Manders 101

Alright, 101 things about me, in no particular order....

1. First name: Amanda
2. Middle name: Blue
3. I've been to 34 coutries (technically 35, but I don't count one because I was only cutting through)
4. I have a phobia of moths (really out of control and quite humiliating)
5. I was once a judge in a wet T-shirt contest
6. I lived in Scotland for over 2 years
7. I lived in N.Z for about 8 months
8. I have been living in China for over 8 months
9. I have a scar by my left eye from falling when I was 2 (my clumsiness goes way back)
10. I love going to Stars on Ice (yay Kurt!)
11. I love Buffy and Angel (mock all you like, they're good shows!)
12. I hate popcorn
13. I think tomatoes are gross
14. But oddly, I like bruscetta
15. I prefer salty snacks to sweet snacks
16. At home, I still have 3 stuffed animals that stay in my bed with me (yeah, yeah....)
17. First real job: Taco Bell
18. Longest job (so far): Olive Garden (4 years!)
19. Fave alcoholic drink: caesars, paralysers, and of course good ole beer!
20. I accept, and most of the time like, my height- 5'3"
21. Most exotic things I've eaten: dog, silkworm, possum, snake and sea cucumber
22. I can't cook
23. I like to pretend i'm going to puke ("I don't feel so good....blech! heh heh)
24. I can play the piano (took lessons for 10 years)
25. I can speak French (although I'm really out of practice)
26. I'm learning Chinese (verrrrrrrrry slowly)
27. I was an English major
28. I choose Coke over Pepsi
29. Fountain coke over canned coke
30. But the best is grapefruit pop. Mmmmmm........
31. Favourite cereal: Muffets (shreaded wheat) with LOADS of brown sugar
32. I hate the word "panties"
33. Do NOT call me Mandy
34. I like the sound of an overhead compartment on an airplane clicking shut
35. My first word was 'cow'
36. My first phrase was "good girl!" (praising myself - ha!)
37. I have an extensive My Little Pony collection that I just can't part with
38. I have memorised most of the world capitals
39. The best-named capitals are Oagadougou (in Burkina Faso) and Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei)
40. I've got nice boobs (what?? I do!)
41. Ewan McGregor is hot and I love him (but not in Star Wars)
42. I prefer clean-shaven to any sort of facial hair
43. Best ice cream: Paradiso-NZ/Solero-UK ("premium vanilla ice cream wrapped in a soft, tropical fruit sorbet" Mmmmmmmmmm.)
44. I'm Jewish
45. I love bagels (and money)
46. I can't throw anything away. I have boxes of stuff containing useless things like old notes from Jr. high, a shoebox full of marbles, and even "amanda" stickers from grade 1 - that's 1983 people!!!
47. I only eat the brown (and sometimes yellow) M&Ms
48. I'm extremely indecisive
49. Job I'd love: writer for Maxim
50. I've gone bungee jumping (340 ft - Woohoo!)
51. I've gone skydiving (10,000 ft!)
52. I've gone white-water rafting
53. Fun animals I've ridden: donkey, camel, elephant
54. The donkey tried to hump another donkey while I was on it
55. The camel ran away with me on it (it was very scary and I cried lots)
56. The elephant knocked a woman over trying to get the bananas out of her hands, then went on a little rampage pulling up small trees (yes, I was on it the whole time)
57. I became a certified SCUBA diver at the Great Barrier Reef
58. I love the french word for tire: "pneu". It's just so fun to say!
59. I will always blow my straw wrapper at whoever I'm sitting with. I just can't help myself
60. I love playing games - trivia games especially
61. I could kick your ass at a game of pool (but at least I'm modest)
62. I can fold my tongue into a clover shape
63. I love going to Costco just for the free sample stands.
64. I'm very good at keeping secrets
65. I hate it when I don't know a secret!
66. I have a slight fixation with keychains. I have a huge mass of them all attached to one another, but I only have 2 keys.
67. I still love playing dress-up. I go all out for Halloween and theme parties! One of my best costumes was when I went as trailer trash. One day when I get back to Canada, I'll have to scan in the photo!
68. The word "armpit" grosses me out. I don't even like writing it!
69. I am a VERY slow shopper. Must compare everything and search for the best price. Also picky about getting the best copy of something (I had to exchange a season of Angel because the box I bought had a dent in it)
70. I love etymology and anything to do with word/phrase origins. Where customs come from too...I could spend hours in the reference section of a bookstore!
71. I can sing the alphabet backwards (I even invented my own tune!)
72. The tune didn't quite fit so I had to add an extra "la la" at the end - it sounds ridiculous
73. I quite smoking 1 year, 7 months and 11 days ago
74. I sing along to the radio, even when I don't know the words
75. The first concert I went to was INXS (1992?)
76. I received 6 awards in high school and one in university (English Lit type stuff)
77. I like to fake arguments with my friends in public places. The confined little bank machine area is great because the bystanders can't get away.
78. I HATE the feel of cotton balls. *shudder*
79. I'm good at bargaining
80. I tested positive for tuberculous when I was 15 (had Xrays and a tube shoved down my throat, then had to take many big pills for several months)
81. I like the smell of gasoline
82. Thunderstorms make me giddy and happy.
83. I'm open-minded
84. I'm a lot more sentimental than people probably think
85. Favourite birthday cake: Angel food cake with whipped cream and raspberries. Mmm!
86. I still like to have mini-duels with cocktail swords
87. I have 2 younger siblings - a sister and a brother. We used to play fun games like I'm the queen and you're my orphan slaves!
88. I love looking at all stationery type things - new notebooks, pens etc
89. I often call people jerkball. I know, I'm too cruel.
90. I'm considered a "foreign expert" here in China, and I've got the documents to prove it!
91. I don't like any form of mint drinks - in fact, mint is only good in after dinner candy form
92. I was vice-president of my school in grade 4.
93. I was president of my school in grade 6.
94. I wasn't cool enough to run for anything in jr. high
95. I shot an M-16 in Vietnam
96. I love that moment right before a first kiss
97. As soon as someone tells me their name, I forget. It's nothing personal
98. I'm from Winnipeg and proud of it!
99. I love dumb jokes (ex: what's brown and sticky?...A stick! OR what do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back?....A stick! Hmm....maybe I just love stick jokes!)
100. I wish I could write a novel
101. I always pack last minute (heading to airport in 3 1/2 hours...do you think I'm ready??)

