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

So much stuff including trying new food and fostering a cat

It's been a week since I last posted....well, not quite a week, but close.  I didn't want to go this long between posts, but this week has been busy in so many ways.

First of all, I am now the proud foster mommy to an adorable little cat named Zongzi.  She's a cutie, and she has no teeth.  Apparently she has this disease that has been taken care of with her, but she can give it to other cats, so my boss runs an animal rescue and they will be getting kittens so she needed to be away from the other cats.  I don't know how long I will have her, but I'm excited.  Granted, she hasn't really come out of hiding...last night she wandered up to the door of my room and looked at me and cried, but she wouldn't come in.  Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I can get her to let me pet her.  Apparently she is really playful and lovable, so I hope I can coax her out.

Also, I found out that during October break I cannot leave Beijing, which sucks.  It has to do with the visas laws while they are switching my temporary visa to a permanent resident visa.  This means that my plans to go to Shanghai are off, but it also means I will be able to explore some more of Beijing, and Clark is also stuck here so we figured we might hit up a few things together.  It also means my first paycheck will allow me to save a bit more money than I had anticipated. <3  Which is good. xD

Work

Week 2 went okay.  I LOVE MY LIT CLASS.  These girls are amazing.  We read the first chapter of The Hobbit, and they talked and discussed and I even had them do a small creative writing assigning (we were focusing on setting and world building).  They are creative and talented and ~gushes profusely~

Also, in our meeting on Thursday, we celebrated mine and another teacher's birthdays...Cormac got a cake and everyone sang.  It was really  nice, actually. =]

Food

I've been cooking a little.  Last week I made curry and this week I made some meat sauce. This has saved me a little bit of money, which I'm happy about, but overall, it is nice to eat without having to go out.  Also, it makes sure I get enough protein.

I really wish I had a scale.  I can't tell what my weight is doing.  I'm not eating a lot, but it's still difficult to tell, and I get anxious about it.  I'm sure walmart sells scales but I don't know if I really want to spend the money.  However, I have not bought nutella again and I only had one soda with dinner tonight...I haven't actually bought any more soda.

I ate really interesting food the other day.  I was invited out to two with a fellow teacher and our boss, and the place we were going to go eat at was closed, so we tried the place next door.  Basically it is one of those places where you share a few dishes.  Cormac ordered and we ended up with a sweet and sour pork, a weird cabbage in soup broth  with  tiny shrimps and century egg dish, and this pork belly with carrot dish that tasted carmelized.  I didn't like the sweet and sour, but the other two dishes were amazing!  The cabbage had a nice flavor because of the broth.  Century egg is weird, but it wasn't bad at all.  A bit fishy tasting, but not bad. =]  And, the pork belly was amazing.  If you don't like fat (and generally I don't), you wouldn't like this dish, because it was absurdly fatty, but the flavor was magnificent.

I also found an amazing tea place at school.  I figured I will get one on Tuesdays and Fridays when I am teaching...it's a mango and orange green tea with QQ jellies. So tasty!

Money:

Money is a weird thing to balance here.  I withdrew just under 100 US dollars, and I still have some of that left.  I'm trying to make it last until I get paid...which should be next week?  I've had to purchase some more kitchen items, so some of my expenses were living expenses, so it's difficult to tell.

Dumplings:

I still need more of these. 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. =[

First Day of Work

This pretty building changes colors.

I didn't post yesterday. It was a terribly long day.  I left my apartment at 6:05am and got back at about 9:40pm.

First of all, if I don't have buns o steel by the time I leave here, I am suing someone....Here's my day:

1) I  walk down five flights of stairs.
2) I was 25 minutes to the metro station. Along the way I go up and down another set of stairs.
3) At school I teach on the fourth floor where there are no elevators.  I have to walk up those stairs on three different occasions during the day, and thus I walk down them at three various times throughout the day.
4) I walk 25 minutes from the metro station to my apartment.
5) I walk up five flights of stairs.

Granted, this is only Tuesdays....My Thursdays only involve my stairs twice and two 25 minute walks, and my Fridays require my stairs, the four flights only two times, and two 25 minute walks.

And, this is all assuming that every other day of the week I just sit in my apartment.

The CDC would be proud of my exercise quota. =]

Seriously though, that's a lot of walking and stairs.  I don't have a scale here, and I forgot my measuring tape, but I'd be curious to know what my body is doing.  I *could* be eating a bit better, but I'm not worrying too much about that because, again, I'm doing a lot of moving.  However, I should fix up my eating a bit.

Oh! I did laundry today and I did not flood the apartment...I think the drain-o stuff I bought really helped...thank goodness. ^^

Work:

Yesterday was my first day of work. As I mentioned, Tuesdays are a long day.  Each class is approximately  100 minutes long, except for my one night a week night class which is like 3 hours long.  But, it's a long day.  I'm honestly exhausted by the end.

My classes are good.  I really like my one night a week class.  It's all girls, we're doing fun reading, and I think it will be a good class.

My morning classes (3 of them) are okay.  One class had like 50 students in it...which is wasn't supposed to have...some were in the wrong class, and some will probably switch around classes, but in the first two classes I ended up getting into Friday's material, so I went back today and added more to fill out that lesson a bit.  It's going to be a bit of a struggle with them...lots of group work I think.

Also...bathroms.  At school was the first time I had used public restrooms since in China...The only bathrooms at the school are the traditional kind.  I had forgotten my GoGirl at home and I actually ended up stripping from the waist down just because I was so nervous and not sure how to navigate these toilets.  And, there was no toilet paper!  Thankfully I had read this somewhere, so I did have a pack of tissues. ~sigh of relief~  I'm never leaving my GoGirl again. xD

I made a little friend on Campus.  A cute little kitty that literally flopped down on my shoes.  She was precious, and I hope that I see her tomorrow.

Money:

Yesterday I  spent 62RMB.  I had to put some money on my metro card.  It costs me a total of 10RMB to go to and from work, which means I'll have to put a larger amount on my card tomorrow, because I had only put ten on there to begin with. Oi.

Today, so far I have spent 68.5 RMB.  I bought milk and more water bottles.  On a side note, I didn't need to purchase any lunch because I had left over dumplings from lunch at school.  I think I'm going to see if I can find a container to put my leftovers in for future use because trying to ask for a bag every time is a pain.  Plus, it will seal better!  I will go grab dinner today, and I'm feeling like pizza...that's about 48RMB.

It's funny....so many of the Chinese people prefer eating non Chinese food! =] Go figure! xD

Dumplings:

I ate my leftover ones today and lemme tell you, the are great even reheated!