Another week has passed by very quickly. Time is definitely moving faster now. So this week doesn't have any really thrilling adventures, but it was another week in paradise (with haze like never before).
I told you about monday in the last blog, but I found out that almost none of the other teachers had ever gone to the place! I was shocked and a little sad that none of them had experienced the wonder of the Tang Paradise, and had lived here for at least 6 months (some have been here for 2 years!) So we (at least brad and I) are going to get a year pass so that we can go anytime we want. It was awesome!
Tuesday was pretty normal as far as I can recall. I have a small group of women that I meet with every other week and this was our week to meet so that is what I did tuesday.
Wednesday was fairly normal as well...for dinner we went to this place I had never been. It was really yummy! We had some kind of meat that had been grilled or barbequed, and they have these shredded potatoes here that are so so good... We got dinner before the 2nd attempt at the chinese corner. So we went to this place called the SIT cafe (the place with the chinese corner), but when we got there, the waiter told us that the chinese corner was not happenning that night (but we are still not sure why)...(failed attempt #2)...So because we like the place/atmosphere a lot, we decided just to stay and hang out anyway. We ordered the usual iced orange tea...and decided to play cards and work on our chinese vocabulary. So we started a game of gin, and had been playing for a few minutes when the waiter came over and told us something in chinese. We eventually figured out that you can't play cards there. (Cards are played on the street as a way of gambling). They probably don't allow it because of its "bad" reputation. So the waiter kinda felt bad because he knew we weren't gambling so he brought us chinese checkers to play. It was really nice of him and we had fun playing so who needs cards. After the game was over and we had studied some chinese, we decided to walk for a while. We walked down the street a little ways and found a really cool purse shop...I had to buy two. I bought one big green one and a smaller one that has pink and brown hearts (sounds really girly, but it isn't). I paid less than $10 for both! I heart china! We walked a lot, and then took a taxi back home.
Thursday was normal at school, and then after school I gave a lady named Deb a haircut. It was really cute! I then watched a little of house season 3 and ate a sandwich. I talked to mom and angela on the computer, and then watched a movie and did some chinese homework. I know this is really exciting, but sometimes you need a day to just chill :)
Friday! I am taking a chinese class with some of my students because I didn't want to wait for our real classes to start. We had our first test friday, and it was hard. I was challenged, and I could have studied more, but I didn't really know what to expect...now I do! My teacher is really sweet and I am definitely learning some chinese. Friday afternoon, I got to meet my real chinese teacher. She seems really awesome and I cant wait to get started! My first class is this Tuesday!
Friday evening we had a birthday party to attend...so brad and I went into the village a.k.a. the hutong which I will talk about more later... while in the village, I picked up some delicious desserts and brad got the stuff to make punch ( it was an aunt amanda creation if you know what I mean), but it turned out to be pretty good aside from the raisins that were at the bottom. While in the village we also bought a bday present for Kalina (she teaches 2nd grade at XIS). We found (in our favorite store) these really big posters (some of which were not G rated). There are pictures of waterfalls and forests and lakes and large fruit arrangements...So we chose one of the waterfall ones and wrote happy birthday on the back of it. It was awesome...ok so I know you are still wondering what was in the punch so here is the list...It was intended to be like a sherbert punch that we make at home, but the only problem is that we are not in the US. So this was a mixture of Sprite, white grape juice (not real probably mostly high fructose corn syrup), and these fruit pops that we found at our drink stop (levi's). I figured that the popsicles would be fruit juice, but they were a little more like ice cream....and instead of being flavored white grape, they had white grape raisins in them...you know how I feel about raisins...but after it was made it was still good. The idea still worked even though it was a little different than home. Who knew that all of those showers and teas and weddings would come in handy?
The party was fun and we met some chinese people so that was fun.
Saturday...I went back and watched kids while the marriage seminar thingy was happening. I had fun with all of my new neices and nephews...
I went home and had dinner with some of the girls, and then took a nap! Then I went for a 4.58 mile walk! I know it sounds like a lot, but it doesn't really seem like that much anymore. We walk everywhere...
Sunday...Went to our meeting, and then did some shopping and lunch. I got another painting for my living room and some more ideas about light fixtures...so many possibilities. I had dinner with friends, and then went to school and worked for a while...now I am at home typing this so you can know what fun it is to be where I am supposed to be. lots of love from china...remember-same moon, same stars
