Sister Act 2- Back in the Habit

Well, hello there. Please sit down, and I will tell you a tale of intrigue and suspense. Ok, not really at all. I'm back in my normal routine of teaching. The holiday went through last Friday, when I returned in full force to the classroom. Friday and Saturday were fairly easy days, just 2 hours each, and then Sunday was another 9am-8pm day. As far as those go, it wasn't so bad.

See, this is why I don't post often- my life can be pretty boring! After sitting around the last few days of my time-off, I decided to get off my lazy butt and join a gym. The combination of the e-bike and access to Western food is not good for the gut. So I picked the only gym I know about, since I can see it from my apartment. It's called Powerhouse, which they tell me is an American brand, but I've never heard of it. But anyway, very nice facility, would be considered high-end even by American standards. My first two sessions I got to work with a personal trainer. His name is Xiong, and he speaks English fairly well. I mean, he has no problems with words like biceps, forearm, and nutrition, but we spent a good five minutes going over the pronunciation of the word "towel".. The first two sessions went so well I decided to hire him a couple times a week. I help him with his English, and he helps me with my Chinese, so it's kind of a win-win. But I've committed to going 5 days a week, since Mon-Fri I work so little. So fingers crossed I'll stick with it, but so far I actually look forward to going (and not entirely just because Xiong is so completely adorable).

What else? I finally got paid today! Which is important for several reasons, the first being the most obvious- I haven't been paid since I left the Embassy at the end of June. The less obvious reason is that I now how enough cash to open a Chinese bank account, which is important because I need to be able to pay my bills, since one of these days I am going to wake up to no electricity and/or water. It's also fun to be handed a wad of 100rmb bills rather than a paycheck. Makes me feel like a gangster.

Wow, I'm actually struggling to think of something to write, and as witnessed by my ramblings belows, that's not usual. So it's probably best to do what I sometimes do- just jot down little musings and thoughts on China. You people like bullet points, don't you?

• Today I saw an armored car picking up cash from a bank. With 8 soldiers holding guns in a ready-to-fire stance. No joke.
• The stores are filled with long-johns, and it's still like 70 degrees outside. But to be fair, it's already pretty chilly riding around on the bike. So I bought a pair when I was at Walmart. Just the first of many, I'm sure.
• One of my students got so excited in class the other day when we were jumping around shouting and acting out words that he punched me in the mouth while chanting "hope hope hope" over again.
• I can no longer wear dresses/skirts to school. Kids are perverts.
• I had some more pointless words to teach at the same school that force me to teach "mete" and "dene". This time we had "tun", which is an antiquated British measurement of liquid volume, especially wine casks. Essential to know, right?
• But on the positive side, one word I had this week was "cute", which was an excuse for me to poke each kid in the cheek while reciting the word. They are so freaking cute.
• I got to name my first student this week. I was caught off-guard and named him Simon, since he had glasses and spiky hair and looks like Simon from Alvin and the Chipmunks.

And that's really all I've got. But, as always, I am happy and safe, so I guess that's all that matters. Will be back soon, hopefully with more exciting things to pass along.

XOXO,

RDG

Your Chinese of the day:

Wo chang lai darao ni, hen gup yi bu qu: I am sorry to trouble you so often

(OK, I have Chinese tutor in like 10 minutes, so I just flipped through my book and picked this out. Should come in handy, though!)