The Gossip!

So, this is the latest. Apparently there was a discovery that was made. The school realized that Nathan (the male of the new couple) couldn't speak English. Well I could have told you that. He's from Spain. English is not the first language there. Then we all noticed that his chinese was better than his English and we also noticed that when the couple was alone or just talking to each other, they spoke in Spanish. Well, when this whole thing finally came out, it was determined that it was best to fire Nathan. Yes, the actually school fired someone due to their inability to do the job. I don't know what they were thinking in the first place. I guess they were so desperate to fill the school with another couple, they just assumed that even though English wasn't his first language, the fact that he could speak it should be enough. Well, no. Maya gets away with it even though English isn't her first language (she's from Quebec) she is still from a country where English is the nation's first language. Spanish is the first language in Spain. So what's going to happen now is, by the time we come back from holiday, there will be a new teacher working with us. I don't know if the wife is still staying. I assume she is because she has all right to be here but then I suppose that the husband, will either stay at home or find a job doing something else somewhere else, but he won't be able to work for Wuchang Experimental Primary School and probably no other school in the province or in China for that matter.
In other news, I'll be going to Thailand tomorrow and I'm beside myself with excitement. I've been wanting to go for years and finally this dream is coming true. I have my bags packed and all my money is in order. My hotel is booked and my tickets are paid for and in hand. I can't wait. I'm so happy.
So that's the scoop for now. Almost everyone is going to Beijing and the brothers are going to Shanghai. I think I'm the only one leaving the country.
Well I can't wait to give you all the details when I get back. Wish me luck

TTFN

O-blah-dee, o-blah-da

Well I had a tough little week. I was sort of really sick, so I didn't really have much to talk about. The good news is, I'm no longer sick and I'm moving on. Things at the school are the same but now we have this extra long week to look forward to. Tomorrow is that half day, so I'll be coming home at lunch. Then on Thursday we have to watch Klaver and Sara do their show lessons. The good news on this is that their show lessons would be done here at the branch school and that's where we live. Once they're done, we could just walk home. Then we have to work on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. However, so many of us took the Monday off since we wanted to have a full week of vacation so that's not too bad. Then we found out yesterday, that we're gonna have the following Monday off, so there was no need for us to take the first Monday. If only the school gave us some advanced notice on that one, then they wouldn't be losing half their staff on the last day of school before the holiday. That's their own fault. They should have said something earlier. We were all left guessing and then made a decision after not hearing anything.
Anyway, we're all just trying to get through this week and are all really looking forward to this holiday. I haven't met Lisa's parents yet but they are on a cruise currently and will be returning soon. Klaver and a friend of his are going to Beijing and I think so is almost everyone else. Eileen has a friend visiting her and they'll be going to Beijing as well. So is Colin and Lisa and I think that's it.
In my other news, I'LL BE IN THAILAND IN LESS THAN A WEEK. I'm so stoked (yeah, I said it). Today I packed my bag with everything except the things I'm using everyday etc. I have my purse ready with my money and my tickets. I still have to call a hotel but that's a future plan. I know when my flight is leaving so I have my morning planned out and that's about it. I was going to buy a backpack to take with me, just because it's easier to travel with one, but I had to pinch the pennies on that. I didn't plan on keeping the backpack at the end of it's use anyways, so why am I buying something I plan on throwing out? Why waste the money? One of my suitcases will do fine and it'll be an uber light bag to carry around and it assures me that I'll have room for my souveniers on my way back.
So that's me right now and as you can see my thoughts are just everywhere. Mainly, however, my source of excitement right now is this upcoming trip. I'm really hoping to have a fabulous time and I'm looking forward to keeping you posted.

TTFN

Friday the 13th?

Well the week went by ok and then Friday came. I thought it was going to be a bad day. I was prepared for it and in addition to having to be at school, I also had a few errands to run duing the day. Friday the 13th turned out to be one of the best days. We all had good days. In fact, the way we described it was "oddly good". Fridays in general are my best days of the week. Unfortunately I have to get up early but I have one class first period then I have an hour break, then I have 2 classes then I have almost a 3 hour lunch, then one more class that usually gets cut short and then I go home an hour earlier than I normally would. On this past Friday, my first class got cancelled due to some big assembly they were having. Then my next class was shortened due to another assembly going over time. Then my class after that was late on their return from their previous class, so that period was also short. Then at lucnh I went to Hankou and paid for my one night in Hong Kong (I'll explain that in a bit). Then when I got back to school, I had my last class which was also cut short as usual. Then I went to my favourite store and did some shopping, then I came home. I got an invitation from an acquaintance I met last year to go out but towards the end of the evening I was zonked and decided to stay home.
In other news, I'm super excited because I'll be going to Thailand in two weeks. I think this would be my first real beach vacation as an adult. I'm really looking forward to it. My flights are as follows. I have to take a personal day on April 30th and then I leave Wuhan and go to Hong Kong, then get a connection to Phuket. Then on the way back, I leave Phuket on the 5th and I have to spend a night at the Hong Kong airport and then leave on the morning of the 6th. This is why I had to see the travel agent, to pay for this night. Atleast, in advanced, I know that this is already settled and taken care of, so it leaves me one less thing to worry about. My next step for my Thailand vacation is to call the hotel the day before, see if I could book a room, if not, then I'd do it while I was there and just pay in cash. Yesterday, Lisa was showing me some of the brochures from her visit and it looks great. I really really can't wait to be there.
In other news, my Sunday classes are on hold for the next little whle. I got a call from Steven yesterday and he said that this weekend and next weekened the students have mid-terms and they aren't available. I then told him that the 2 weekends following that I'm not available. I have to work for my school on the first weekend and then I'll be in Thailand or atleast on my way back from Thailand at that time. He seemed disappointed but there's nothing I could do. I told him from day one that there were going to be 2 weeks where I wouldn't be available. Unfortunately, he didn't do the same for me. Now there is Y600, that I'm losing, that I had already planned on getting. I wouldn't have gone shopping or gone to Metro yesterday, if I knew that this was going to happen. Anyway, c'est la vie!
Other than that, things seems to be going well. I'm excited about all the fun upcoming events and Lisa's parents are gonna be here on Thursday. So alot of good things happening and with everyday that goes by, that just one day closer to me coming home.

