But I'm alive and well and happy. I had a fun time at home despite the blizzard. It was great seeing everyone and eating Mexican food. At the same time, I was looking forward to getting back to China.
Since being back, things have changed a bit. The biggest would be that I moved into a new apartment with my friend, Mike. I was tired of living alone in my small, expensive apartment, and Mike was looking for a new place as well. Our new apartment is great- it's big and in a great location.
One thing that makes the new place so great is that it's next to my new gym. A few months ago my trainer Xiong decided to switch gyms when the old one cut his salary. And I can see this new gym from my bedroom. It's in the shopping mall that is literally next door. So I joined this new gym, Impulse, along with Mike, and two of my other friends. I still see Xiong twice a week, and Mike and I go to the gym together 5 days a week. Mike has been kicking my butt- getting me to do things I never thought I would do, like running. It's where I should be at the moment, but I'm not feeling good. I tried to go, but after about 6 minutes on the treadmill, I gave up and went home. Need to conserve my energy for work this week I think.
Work is going well. I now have two days a week off- Mondays and Thursdays, which I like. I haven't been keeping up with the Chinese as much as I'd like, but Xiong and some of my other Chinese friends have been teaching me, so I'm still learning. And while learning curse words and slang probably isn't exactly what I should be doing right now, I do find I'm learning words that are more practical to my everyday life, rather than learning things from a textbook. I'm looking into options to study the language more intensely in the upcoming months.
My dad came to visit, which was nice. While he was here we had a big housewarming party, which was a success. My dad grilled burgers and chicken wings, and many of the Chinese guests were fascinated by watching him cook. Our party, which was a standard house party, complete with music, laser lights and beer, was an exciting experience for many of our Chinese guests, who are accustomed to dinner parties only. I know I had fun.
It's funny that after 4 months I'm struggling with things to write! My days are pretty routine right now- gym in the morning, work in the afternoon, out with friends or relaxing in the evening. The Shanghai Expo begins in a week or so, and I think that will cause a bit of excitement (and traffic) in Suzhou.
I want to take a nap before I got into work, so I'll just leave you with a few random stories:
- Before I left for my vacation home, I asked Xiong what he wanted as a gift from America. He told me a Playboy magazine. He was joking, but I got it for him anyway, along with the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. I have never seen him so excited/embarrassed when I gave it to him.
- The internet company made Mike and I wait 12 days before someone could come out and install our internet. Once he did it, the technician told us that, for some reason, he couldn't get both our laptops online at the same time. If I was on, Mike couldn't be, vice versa. We had two computer experts come look at the problem, and neither could fix it. We had friends call the company multiple times to no avail. We were told that it was a new policy from the internet company- only one laptop at a time. Finally, my friend Danny looked at the contract and called the company to have someone come sort it out. The morning the technician was meant to come, it suddenly started working. Just like that. All they had to do was remotely adjust the modem. But this whole thing took weeks to sort out.
- I started teaching twice a week at a nursery that is all the way across Suzhou. I get frustrated riding 40 minutes each way to just teach for an hour (recently, always in the rain), but the kids and teachers at the place are so great I don't mind. They do have the absolute worst English names, though. Like a chubby little girl named "Fatty", or a boy named "Vivien".
- I was hanging out with my Chinese friend Margaret the other day, and she was bugging me about the fact that I've been here like 9 months, and according to her, my Chinese isn't up to snuff. I told her I had recently learned the different parts of the body (eyes, ears, head, etc). I showed off to her, and she said, "Congratulations, you're now as smart as a 1 year old." Did a lot to boost my confidence.
So that's about it for me. I will blog more often, I promise. I may even be able to post pictures in the next day or two. Or even video!
Edit: I've added a ton of photos of life over the last few months. Take a look:
XOXO,
RDG
Chinese lesson of the day: Wo bu zai hu = "I don't care"
p.s. this might be the first time I've ever written a Chinese lesson of the day entirely from memory. See, my Chinese IS improving!