Good morning!

I feel much better knowing that I am not alone in my blog addiction. If only the other people in my life understood! haha. I'm in a pretty good mood today, a few nice friendly comments to greet me, and of course only TWO days until my holiday!!! I checked the weather in Singapore today (we're spending our first day there) and it's 33 but feels like 41. Holy heat batman! Looks like it'll be cloudy but who cares!

Let's see, I can't really think of anything in particular to write about today. It seems to be popular to leave the readers with a question to ponder and answer, so here's mine. Actually, I can't (and don't want to) take the credit for coming up with this one, this came from my sister's twisted mind!

Would you rather drink a cup of phlegm or eat a bowl of scabs?

Nice imagery, eh?

 

off to bed

I know, I know. I'm such a big nerd, checking my space as soon as get up and right before I go to bed. It's just the computer is sitting here in my bedroom, calling out to me... Amanda!... AMANDA!!!! And the thought of having a new comment to read is just too much for me to turn my back on. Although i'm feeling a bit neglected lately, not as many comments as before. You've all grown tired of me! Mopemopemope! Okay, I'll stop the self-pity, the last thing I want to be is a high-maintenance blog buddy!

Anyway, a hangover set in late in the day and now it feels like someone is sticking their finger in my brain and wiggling it around. Stop poking my brain!

Night all.

not much

I've spent too much time surfing other people's blogs and I just don't have the energy to write anything of my own. Last night I went to one of our usual watering holes where I partook in a bit too much of the cheap (80cent) draft beer. It may be cheap, but you pay the next morning!

So I've also been working on my bloggers 101 list....it's a bit stressful! What sort of revealing tidbits should make the grade? Suddenly I have writer's block and I can't think of a single interesting thing to say about myself! I want to find the good stuff, the nuances and idiosyncrasies that make me me. Without making me come off as a total nutter either

I doubt it will be fasicnating, or give you great insight into my character. Most likely it'll just be 101 random things that popped into my head, little bits and pieces that have something to say about the wonderful person that is ME! hahaha.

I will probably have to post a day early too, because I'm going on holiday , but I look forward to reading all about my fellow boulevarders when I get back!

not like home

Ah... my ritual Sunday lunch/blog break. I have over 2 hours of the flat to myself for uninterrupted blogging.

