Saturday. I can’t let it happen again. Anyway, we had another little after party in my room and Klaver took care of the music and was DJ for the night. Maya, Matt, Klaver and I were up till 6:30am, just listening to music having a few drinks and having a great time.
After sleeping most of my day away on Sunday, I made it to Giano’s and helped Jane make some decorations for her Halloween party on Friday. Cool thing was I got a free dinner out of it which I wasn’t expecting and she gave me money for a cab back home. She is so nice. So I’m going to head over there today again and Lillis is going to come with and we’re gonna finish up making some more decorations. If Lillis helps me finish today then I won’t have to come back on Thursday and then the party is on Friday. So I’ll go to that and I’m going to say, maybe I’ll be at Vox on Saturday.
Just to let you know, “maybe” is a word that is frequently used by Chinese people. The way they use it is not the way we know it. Maybe could be “yes” or maybe could be “no”. Or Sometimes, they would say things like “maybe tomorrow, we definitely have no school” It gets confusing. Anyway, as foreigners, we make fun of the “maybe” and in some cases even use it incorrectly on purpose. Basically, the “maybe” is your ‘get out of jail free card’. If anything doesn’t go as planned, you could always say “well I said ‘maybe’”. So, in closing, maybe I’ll be at Vox, this Saturday.

TTFN

Sometimes I can....

Well another week gone by and it was pretty painless I guess. I had another water leak problem in my room that the school was nice enough to take care of yesterday. The only thing is, they have done it in typical chinese fashion. They apparently took my bathtub out and re-calked it and left a wonderful mess in my bathroom. And they had to pull up the carpet and in turn had to move things around and didn't bother to put these things back. I think the problem is solved but I'll have to see how it goes. Also , I sent an email to Mr Ye about reimbursement for the things I purchased for my kitchen. The thing that sucks is that I have to follow up with him. He never comes up to me and says "I got your email and it's something we're looking into" I have to go to him and say "Mr Ye, did you get my email? Ok what now?" Anyway he said that he was going to connect with the director of the branch school here and the principal and he would get back to me. Well I'll let that go for now but if they even think about coming back to me with "Oh, we can't reimburse you for some bull shit reason" I will have no choice but to pull out the contract and say, "well according to the contract that we both signed, you are supposed to provide me with these things. So either come with me to Carrefour where I can try to return these things I've already used and you can give me the ones you were supposed to and never did or you could just reimburse me for these things I have already purchased" Don't underestimate these people. They will walk all over you if you let them.
Anyway, work hard, play hard. Tonight I'm going to CC for the ambience and then later to BS for the alcohol and to hit on some unsuspecting foreigners. Then tomorrow, I'm gonna make that trip out to Vox if I can. Then on Sunday I promised my friend Jane (the owner of Giano's) that I would help her make some decorations for Halloween. She's gonna have a party on the 27th and we can dress up if we want and it should be alot of fun. Then the 28th marks my 12th non-consecutive month in China. In effect it's my 1 year anniversary. I'm gonna have to have a blast.

TTFN

First time ever

Yesterday I spoke with a parent for the first time. I have a kid in one of my grade one classes. His name is Jerry and he is the devil incarnate. He can never sit still. He walks around the class. Even when he is being punished with standing at the back or the front of the class, he takes this as his "I can now do whatever I want time" I've never wanted to kill a child as badly as I want to kill him. Anyway, Kelly and I have a hard time keeping this kid in order. So he was put out in the hallway as punishment and took this time to open and close the door repeatedly. This of course disturbed the other students and in turn I got furious and yelled at him. The other kids laughed and then he went home and told his parents that I yelled at him and the other students laughed at him. They were in the next day. They gave Kelly so much heat. I didn't know who they were at the time but then the father came over to the office and gestured that he wanted to talk to me. His english wasn't bad but then he asked me what I had to say about Jerry. I laid it all on the line. I said that he never pays attention. His tests are not great, he walks around the class and disturbs the other children and I can never get him to listen. The father said that I should try talking to him and maybe that'll work. While the father and I had this converstaion, Jerry was running all over the place. I even pointed out to the father that this is what this kid does in my class and if the father couldn't control him now, then what am I supposed to do when class time comes around. I have 44 other students who want to learn and he's preventing that from happening. Still the father said that I should talk to him. Then I said that if I took the time to talk to Jerry every time he did something wrong, I would spend the entire class doing that and then no one will learn. Anyway, the father's solution to my problem was still that I shoould talk to him. Anyway , he gave me his cell phone number and told me that if there was a problem, I should call him. I told him that ultimately I needed his help in talking to Jerry and he needs to let him know that what he is doing in class is wrong. The father conveniently had nothing to say about that comment I made but I did tell him that if this talking thing doesn't work I will be calling him. Then later I spoke to Kelly and she told me that the parents made her apologize to the kid. Which bascally sends the message to him that what he is doing in class is ok. So we'll see how things go. If he starts up again, I'm calling the father and Kelly and I will be talking to Mr Ye. Atleast at that time, we can tell Mr Ye that we had this talk with the parents already, we tried what they suggested and it didn't work.... what do we do now? With the way this kid is, I definitely see that happening. The only thing is, I don't know what Mr Ye will do. If this kid's parents are "important people" then the typical chinese fear will come into play and I'll be stuck with this kid and not be able to do anything with him or about the situation.
I'll keep you posted

