Catching Up in Xiaoshan- June 9th-10th

Day 12 – June 9^th

So, woke up at 6 am again. Why do I keep doing this? Sat around and finally decided to say good morning to A Yi. I assumed she had gotten the call from Jim about me moving out so I just got ready and started reading Path of Daggers. Unfortunately I’m seriously losing my wits end over not having more to read. I’m going to have to make a run for the city and check the foreign language bookstore. Hopefully they’ll have something for me. Who knows?

So I sat around then A Yi brought me an unwrapped Zhong Zi…? The triangle of glutinous rice and pork. I swear that stuff that makes it slimey must be the fat. I read somewhere that these are boiled for a long time so I can only assume that causes it. I’m no cook but I’m pretty sure there’s no liquid out there as comparable to that.

A Yi left about half an hour later. I guess Jim didn’t give her a call. I sat around for a while since I only had once class and it being at 6:30 felt no rush to head over to the High Long Plaza. Turns out I was wrong, it started thunderstorming or threatening to do so as I worked on a thank you post it note collection for A Yi. I wrote a message in English, Pinyin, then in Simplified Chinese characters. God that is difficult. Augh. Anyway got that going and hurried my way out of A Yi’s. I’m going to miss her. I saw her at the office once so maybe I’ll see her every now and then. :D Here’s to hoping!

After I arrived I saw Jim and he handed me the keys and gave me instructions for the apartment. Looks like I’ll need to figure out the internet after I figure out just what the hell I’ll need for this place. I wish the rain would let up though, it’s annoying carrying around an umbrella when it’s so windy and thus useless.

Two workers took me to the apartment and helped me set it up like seting out the sheets and such. I honestly can’t remember their names for crap but they’re sweet. We went to Lotte Mart right afterwards and we bought a ton of noodles. One even came with Tupperware. I then bought myself the same old delicious and sweet fruit cup I had discovered just recently and then we made our way out of the store. Just as we got to the ground level, one of the workers’ bag had broken. We piled their stuff into mine and then each took a handle as we walked back to the plaza.

I ended up getting duck and rice, figured I would maybe get enough meat off of the damn bird this time. The workers had bought a vegetarian dish and offered to share with me. It had all kinds of veggies, some I was familiar with and others I don’t know but equally delicious. It was really good.

It turns out that my class was cancelled.. sort of? Maybe the student forgot… Oh well. 

Day 13 – June 10^th

Woke up several times this morning. MY body is not happy with me right now for whatever reason when it comes to sleeping. Remembered I had classes at 1 so I decided I would get a shower and grab stuff for the apartment. I checked through the kitchen and noted that there were bowls and some potentially useable cookware. Grabbed a bowl to discover it was covered in some kind of brown sticky grime. Oh god. Tried to wash my hands and maybe the bowl and found sticky stuff on the sink faucet too. WHAT IS GOING ON?! I splashed and rubbed the faucet down with some water then checked the stove. It’s gas, easy enough right? Wrong, I don’t apparently know how to start a gas stove.

The microwave played a bit of a game of peekaboo with me before I got it working. The fridge has a really funny smell, not like just food that is different from even Korean fridges, just… funny. I’m a little worried about using the thing. I’ve kept it off/unplugged for now.

I’ve made two trips to Lotte mart today. I’ve spent about 300 RMB altogether. I still need more stuff. Augh. At least the rice cooker seems to work.

Taught 2 out of 4 classes. Students just don’t seem to care to sign up for SPA classes… Taught Della and Gemma as well as Steven’s class. Steven can do the English pretty well as well as John. I’m a little confused as to why they act out wait.. damnit.

J.C. and Zack took me out to the street food street. Got to meet their favorite vendor and we got some rice dumpling type thing covered in spicy spices and a fried pumpkin thing. They’re so good. 

This humid weather is not pleasant please go away or at least just give us rain.