Anyway, I figured since I'm living in a very different country, maybe I should start mentioning some of these differences. Not like I've been here for ages or anything, but long enough so that I've grown accustomed to many things that probably merit a word or two. Even crossing the road is an extremely different experience to what we're used to. Nowadays I don't think twice about wandering across a busy road, one lane at a time, as cars swoosh by on either side of me. I mean, we cut it really close. What most people would think is certain death, I would see as enough of a window to cross. Of course if I tried to do this at home, I'd probably cause an accident because the drivers would think I was insane. There's be swerving and honking and cursing. Here, no one bats an eye. In fact, just the other day, as I was standing in the middle of a 2-way street, a car came so close, that my backpack actually moved! I don't know if I was nicked by the side mirror or what, but the point is, it didn't really bother me. I was a bit annoyed maybe, but not nervous or scared.

But what actually inspired this blog is a much bigger cultural difference. From what I've seen, people here are much more focused on marriage and raising a family than they are at home. It just seems like a given that one day they will do this. At home there are so many people that have no desire to get married or have children. My students are always asking when my boyfriend and I will get married, even the adults seem to think this is inevitable.

The family thing also seems like a much bigger deal. Not that having a child back home isn't significant, it's huge, but here they only get one shot at it. Having a baby before you're ready is just not an option for most. There are huge ads in the paper - some taking up 1/3 of the page - advertising abortions. At home this is such a controversial topic, you would never see that happen. On the other hand, something that does seem to remain unspoken, is the pill. I see lots of condoms at the shop, but none of the girls are on the pill. I don't even know how much they know about it. One friend hinted that maybe the pill was used by girls with a less savoury reputation. It's strange, what things are considered taboo and what aren't.

There are so many things that are unlike home, I'll try to be more aware of these differences, so many of which I've grown used to now!

what's wrong with the water?

Babygrrl said it was torturous to comment on this water theme. Really? Why? I LOVE my watery background....please don't make me give it up!!!

Another weekend....

Ten minutes before I have to go to work. Feeling really down at the moment, although it's nothing I can put my finger on. One of the foreign teachers (we only have 4) was "let go" the other day. It was a real shock to all of us. It's so strange, we have such a small group, it really feels like a family member has been lost. I know I'll still see her because we're good friends, but I'll miss having her around at the school.

Anyway, no point in being mopey, I must get to school. on the bright side, I only have 5 days left before holiday. Wahoo!

p.s. nobody has left any comments about the survey, I suppose it's too long and I might just delete it soon.

what happened?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

funny search

So I was flipping through my stats, as you do, and I came across this google:

http://www.google.com/search?q=china+boy+smoke+cigarette+cool+-health+-porn+-blowjob+-pussy&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&start=50&sa=N

Hahaha! Wow, has anything summed up my site better than this search? I think not! I'm sure someone was mighty disappointed!

Swimming home

No, not swimming home to Canada, just back to my apartment through the deluge of rain. It was unbelievable! Rain poured, wind gusted, and the streets had become rivers. My shoes were soaked in a matter of minutes. There was no point in trying to avoid puddles, since the whole city had become one. My umbrella was being whipped around, always on the verge of flipping inside out, and constantly whacking me in the head. My coat was soggy, and heavy with water that was being blown at me from all angles. My pants were saturated up to my knees.

Of course the walk home was made all the more pleasant by the cars that zipped by, spraying large waves in my direction, without the slightest effort to slow down. I couldn't even control my movements, the wind was so strong it tossed me from side to side like a rag doll. Crossing the road, I almost got creamed by a car because the wind resistence in my umbrella practically stopped me in my tracks! I thought at any moment I was going to be swept up up and away, like a hapless Mary Poppins. In the arduous crossing of the last road, I actually yelled out "WTF??" at....I don't know...the weather, the sky, whatever, I guess. In the final stretch, as I walked down my lane, my feet squishing and my frozen claw of a hand trying desperately to cling to my umbrella, I just started to laugh. Really, it was just so ridiculous!

my walk home...ha!

Now all is well. I'm all cozy in my pjs, my shoes drying in front of the heater, and of course a tasty paralyser to relax with. So this is spring in China!

Sun, sand and surf

I can't beleive I forgot to mention....I'm going on holiday! This calls for a chorus of woots, whoopees, and yippee yahoos! I can't wait, Ican'twaitIcan'twait!!!!

