Cooking, school, random things around China

Long time, no post!

This week has been long, and my computer and I are really  not getting along. It is lagging at literally everything I do, which sucks, but know that there will be no pictures on this post.  However, I will be posting a bunch to Facebook  via my phone, so that should make life a bit easier.

Work

My first week of classes went pretty well, overall. At our meeting on Tursday I began feeling very overwhelmed.  I didn't think I was up to par with the other teachers, especially those who have been doing it awhile.  And, honestly, I still feel that way.  I have always suffered from imposter syndrome. However,on Friday, my boss sat in on one of my classes, and he said I was doing well.  He gave me a pointer, but it was for something small.  I appreciated the feedback, and it did make me feel a little bit better.

I've got plans for this week, and my lessons are all set, so hopefully it runs smoothly.  I'm excited about my British and American Lit class...we will be discussing the first chapter of The Hobbit. =]

Adventures in cooking

I decided that I needed to cook. Eating out is great and all, but so is saving money and going on trips, sooooo.  Cooking.  This was an...um....adventure, to put it mildly. I went to Walmart on Friday at around 5:30.  I needed some things for the apartment and I also needed food to cook.  I decided on making curry, as I saw the curry blocks when I was there several days before.

I was not able to find a kitchen knife, so I got scissors. Well, I also needed a potato and an onion....So, once home, I made rice first (because I only have one pot).  I don't have measuring cups, but I was able to use a paper cup to do a 2:1 ratio.  While that was cooking I cut up the chicken and then proceeded to use a regular butter knife to cut onions and potatoes!  A butter knife. ~headdesk~  I managed to, amazingly. xD

Either way, the curry turned out amazing.  I've since eaten it on Saturday night, Sunday day, and Sunday night.  I have enough to eat tomorrow, probably for dinner, because I think some of us are grabbing lunch during the afternoon.

I'll be cooking again...probably more curry, because it's easy and tasty, but I did also see a lot of different sauces so if I can figure out what they are, I might end up making noodles or something.

Board Games

Our weekly board game meetup  was today.  Super fun.  I really like that street it is on...I need to get there before the gaming one weekend or just go on a different day, because there are some pretty cool stores I'd like to go into.  Sure, a lot of them are touristy, but there are so many people, including Chinese people, wandering around that street, it is just fun.

We played Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill today...twice...I ended up dying both times (one time I was the bad guy xD ) Still, though, it was a lot of fun playing with people.  It feels nice to be social. Hah.

Next weekend is actually a board game convention which our group might go to, which would be cool!

Random Things

I found out where there is a nice park near me.  I might go take a walk over there on Wednesday.  Apparently it is about a 25 minute walk from me in the only direction I haven't gone yet.  I'm excited.  There is a surprising a mount of greenery here, despite everything. I will be posting some pictures, and if I computer decides to work, I'll put some in the next post.

Spitting.  This really creeps me out.  Spitting has always creeped me out, but EVERYONE does it here.  Like, EVERYONE.  I was walking behind this really smartly dressed young business woman.  Super fashionable.  Next thing I know she turns her head and spits. Eh.  Definitely one of the harder things to get used to.

Apparently there is a restaurant not far from me that our boss calls the dog restaurant...apparently they sell dog meat?  I really don't like thinking about it, and I definitely won't go because if they even might do that, I couldn't bear it. Nope.

We got out of the metro today and there were literally like 20 old guys selling these little tiny bids in cages.  I've seen the birds around...they must catch them and sell them. For what, I don't even want to know, but I don't necessarily believe that everyone buying them wants tiny pet birds. =/

I found a new pastry shop today.  The one next to me shut down, but there is one near Walmart.  I had told myself that once a week I would get a pastry.  I really like them, and I know for me moderation is important.  So, I walked down to Walmart, which, by the way is a nearly 20 minute walk, and went to this Korean-owned bakery with a French name.  The pastries were expensive,  so it's definitely a once a week thing, but my muffin was delicious.  I actually ran into one of my fellow teachers, and we sat and talked while I ate and he killed time before his hair cutting appointment at Walmart. xD

Money

I've spent some money over the past several days. I had another two Walmart runs, one of which cost me a bit, mostly because I needed some cooking supplies, a cup, a cutting board, etc.  On Saturday I only did a Walmart run, so it was a cheap day.  Thursday wasn't bad except I had to put 100RMB on my metro card (it costs me 10 RMB for a round trip for work.  Apparently, though, every month we get some credit on our Metrocard if we spend over 100RMB, which will be easy because I have to go to school three times a week).

Today was a bit pricy only because I bought my pastry stuff this morning (along with an OJ) and it cost 60RMB for the gaming because we went to a much more suitable room which cost 10RMB extra.  Definitely worth it, though. And, I leant Clark 10RMB, though since he had bought me a drink before, I won't be asking for that back.

Dumpling Update

Alas, no dumplings. =[