Attention!

I have a new cell phone. It's pretty and pink and not the Barbie one I was thinking of getting, but it's still way awesome.
It was a process of about 7 hours with an intermission of shopping all done with Sophie... and we still don't know how to use taobao.
I'm off to play.

Eat foot.

Actually... I really like my students.

I have mostly boys in my 2:30 and we laughed through the entire class. My 10am class is okay, and my 8am class is really smart. In all of these classes the biggest improvement I see that needs to be made is building vocabulary, which is easy and which I can do with little effort.

I am completely wiped out though.

I got paid a lot of money today, and divided most of it up into three envelopes; retirement, traveling, and moving. I kept money out only for buying a new cell phone, paying a Chinese tutor should I find one, food, and other living expenses.

Tomorrow I have only one class which means I shall have time to do my income tax return and a bit of job hunting. Just seeing what's out there.

Sophie's on her way over to help me figure out taobao. I'm off.

Hot and Spicy Macaroni

Right, so after a dinner of hot and spicy macaroni (found in the Walmart here) and some cheez-its, I'm ready to write you a short update.

Friday had mom and I scrambling to pack, clean, and make it to Nanchang before Simon's birthday party at 7pm. We (read I) had risen late, and were quite sure that David would be driving us to Nanchang which would give us plenty of time to get mom's train ticket and find a hotel. However, David canceled on us around 2pm. Oh... that's not good. It's the last weekend of Chinese spring festival and the weekend before schools start (however, we didn't realize this until later.) Mom and I decided we still had plenty of time to get to Nanchang and decided to finish watching Vicky, Christina, Barcelona (which I thought stunk). We walked down the street to the bank, then caught a cab to the train station. I had no problem buying train tickets for the train which was to leave in the next twenty minutes and we managed to get through security quickly. We slowly meandered up the stairs to the platform... then realized that the train was right about to leave and our car was at the other end of the platform. Crap, crap, crap. I was, of course, wearing heels which I should have known would be a bad idea. I quickly removed them as I realized that running would be necessary, and almost immediately cut my foot on something. Damn. We made it onto the train in the nick of time, but realized that there were a.) no seats and b.) we were going to be packed into the train like sardines. I was still barefoot, and now bleeding, but luckily mom had some handy wipes and I had just enough room to wipe off my now black feet.
After almost two hours of hot, stinky, claustrophobic train travel we arrived in Nanchang. Nathan had kindly already bought moms ticket and greeted us at the exit with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers (for Valentine's day.) We walked to the hotel and deposited the copious amounts of luggage (all moms) before heading to the restaurant for Simon's birthday dinner.
The feast was delicious and fairly vegetarian (although mostly meat) friendly. Good chatting and friendly vibes all around.
After food it was karaoke time. Mom decided to join us for a bit and got to meet some of the characters that live here in Nanchang. It was a good time, though she left early (we helped her get a cab back to the hotel). We left karaoke around 2am and headed back to Nathan's place.

Nathan and I headed to mom's hotel around 1pm. We had lunch reservations at Le Bistro for 2 o'clock, a sort of Happy Valentine's day celebration. Lunch was delicious and very filling, despite them not having the shrimp ravioli I have been craving lately. We went to the park after that and enjoyed watching the people and seeing all the fun rides. I will definitely be heading back there when the weather warms up again. After the park we went to a temple which was lovely. Very peaceful except for the angry drunk man who was yelling at the gate. We spent much of the day just walking Nanchang and searching for the ever ellusive cell phone I desire.
After a quick rest at the hotel we went to a bakery where we heard there were good sandwiches. However, it was Valentine's Day and the evening which meant no sandwiches available. After decided to see if Bro was open and finding that they only had a set meal menu and a long wait, we went back to the bakery and ordered a delicious pizza instead. Yum.
We headed back to the hotel after that where mom and I tried our face masks and watched tv with Nathan until he decided to bid us adieu.