The school shuts down Apr 30 and doesn't reopen til May 10th. My boyfriend and I knew we had to get out of the city and had been hoping to go back to Thailand (quite possibly my favourite of the many countries I've been to). I saw a great fare advertised, but it was sold out when I called, and to go on or around the day we wanted would have cost too much. So that was a huge disappointment.

Then I ran into an American at the grocery store and somehow we got talking about holidays. Anyway, to get to the point, through him we heard about a flight to Singapore for a fantastic price (less than $500Cdn return - much further than Bangkok, and even cheaper!). So we booked the tickets excitedly.The tickets were going to be delivered to the school for us that day, and you just pay upon receiving them. Then, less than an hour before the tickets arrived, the travel agent calls us up and says, oh, by the way, that was the wrong price, it's actually an extra 700RMB (more than a hundred bucks!). WTF??? You can't just do that! That would never happen back home. But, as I well know by now, the rules in China are very different. There was a whole big hoopla, we complained, the American guy went to the office to complain, blahblahblah....we cancelled the tickets. This was all getting very discouraging and frustrating. Sometimes I get so tired of the "system" here. THERE IS NO SYSTEM!! Nobody ever knows whats going on, and words mean absolutely jack shit.

So...eventually we decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra. We went through a different agent though, just on principle. It's more money than we wanted to spend, but who cares! We're going on holiday, somewhere warm! The plan is to spend the day in Singapore, then head to a nearby island in Malaysia. I plan to spend the entire week laying on the beach sipping mango shakes. AND, they only had flights on the 28th so the school is letting us leave a couple of days early! YAHOO!!

So, it's a choice of 2 islands....

 

or....

 

I think it'll be the first one, just because it's closer. But really, who cares!!!!

more victims

Yep, I'm finally adding to my blog list. I've had my eye on you guys for a while now! Unfortunately I'm just not feeling creative at the moment, so they won't have any comments. But I think you're all terrific!

big accomplishment...and other stuff

Ugh, please ignore that lame-ass drunken entry. I'm feeling totally fine today btw.

So last night was pretty successful. The first big accomplishment was my boyfriend and I went to a new restaurant by ourselves. Not a big deal? Everything is a big deal when living in a country where you barely understand a word! My spoken Chinese is limitied to say the least, and my ability to read, even more so. But last night we went to a completely different restaurant without any Chinese friend to help us - and we ordered our meals without a hitch! We actually looked at the menu and could read a little bit of it! Enough to find a few dishes that we knew we liked. And to avoid a few things we didn't. It was so exciting!! The food was fantastic too, yippee! It may sound lame, but I was so proud!

Afterwards, we went and had a quiet beer with our friends, but decided to make it an early night. On the walk home we were stopped by two girls who wanted to find a certain bar. We gave them directions (it was only a block behind us, but hard to find) and were about to continue home. But we realised we didn't want to miss the opportunity of making some new friends so we decided to join them. It is a VERY small circle of people we know here, and meeting other foreigners is kind of exciting. Besides, our Chinese friends don't really go out at all - different lifestyle. Also they make a shockingly small salary compared to us. Makes me feel so guilty!

So, it was a fun night, and now we have more people to hang out with!

Anyway, my brother told me that I write about drinking too much. Is that true? I really don't go drinking that often....but I should probably write about some things that are more unique to life in China.

I live in a fairly small city here in China - a paltry 5.5 million! And it's not like Beijing or Shanghai where there are plenty of foreigners and quite a few people speak English. Here, well, we're still a bit of a novelty.  People don't hesitate to stare, or often point. The other day on my walk to school a young girl tugged repeatedly at her mom's sleeve while pointing at me. I looked back after they had passed, because I just knew, and sure enough, the whole family was standing staring back at me. And the other day, a girl - not a child, but a young woman - actually ran down the street to catch up and look at me. Yes, I'm white! Wow! Coming from such a multi-cultural society as I'm used to, it's hard to imagine what it's like from their perspective.

And on a lighter note, I saw a really funny sight the other day. There was a cute little puppy sitting outside the door of a restaurant, looking in enviously and wagging its tail. On the windows, in big bold Chinese characters, were some of the dishes on offer - DOG being one of them. Oh little doggie, if only you knew! Maybe its friend had gone in...and never came out . I wish I'd had my camera!