Catching Up in Xiaoshan- June 1st and 2nd

Day 4 – June 1^st

Taught a review class today with Limi (what an interesting name :D) and Hannah. They struggled but they refused to actually ask me for help. It was equally frustrating on both sides. I really have to make sure I don’t speak too quickly with any of the students I do believe. Even the teachers seem to have issues keeping track of what I’m saying.

Being locked out of the house however hasn’t changed in the slightest unfortunately. Although Larry did offer me a ride back to A Yi’s. Since there was plenty of time for me to grab dinner and the bus I figured it wouldn’t be all that worth it for him. Though if he can give me rides on the days I have to work til 9 then I’d be much more appreciative. I just wish he knew English, especially if he works at an English tutoring institution. Grawr. (Correction: he does know some)

Unfortunately, once I arrived to A Yi’s I quickly learned that she was out and about still. Meaning I was still locked out of the house for a while longer. I elected to sit on the curb and read in front of the apartment. People gave me the above average stare as I sat there reading. Some people kept going in and out of houses and probably became very suspicious of me as I sat there. I didn’t want to call Jim to call A Yi though because I figured she has every right to do as she pleases. Though it does really inconvenience anything I want to do… Or eat for that matter.

Once she came back though, I noticed she was not alone. She brought two friends with her as far as I could tell. They both seemed to be aware of the lack of mandarin on my part. I almost believe A Yi may have been laughing at me when I said ni hao. It’s really hard to tell. She’s been so sweet that I really doubt she was making fun of me. I think I’ll play some DS for a chunk of the night. 

Day 5 – June 2^nd

Ate at the Reboo Short Order chain. Getting food went surprisingly well and quickly on top of it. They really are just like fast food. Their eggs and what I assumed to be bacon were heavily salted. I hope they don’t believe Americans actually eat like that… :/ I managed to get something that looked like dumplings that may not have been dumplings… I’m a little scared of what I thought it was but who is to honestly say is right? I’m going to get with the odd feeling in my mouth and gut about the dish and just not blindly grab it next time. I definitely ordered way too much though. Or grabbed too much. I need to stop trying meat. It’s really not that worth it in the end it seems.

Work went smoothly; got to meet Liz or Chen Xia who was a little different from what I expected. Her bobcut hairstyle was really… different to say the least. But her command of English and listening skills seemed to be fairly high considering what I have to slow down on with other students. She read the instructions fairly well and talked more than any of the others. Though this may have been my own fault as I can take charge of a situation without knowing. Inbred leadership? I hope so :D

My 2^nd class with Julia, a review, ended up being cancelled but I did not find out until much later. Like 20 mins. after the class was supposed to have started. Zack had finished up with his class and was wondering what I was doing still sitting around. Larry had offered me a ride back to A Yi’s. That reminds me, I got a key for the apartment. I’m so happy I don’t have to be locked out after I leave the apartment to find food. It makes things much easier for me. I hope it didn’t inconvenience A Yi too much to do so. She’s honestly like another mother to me. She’s so sweet. I kind of wish she would wake me up for breakfast or something. I really liked the noodle dish she made the first morning.

Oh for dinner today I ended up eating duck and a vegetable mix thing. There was bean sprouts, carrots, and I think something akin to spinach. It was really good. I got it from another fast food place called SWJ that is a part of the building we work in. Kind of convenient though the workers seem to think it’s really gross. I’m not really sure I understand why. It’s  not terrible though I can’t say that it’s great at the same time but I work with what I got and I don’t have a huge history in Chinese cuisine to work against.

Anyway after I got home thanks to Larry, A Yi gave me a dish of fruit called Pei Pa? Something along those lines. You peel it like an orange but it’s sweeter and might be more similar to mangoes. I really can’t describe it but I definitely took a picture. They’re so tiny. The mangoes here are also very small. Maybe I just haven’t been looking in the right places but they’re still delicious. More bite sized I suppose. Though their seed kind of makes me feel silly when eating it because it is the shape of the mango. I’ll have to take a picture tomorrow.