TTFN

80 days to go and counting

Sometimes I'm a dentist

So, another week has gone by and there isn't much to report. We had a show lesson to go to on Wednesday and that was painful. It was Matt's lesson and it was at the second branch school. A location I had never been to before. As soon as the lesson was over, I made sure everyone was in the van so that we could make a quick exit. The boys wanted to play soccer and I wasn't hearing any part of it. So they decided to stay and the rest of us left. Later that evening (and all day for that matter) it was Matt's birthday. We made plans to go to a nearby restaurant for dinner and planned on giving him the cake and the gift at the same time. We met his girlfriend, whom I think is an odd fit for him but beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. Before things really got going for dinner, the girls (including myslef) left early and just chilled out at home. The boys stayed and got drunk. Apparently it had been part of Matt's plan to go to this restaurant named Shangri La as another birthday celebration for him. This restaurant, while quite good and apparently also has good western dishes, is a whopping Y160 a head, not including drinks which are set at a minimum of Y60. Everyone agreed that the price was outrageous and additionally we weren't going to do a 2 birthday party for Matt just because he said so. Everyone so far has gotten one party either on the day of their birthday or on a pre-designated day. Not two parties. Also, each event was held at a place that was reasonably priced. Y160 is a crazy amount of money to spend on one meal. Well needless to say, after everyone backed out, Matt had no choice but to have his celebration at home with order in pizza. I think him and the boys had a good time. I know Colin and Klaver were pretty loaded by the end of the night.
Anyway, on to other things. This class I teach on Sundays is really good money but the students are a real drag. They are so lifeless and generally dead. The only way I get them to talk or ask a question, is if I pretend that I'm leaving. Someone will always stop me before I get to the door. Today I showed them pictures from Canada. All parts. Downtown TO, the Falls, BC and nobody had anything to offer. It was like pulling teeth to get them to comment. Even after I told them that it's ok to say you don't like something, they still wouldn't speak up. Then I introduced them to music of all kinds of genres and even still...... nothing. I asked them if the music made them feel anything and they all agreed that it did but damned if they could express themselves. In classes before, I didn't really have anything prepared but this time I really went out of my way to put something stimulating together and I thought that this would give them incentive to talk or atleast inspire them in some way, and still nothing. That really sucks and it makes things difficult for me. The money is good but pulling teeth weekly is not my idea of fun.
Anyway, in other news, I picked up my tickets today for Thailand. I have to spend a night in Hong Kong on my way back and I'm hoping that it won't be too too bad but nonetheless, I have my tickets. My next step is to get a hotel and there is a possibility that I may have to arrange that the day before I leave or possibly find a place when I get there, but the important thing is that I'll be there. I've been dying to go to Thailand forever, and I finally can see it happening. I'm just so excited. Can't wait to tell you all about it.

TTFN

Bob Loblaw (<--- say that 5 times quick)

Well, not much has been going on over the past few days. Things have been pretty confusing weather wise. Sometimes it's rain, then over the weekend it was pretty hot. Not Wuhan hot but hot nonetheless. Then come Monday, it's cold and overcast. Then the next day is sunny, so you'd think it would be warm but it wasn't. It's just as cold. Then this past week has just been one cold day after another. I don't know what to wear most days and I still don't feel comfortable packing away all of my winter things because I don't know if it's time to truly get rid of them.
In other news, my Thailand trip is coming up. I was supposed to go with Maya but it looks like she may not have the money to go anymore. I had been planning for this trip forever. Even before I came to China, and I'm going come hell or high water. Unfortunately, Maya did very little planning and this is why she's in the funk she's in now. I don't think she'll make the trip so I think that I may as well plan to go on my own. After this trip, my next order of business is to get my ass in gear for getting home. I'm just so excited about being back in Canada. I miss so much and I'm really looking forward to getting home. I know that there's alot of things I'll miss here. My friends, the food and just the daily life, but as I've said before, this is bizarro world and I'm living a fantasy life here. It's time for me to get back to reality and make something of myself. Or something like that.
What's good though is that the summer is coming and the leaves are coming up on the trees and there are more sunny days than not and every day that goes by is another day closer to me leaving here and getting home.

TTFN

PS, I've started counting the days. 90 left before I'm home.