Ooh, long entry. Zai jian for now.

Woot...

...wootwoot! I love end of workweek beers. Met some Ebnglish poepl on eht street and decided to join them for beers at our local "foreigner bar". Yay for new buddies! Spinny room not so fun tho........good night.

random blahdeeblahs

  Oh, thank got the weekend's almost over! Probably not a phrase too many of you utter.... but for me the weekend is nothing but work. Seeing as I work at a private school, our students have to come when they're not at regular school - hence the weekends being packed. Wednesday they finish at noon, so that's a busy day too and I don't get to finish til 7:30.

  Anyhoo, what's new? I'm starving. Got some leftovers in the fridge. Gong bao ji ding, and yu xiang chie zi. Sounds scrumptious, no?

  So my obnoxious student is transferring to another class - woohoo! Guess she hates me as much as I hate her. Good riddance!

  You know what's funny? No? Come on, don't tell me you don't know anything funny! Yeesh, that's terrible. Okay, here's something funny. Funny strange, not so much funny haha. People don't say "um.." here. Or "uh.." or any of those types of stalling while you think words. When there's a pause - or the place where a pause would be -  they say "Nigah". I'll give you an example, although obviously they'd be saying ALL the words in Chinese, not just the 'nigah' part. "What do you want to do?" "I don't know. We could, nigah, go to the movies, or, nigah nigah, out for dinner." It just seems so wierd! I mean, saying 'um' or 'uh' is more of a sound, but here it's like a whole word!

  Another amusing little word/sound/phrase that my kids use all the time is when they correct their mistakes. At home, if we said something, then realised it was wrong and wanted to quickly retract it, we might say "no no" or perhaps something along the lines of "oops"...Here the kids often say "beh-dee" Like Porky Pig's beh-dee beh-dee beh-dee That's all folks! It's so funny! Although my theory is that it's sort of a slangy way of saying Bu dway, which means "no". Man, I should be a linguist with insights like that!

  Anyway, I'm always worried that if I babble on too long people will get bored and then think I'm boring and then of course they won't want to read a boring blog that bores them (who likes being bored?) so they'll never come back!!! Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

  Quick, making a hasty exit! Beh-dee beh-dee beh-dee.....

Too much of a good thing

 So last night was going to be pretty tame. I had a couple of paralysers at home (becoming a bit of a habit) but I wasn't planning on a crazy drunk fest. Our friend called us to see if we felt like going to his friend's new bar for a drink. Sure, why not, one of two wouldn't hurt.

  The place was pretty cool, all new and trendy. Chinese techno music that of course I didn't know, but regardless, it was ok. Two pitchers of beer get placed on the table. A couple of other friends showed up and 2 pitchers between 5 people goes pretty fast. Besides, they use the tiniest little glasses to drink beer. Honestly, they only hold about 4 oz! I think, actually I have no idea about measurements...but they're very itty bitty so it doesn't feel like you're drinking much. Two more pitchers were in front of us before I knew it.

  Anyway, we weren't even being charged! It was all on the house for the foreigners' first visit! As soon as one was empty, another was brought over. The beer just wouldn't stop flowing!! I think we must have gone through....at least a dozen pitchers...it really got pretty hazy after a while. Needless to say I was feeling a bit rough this morning. And we had no water in the house! This isn't like home where I can just stick my head under the tap either. Oh when will I ever learn!

  After all the free beer we consumed, we were even given VIP discount cards to return. Woohoo! Well, I'm off to fill myself with some good old greasy hangover food.

i'm cool, i'm cool!

Yay, validated by an online quiz! I guess you'll all want to be my friends now that a silly quiz has confirmed my coolness status.

 

Overall, you scored as follows:

9% are cooler, and

91% are more of a loser than you.

What does this mean?

Definitely not a loser - You're cool by us!

Yeah, but who exactly is the "us"?? I think I'm actually so much of a dork, that I've circled around to cool again. That happens....right?

Cool and graceful

  I'm writing in purple...the colour of my aching body. I am so sore right now. My hip was smashed, my knee is swollen, even my finger is bruised. What caused these extensive injuries?? I was hit by a car!!!