TTFN

The orange sun is seen twice

Ok, Friday night was nice. We had our potluck and everything was good. Colin and Lisa had Kraft dinner sent to them a while ago and they made that as their contribution. Kraft dinner has got to be the Canadian delicacy and I gotta tell ya, it was probably one of the best things on the table. It felt so good to be eating that and enjoying it with friends. Anyway, I only had a couple beers and I didn’t stay up too late. We had a good time. Later in the evening, Mustafa and Matty stix showed up and told us that the gatekeeper could hear the noise we were making. Yet again. This time we weren’t even on the roof. I gotta be honest, I really miss the frathouse. We could make all the noise in the world and it wouldn’t make a difference. No one ever came down to keep us quiet. Anyway, some of the group went out to party but I had to decline. When my alarm went off on Saturday morning, I almost died. I got myself together, made some coffee and headed out to catch my ride. The driver had to make a few stops and I thought to myself that I have lived a good life in Wuhan. He took many back streets but then would end up in a part of town that I either knew or have been to before. I felt proud that I knew the town so well and there was almost no place that I could go to and not be able to find my way back home. It really made me feel good. Anyway, I watched the sun rise from the car and once we got to parts of town I didn’t know I realized that it took us 1.5 hours to get to our destination. And that’s 1.5 hours out of town. Anyway, we finally get there and we stopped for breakfast. I was in a town called Huang Pi (hwang pee) and by the looks of this town they don’t get too many foreigners. Even less than Wuhan. In fact, this woman almost crashed her car into the curb because she was so distracted at staring at me. Anyway, I taught the lessons and was exhausted the entire time but did my best to keep the kids learned and entertained. I got paid my money and then had to wait over 2 hours before my ride was ready. I was ex-haus-ted. On the way back home the sun was setting. Again the orange sun stood in the sky and smiled at me. I got home just in time to get ready for bed. I wanted to go out but there was no force that would make me. Then at 3am, Klaver woke me up and forced me to drink with him. We watched some TV and then he left. Then he returned at 7am and bothered me some more and then went back to bed. My body clock was all messed up on Sunday but I managed. Then I got the surprise of a lifetime. I was doing stuff on my computer and I hear someone calling my name in the common area outside my door. I opened the door in a huff and was shocked to see Nick. Apparently he came over as per Russell’s request. It was so good to see him and get that dose of dry British humour that only he can give. We chatted there for a while and he met some of the newbies. I told him not to be a stranger and I look forward to seeing him again. Later that day on Sunday, Colin, Matty stix and I jammed on our guitars. It was an awesome session. Colin is so talented and he’s even going to help me put some words to the song that I wrote. I was looking forward to it being a normal week, which it has started off to be. Although today we have a meeting with the PSB (Public Safety Bureau) and were gonna have someone talk to us in chinglish for an hour or two (a little word we made up for the broken half English half Chinese that is used by some and sometimes all) about not being drunken in the streets. Translation: snooze fest 2006.

TTFN

No time, no posting.

