There have been no sweeter words whispered in my ears since arriving in China than an early afternoon phonecall from Maggie asking if I was interested in a sofa.
I had dropped a hint about a month ago to my manager Sherry that if the school’s renovations didn’t include space enough for the couch they had kickin’ around the interview room, I would gladly give it a new home. I mean, not that our park bench-like seating isn’t wonderful and all – but I have been longing for something I can actually sit on and not have my ass fall asleep within three or four minutes.
So, at about 1:30 p.m. some good natured (for all I could tell) workers showed up and shouldered my new loveseat up the 117 stairs and I’m now living in comfort. Well, Chinese comfort – as the damn thing is still rock hard. I swear the Communist Party must have decreed that cushy things were ‘bourgeois’ and ‘anti-revolutionary’.
But anyway, it’s just nice to have something to stretch out on and watch a DVD. A fact I was more than happy to put to practice a couple times today.
Oh, and it looks like my friend Sarah is definitely on her way over here. She’s got her passport, her visa’s on its way and her tickets are bought. She’ll be here next week. Now, and Sarah please forgive me. I’m not sure what I’m more excited for – to actually have a friend coming to visit me, or the Thai curry paste she’s hopefully bringing along for me!
Naw, honestly, I’m quite hyped to have a visitor. It’s tough living here and not being able to have any sort of perspective by which to explain it to people. It’ll be nice to have someone I can share that with.
Today I started teaching a new class. It’s an A3 class, which means it’s an adult class with very low-level English. Dear god, it’s a challenge. Thankfully it’s a very small class, only two girls. One girl is 21 and the other is 36 (alright, maybe ‘girl’ is pushing it). I think my course pacing had us finishing chapter one today.. and I barely got through page one. But introductory days are always slower – it’ll likely speed up as we find our groove.
Well, tomorrow is the Jinzhou Ugly Jumper Party. Not entirely sure what the plan is, but I have to find myself an ugly sweater quick. Emma’s got the reins on this one, but I think only a couple of girls from Dalian and my friend Lorna are coming. It’s going to be a bit weird being the only guy. Who am I trying to fool.
I’ve got a meeting in the morning with this business I’m suposed to start teaching for next week. I think it’s just pretty much to make sure I’ve got all my limbs and such – but I’m going to dress to impress anyway. I’m going to be teaching all the bosses/management – and so… these are good people to befriend. My gawd, I’m becoming more and more Chinese every day.