  Unfortunately, no. The cause of my pain is much more embarrassing and entirely my own doing. I was teaching my kindergarten class this morning and we were playing a variation on Red Rover. But whenever a kid would get called, he would just timidly patter over and of course not have the force to break through the team's linked hands. So I gave a demonstration. I ran with far more gusto than I needed to defeat the team of 5 year olds and easily broke through their barrier or arms. And kept going. I realised as soon as I was through that I was going far too fast to stop on time. Their row of little wooden chairs was laying in wait, ready to attack! I tried to skid to a halt, but it was futile. Over I went, taking a chair or 2 down with me, and crashing violently to the hard floor. Oh crap did it hurt. Of course the worse thing was the thrilled laughter of the entire class, echoing in the background as I scraped together my few remaining shards of dignity, and tried my best not to hobble.

  Now it is time to limp back to class. How humiliating!

Me

I got this quick little game from PrewashedBuckle. Takes no time at all!

AMANDA A is for Alluring M is for Marvelous A is for Athletic N is for Naughty D is for Devilish A is for Alert

What Does Your Name Mean?

 

Alluring and marvelous...that goes without saying. Athletic? Well I did play hackysack for almost an hour the other day. Naughty and devilish...hee hee...maybe a bit.  Alert? Not often, I'm afraid!

Culinary genius

  Yup, that's me alright, chef extraordinaire! Now, I don't normally brag about my abilites in the kitchen, although nobody makes instant noodles like I do, and my chip dip? Quite simply the best! (See, I strain out the onions from the onion soup mix, so it's all creamy and no lumps) Of course I can also make a killer caesar or paralyser...but I won't get into my bartending skills just now. Anyway, today was another red letter day for me. Get ready for this because it really is mind-blowing. I made an omelet! Now don't get ahead of me, it wasn't a fancy omelet with all sorts of stuff in it...just eggs, pepper and salt. But here's the part that made this tale so exciting. I flipped it! No spatula or...I don't know...other flipping implement, just me, my omelet and the wok! Little shimmy shimmy shakes...and then WHOOSH! It slid up and out of the pan, slow-mo rotation in the air, then back for the landing. Perfection.

  Anyway, I'd better get to lesson planning. I was going to do it Friday, but I got caught up blogging. Then yesterday I was defintely going to do it...but I think you know what happened. Now I have about 45 minutes to get my shit together. Must...tear....myself.....AWAY!

  Oh yeah, I can also make toast using chopsticks and a gas stove. Is there no end to my talents?

When I get pissed off.....

  How do you do it??

  Keep up with the blogging, that is? Honestly, I don't know how you find the time! I've been sitting here for over 2 hours....just visiting blog after blog. I've been trying to comment on everyone's but sometimes my mind goes blank. But I was there, really! There are just so many people to see! So all this time has gone by and I haven't even thought about my own site yet. I think I had something to say too....but now my brain is a big goopy blob of jelly. I mean more so than a brain normally is.

  I'm eating jelly right now. It's true! Okay, it's jam, not jelly. A peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwich. A true Chinese delicacy...mmmm. At first I made it too peanutbuttery so I went to add more jam and now there's way too much and it's squooshing out everywhere. Now my fingers are all jammy.

  So I threw a fit at one of my classes today. I threw a fit last class too, come to think of it. I guess that's "my thing".Yay. Last time a made a few of them cry. Well they should cry! Stupid disrespectful little brats! Normally I like my students, and consequently feel a bit bad when I make them cry (which isn't as often as it sounds, really!), but this one class just pushes my buttons (I love that saying, btw).They always interrupt and talk to their friends and only ask the Chinese TA questions. Anyway...I don't remember the details of my rant last time, but today I actually stormed out of class. Very dramatic! Especially with the tearing down of poster papers, and enraged crumpling. It was quite a scene - I've always had a knack for them. Basically I'd organised this game to help teach them what people look like, and everyone was having fun playing except these 2 girls, one of whom I despise, and I never thought I'd despise an 12 year old. Anyhoo, I tried nicely to encourage them to get involved, but finally just said "you have to play". The little shithead said "NO". I just lost it. Maybe it doesn't seem like enough of a reason to blow my top, but whoooweeeee did the shit hit the fan! "What the FUCK do you mean 'no'?" And it went on from there....