Neither mom nor myself slept too well last night. We woke up at 6am to get ready for the day, packed up, and shipped out. I left my bag at the hotel so I could help mom with hers and I didn't have to lug it around with me. It was raining out so we caught a cab to the station then headed in to the waiting area for mom's train. I got to wait with her until it was time to go to the platform, then we said our goodbyes and I watched her make it up the escalator. I headed to McDonald's for breakfast and to do some lesson planning/kill time. After a few hours of that I went back to the hotel to collect my bag and flowers, walked back to McDonalds where I got in a fight with the cashier girl about wanting a bottle of water (which I not only said in Chinese but also pointed directly at the bottle of water), I lost though because she gave me a cup of coke instead. (I think a lot of Chinese assume that no foreigner can speak Chinese and therefore even when perfect Chinese is sometimes spoken, they still don't understand you because they think you're speaking another language).
I caught my train to Jiujiang around 1:15pm which then took over two hours to get to the station. (Normally the trip is 1.5 hours.) I found a reasonable cabbie and was finally home. Then I got my schedule...

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.......
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IT IS AWFUL!!!! Monday I have classes from 8am-4:10pm, Tuesday I have another 8am, Wednesday I have an 8am and 10am, Thursday I have an 8am, and Friday I have an 8am and 10am.
....
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And all of these classes are estimated to have between 60-80 students in them. And I can't split them. Which means that I have between 600 and 800 students this term.
Seriously.

I do have my own classroom though.

I'm still pissed.

I'm looking for a new job for next year.

Now I have to go lesson plan... and cry... and maybe curse a lot.

1. Mom and I went for massages today.
- I think that my massage place might actually be a brothel after this last visit.
2. We also went shopping.
3. We've finished Entourage seasons 1-4.
- We've started House.
4. The hunt for the phone continues.
5. Tomorrow I do my tax return, wheeeee, monies.

All around the world... lalalala

Mom and I went back to the Walmart today to see if we could find the phone that I want. No luck, but we met a woman who is going to check her inventory for me. *Happy* We also found me a couple of really cute dresses.

Ring called a little after six and took Mom and I downtown to get our nails done. They look fantastic! I'm a little afraid to touch anything for fear of messing them up. David and a couple of his friends met us at the nail place then we all went to dinner. The boys had a drinking contest with coke which I think will mean they will be suffering later.

Tomorrow we're planning to get massages and I will contact the lady at Walmart to see if she's had any luck.

Hrm

It's going to take me awhile to type up the entry about our trip, so enjoy some pictures in the meantime.
Harbin
Beijing
Shanghai

Mom and I had a great day today. We were resigned to spending the day doing nothing when I got a phone call from David inviting us to lunch with his English students. We thought it sounded good and agreed to go.
Ring (one of the students) swung by the school to pick us up in a cab to take us to the restaurant. The restaurant was near downtown and looked quite posh. We went into one of the private rooms and met up with Tony, his cousin, and his gym trainer. David joined us soon after we arrived and the drinking and eating began. It was so much fun and a great way for mom to try traditional Jiujiang food. An entire bottle of wine and many bottles of beer later, Qiao joined us. We stayed at the restaurant for a couple hours drinking, talking, and eating.

After we were finished stuffing ourselves we decided to head to a mahjong parlor to play a few games. I didn't really know how to play, so Tony was my partner. We played Jiujiang style, and boy were they fast! I hope to play again so I can pick up the game better. I did end up winning 15 yuan though! Tony is a good partner. We played for about three hours before David, Tony, Ring, and Qiao dropped mom and I off at Walmart (they were on their way to eat again!).

Walmart has turned out to be quite the godsend. Mom and I wandered around the aisles finding some great stuff. I now have spaghetti sauce readily available, new drawers, a mop, an iron, and a shoe holder. Fabulous.

Tomorrow mom and I have plans with Ring to get our nails done and we might be hanging out with David again. He did mention something about foot massages. We'll see.

Right, mom and I have just finished the first season of Entourage, so it's bed time.
Love!

Oh my gosh, I would love this!

Super long entry about Shanghai, Beijing, and Harbin coming soon.