Ok, I would like to say that this won’t be a thorough update, to be honest it will just be covering what I remember till this point. My holiday week was pretty ok. I spent most of the time just getting things together in my room and doing some more unpacking. I tried to keep my holiday uneventful. Matty stix and the others were in Shanghai. The boys were in Hu Dong Shan and it was just myself, Lillis and Eileen at the apartments. We did a few things together but for the most part we kept to ourselves. On Friday I met up with Winnie and Eileen and we had a girls evening of window-shopping, a little shopping and then going out for dinner. I knew that if I didn’t call Winnie during the holiday, she would never let me hear the end of it. She already guilt tripped me when she said that she invited me to have dinner with her family for the holiday and I had to turn her down because I had made plans to go to Carrefour. Anyway, we got home and the boys were pre-drinking to get ready for their boys’ night out. By the time we got in the room, they were already hammered. I was happy that they had the night and they were able to go out and have a good time and then make it back safely but I have to admit, I was a bit concerned when I saw their condition before they even left the house. At one point I was even concerned for my own safety in a small room with these guys and them being very unstable on their feet. Anyway, Eileen and I ended up spending the evening together. We just had a few beers and watched some TV. On the Saturday nothing much happened since we all had to work the next day.
Sunday morning was hard and many of us have noticed that over the past couple weeks, we’ve been having a hard time getting a good night’s sleep. Everyone, including myself, just feels so ragged on almost a daily basis. Then I had the roof almost cave in on me... literally. Apparently there was a leak coming from upstairs and it came through my light. The cover for my light filled up with water and eventually fell down. Luckily this happened while I was at work and not while I was sleeping in bed but all the water fell on my bed leaving it soaked right through the mattress. This was discovered on Monday night. There was nothing I could do and it was too late for me to get anyone to help me. I had to get Klaver to put me up for the night and sleep with him in his bed. For those of you wondering…nothing happened. We just slept. Very non-restful sleep. I don’t think either of us got a good night. I talked to Mr Ye the next day and was almost in tears about the situation. He was great getting me a new mattress and ensuring that someone took care of the issue. I have a new mattress now but I haven’t moved my bed back under the light yet since I’m afraid that the leaking will continue or return. Anyway, the past few days have been hard. I never feel like I’m getting a good night sleep no matter how late or early I get to bed but I think it has something to do with the fact that we’re working harder this year than we did last year. Plus I’m working those extra classes for kindergarten. The kindergarten classes are actually working quite well. At first I was pissed that I was the only teacher working 2 days a week but now I’ve come to realize that this is a blessing. While the kids are very cute and I love being with them, doing that 4 days a week would make me go crazy.
Anyway, back at the school, we didn’t do anything for Thanksgiving Day other than say happy thanksgiving since we were all very tired. We do have a potluck planned for Friday to commemorate the day but even on that day I can’t do much. Winnie told me that a friend of hers needed an English teacher for a few hours on Saturday, so I’m going to take the job. I’m hoping it is only this one time, as I couldn’t see myself doing that every Saturday. They’ll come pick me up at 7am and take me out there. I get paid pretty well too.
Things at the apartments are all about the same. We love hanging out with each other and have become a little odd family of sorts. Also, I have finally made my decision. I thought it over many a night and always woke up with the same response. I want to stay but I have to go. And go I shall. Come February, I’ll be on my way back to Canada. Now if you ask Klaver, I am apparently staying. According to him, I’m not going anywhere, but I know I’m leaving, he’s just not too sure. I have made up my mind and it’s the right decision. Also, if you talk to Lisa, she has already made up her mind to hate the teacher that takes my place. What can I say? It’s good to know that I’ll be missed and how these guys feel before I go, so that I’m not at home wondering, “do they miss me?”
Anyway, we’ll see how the events go on Friday night and I’ll see how this job goes on Saturday morning. Saturday night though, all bets are off. I’m going out.
TTFN

Big list

Ok, so I had a huge shopping list of things to pick up at Carrefour. I mean it was insane. Everytime I remembered something I would add it to the list. The list was huge by the time I was done. Anyway, Eileen came over to my room yesterday afternoon and we left the house just before 3pm. We hopped on a bus, got to our first stop. Got out and decided to get something to eat. Then continued on to our next bus. We finally got to Carrefour and were pretty exhausted as it was, but we had come that far so there was no turning back now. Then we get into Carrefour and the place is packed. I mean absolutely busy to the teeth. So much so that at the area where you pick up your cart, there are usually many carts there waiting for you to choose them. This time there were nine lonely little carts standing there like they were the last to be picked for kickball. Anyway, we get into the store and there are people everywhere and I'm practically just pulling things off the shelf. Anyway, things were pretty crazy and we ended up being in there for 2 hours. My cart was filled to the top and people kept looking at me like "what the heck is this foreigner doing. Is she buying the whole store?" When it was time to check out, we were in line for a long time. We wanted to turn back but we had come that far, so there was no turning back now. I finally got to the register, I looked at the cashier and apologized. I don't think she had ever seen a cart so big. I had estimated that I would spend about Y600. My bill came up to Y916.10 I was shocked. I was happy though that I got everything I needed and I won't have to be doing any real kind of shopping for a very long time. We had a hard time getting a cab and we wanted to give up but we had come that far, so there was no turning back. Anyway, finally someone stopped and was even kind enough to help us load the bags in the trunk. He got us home with little to no problems and he even helped us take the bags out. We had to make a few trips to get the bags upstairs but we made it and I was exhausted. I still had to unpack everything and that took me some time but I finally got it done. I was able to, for the first time, cook in my kitchen and have something to eat. After I ate, my bed was calling. It was a wacky, exhausting, crazy busy day.

TTFN