  When I returned to the class, somewhat calmed, they were verrrrrrry quiet. The rest of the class moaned how it wasn't fair because it was only those 2 girls that were being bad. Yup, you're right, it's not fair. WHOEVER TOLD YOU LIFE WAS FAIR??? Ooh, I'm sounding so wonderfully grownup and bitter! Now they all have to write little essays on their bad behaviour and how they will improve. Man, I hated teachers like me!

no time

Sober again (damnit). Unfortunately this isn'ta real entry because I have to rush off to school. I'm so not in the mood to teach today. Can't wait til the day is over and I can get to more important things - like blogging!

Sigh....it's that time. I'll be back soon.

BTW, I thought I had some real wierdo writing on my site. And I do, I just happen to know him. I'm afraid your 'wrists' comment gave you away Mr Womanizer!

Okay, for real now, I'm off.

Oooh....perdy

New themes, yay! All watery and stuff. I think that's all I can say at the moment because I'm actually drunk right now. So many typos that i keep correcting. No more, I say!

You know what's lame? No? I'll tell you then. Tonight when I was out I kept having this running commentary going on in my head as if I were blogging about what was happening! Is that I sign that maybe I have a problem? They say admitting it is the first step...

Okay, booze getting the better og me. Will fill in anything inyteresting at another time.

My bed is so hard. Not at all condusive for flopping like I want to. Stupdi nonfloppable bed.

Man's Best Friend

  I'd say I'm a pretty open-minded person. I like to really experience different cultures, and not be afraid or judgmental when confronted with something I'm unaccustomed to, no matter how foreign it is to me. I've adapted to a lot of things during my stay in China - people spitting everywhere, pushing rudely, speaking all too honestly (to the point Westerners would consider tactless), the list goes on. I've tried a lot of new things too - pig heart, chicken heart, chicken stomach, tree ear, durian, sea cucumber, prickly ash, snake, and even silkworm. Sure, it can be difficult and off-putting at times, but this is a huge part of Chinese culture so why shouldn't I give it a shot?

  Well, today I added to the list. Probably the most controversial item.....I ate dog.

  I'm sure many people will be appalled, and that's fine, go ahead and shake your head while giving me a good tsk tsk. But I'm okay with it. I knew I'd try it at one point. My Chinese friend ordered it, and the thing that struck me the most wasn't that she was going to eat dog, but that she seemed to be a bit wary of doing it in front of me, like she was worried I'd be judging her. And really, it didn't bother me a bit, I just felt bad that she felt the need to justify herself in front of me. So I tried a bit. It was...different.

  Anyway, that's my news, I figured it was blogworthy.

 

Mmm...Scooby snack

  Oh come on, it's not like we went down to the humane society and handpicked our lunch!

hee hee

Now that I know how to post pictures, I figured I'd share my sense of humour with you (Ebunz must be cursing herself) This one makes me giggle.

 

This is what I'd do if I were a dragon!

getting with the times

A huge THANK YOU to Ebunz for walking me through putting up pictures. You rock!

I did it!

My blog list

So I finally added a list of blog links! I'm sure it will get updated soon, but for now, being relatively new to the game, these are the kids that made my list. Go on, give yourselves a pat on the back! I know that by being on my prestigious list I have finally validated your cyber existence. HA! Anyway, my list is still small,  I hope to get more visitors and find more sites to follow myself. Hey, maybe YOU could be next!!!

Bugs

 

  Okay, no more cutesie poo stories about sweet little kiddies or oh-so-amusing anecdotes about funny Chinglish signs. I am in a BAD mood. My sister was here to visit a while ago and she brought back a souvenir from Bangkok which I just realised she shared with me. Lice! How fucking disgsusting!  I am so totally revolted, grossed out beyond belief, that I just want to shave my head. HOW FUCKING VILE!!!! I'm not blaming her obviously, she got it from some dirty hotel or something. But EW! It would be awful enough if I were back home surrounded by the comforts of a modern country, but I have to deal with this in China. I don't want some stupid Chinese herbal shit, I want REAL medicine. I had really hoped I would never have cause to experience the Chinese medical system. My friend had some strange allergic reaction or some rash-like thing on her face shortly after she arrived, and everyone kept giving her the totally unacceptable explanation that it was just the wind. When she went to the hospital there was no privacy at all, and a bunch of people waiting for their turn just hovered around, watching intently as the doctor examined her. I won't be able to handle that!!

  So, there you have it. I'm disgusting. I hate the superstitious, non-scientific way so many people view things here. AND I HATE GODDAMN HERBAL MEDICINE!!!! I just wanna go home...