Recap of the Last Week...birthday, food, visas, and partays

It's been about a week since I last posted.  I'm sorry for being slow!  There has been a lot going on, and I've been trying to do it all while also exploring still.

The visa process is slow.  I think I mentioned last time that I am not able to leave Beijing during National Holiday (this will be the first week in October) because my visa process is not complete. This isn't the end of the world, except we had to cancel our last class this past Friday (our boss fought for us so that we would get paid for it because this is visa stuff and not personal stuff).  Three of us who needed to do our visa work went to the office.  We were numbers 425-427 and they were on number 91-92....Thankfully Jing, one of the women at the school do does a lot of the visa stuff, had connections so we ended up only having to wait about an hourish or so.  So now I have a permanent resident card and I'm just waiting for my passport to get done.  I can go and pick it up on October 11. xD

Our department celebrated mine and another coworker's birthdays last week, which was lovely.  They got a cake and sang happy birthday. Hah, it was nice. I didn't do anything for my actual birthday, which is fine...because I spent awhile at the visa office, but the four of us (three teachers and our boss) went to a really good vegan restaurant.  It was delicious.  Also, Starbucks in China is the same except they have some slightly different drinks and snacks to choose from!

Yesterday was awesome.    A group of us, 7 to be exact, got together with our boss and had a video game and board game day.  Four of us had switches so we brought those along so we had a bunch of controllers. <3  We played Kirby, Mario Kart, and Poketekken. Some people had to leave, but we ended up also playing Cards Against Humanity.  Talk about getting to know the people you work with! <3  We also ordered Poppa Johns, which taste just like Poppa Johns at home.  And, of course we had a lot of snacks.  Honestly, it was a really nice day.  

This just means that I am behind in getting prepared for this week...but the good thing is I don't work tomorrow...sooo.

There's been a mixup with my pay.  I was supposed to get paid on Friday...everyone else did...but I didn't.  The cash office says I did, but chances are there is a mixup in some numbers, so hopefully that will get worked out soon!  I have 40RMB left. xD

Still having issues with my computer, so the pictures are on facebook. 

Food:

I went out with some people for dinner at a local mall...apparently Beijing is the land of malls.  But, anyway, we ended up at this Cantonese restaurant.  I tried congree for the first time, and it was surprisingly good.  It's like a rice porridge and mine had some beef and a raw egg in it.  We also got roast pork and some dumpling things.  Oh, and I had a plum tea, which was also amazing.

I now have a reward card for the tea I always get at school, and I realized that Happy Lemon is also in a mall near me, so guess who is drinking all the tea?! I also tried a Lychee Rose Green Tea from another place that was good...I have a thing with fruity teas.

Work:

Classes are going well.  I'm excited about break because it will be lovely...I'll be able to explore some of Beijing in depth. Yay!

RMB:

I've spent a bit...mostly on things I need. Some on things I don't need.  I needed more Drain-O, for instance.  But I've also bought some soda and nutella, things I don't need. I've been writing down everything I spend.  I really want to see what an average month is, so once I get paid I'm going to have to add it all up and see.

Dumpling update:

I've had the beef and onion ones again at work, and I had left overs. Yay!  I also had some at the Cantonese restaurant..they had a shrimp on top xD

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. =[

So many things including nice weather and board games.

I didn't post yesterday because it was so long, which just means you get a longer post today. Yay! ~shifty eyes~ Oh, by the way, I have a huge bruise on my knee from when I fell.

So, knowing me, I go literally across the world and I find a board game group.  Hah.  My boss and his friend started up a board game group that meets once a week in this really cool place.  In China you cannot just take your boardgames to a coffee shop.  There are special board game places (this one was called The Owl Museum) where you pay to get in and then you play.  It's a pretty good deal, honestly.  It's 50 RMB ($7.33) for however long and you get unlimited drinks and snacks.  See? Good deal.  There were five of us yesterday, though some more said they would come.  It seems like the day is changing to Saturday instead of Sunday because most teach on Monday.  Thankfully I don't start teaching until Tuesday.

Fury of Dracula....Dracula won. xD

Afterwards we walked down this cool street.  So, it's an old street and apparently there aren't many like it, but it's super touristy.  Honestly, that doesn't bother me, but it was really cool.  I need to go there one day and just wander around.  A lot of the food smelled good as well.  The group of us wandered around and found this small restaurant.  We are so obsessed with eating Chinese food, but the Chinese quite like non-Chinese food...so I ended up eating pasta. xD

The rest of Sunday was pretty low key.  I did some planning.  Right now I'm a week ahead, which I like.  I don't want to spend my whole weekend planning for the week ahead, so if I can always stay a week or two ahead I'll be happy.  October holidays fall on the first week of classes, so I believe that is the first week of October, so if I can be prepared past that, I'd be happy.  I just need to put the finishing touches on this weeks' lesson plans.

Today was another low key day.  I walked down to Walk-mart.  I needed drain cleaner.  I feel like my bathroom floods every time I use the shower. The water seems to take awhile to drain, so I managed to find some.  I'll find out tonight if it works.  I also got another towel.  I've been using the moisture wick towel I brought over with me, which is amazing by the way.  However, I wanted a full bath tower, and I was able to get one reasonably cheap.  What fascinates me is it is a Better Homes and Gardens towel. xD

The weather was actually nice today.  We could see blue skies.  Granted, this isn't because the weather has been bad, but there are so many factories here.  There is a conference going on here, the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.  Apparently, when these summits happen factory hours are limited. Which, means...nice skies! I got some pictures from the walkway that goes over the road near me.

 


Classes start tomorrow, and I'm nervous.  It's a longggg day tomorrow.  Tuesdays will always be long, unfortunately.  I have class essentially from 8am to 9pm.  Well, actually 9:30, but those night classes tend to get out half an hour early, as per my boss.  Some days we will probably run until 9:30, but whatever.  The whole school has an hour long lunch and dinner break, which is nice. And I won't be teaching one two hour chunk, so that's good. But still, it'll be a long day.  The rest of the week won't be bad though....No classes on Wednesday.  One meeting on Thursday afternoon but no classes.  And, three classes on Friday morning. Then, a three day weekend!

Money:

Sunday: I only bought dinner and gaming yesterday, so it was a really cheap day! I made an egg with some leftover meat for breakfast.  Dinner was 48RMB and the gaming price was 50RMB, so overall a day that cost me less than like $16 dollars. Yay!

Monday: Granted, today isn't over yet, but all I have left is dinner, and if the place I want is open, it will be 31 RMB...if the other place is open, it will be like 48RMB...But, anyway, I withdrew just under $200 dollars today.  I don't get paid until the 20th, and while I suspect that I had would have lasted me, I have had a lot of expenses that just couldn't be avoided.  Either way, before I withdrew money I had 96RMB left.

So, my Wal-mart trip cost be 86.8RMB.  I got a towel and drain-o and a water and a bun of some sort.  I ate an egg for breakfast, so so far no food costs.  I did stop at the store and pick up some creature comforts...some milk and nutella. It came to 34.40RMG...under 7 dollars, so it wasn't too bad!  Plus, because my days are so early, I don't know if I'll have time for an egg in the morning (unless I can't sleep), so some milk will at least get me through until lunch.

Dumplings:

None today...but tomorrow you can sure bet there will be...which means there will be left overs as well! <3