Sunday, January 18, 2009

Update - Incomplete... Written on Jan 7

Right now I am sitting in the Beijing Airport... I just lost my handy HSM2 hand sanitizer (why they wouldn't allow it on the plane, I don't know...), and my super-cool looking water bottle (when you try to fill a plastic water bottle with scalding hot water, it'll shrivel and shrink... RIP, water bottle). The flight has been delayed about an hour, I believe. There was trouble with the incoming flight (It was late), so we're bumped back some. I've been moved from the back of the plane to the front so that I can get off quickly to make my connecting flight... I hope it works... If not, I've got friends in NYC, so I'll try to spend the night with them... unless the airline offers to put me up at a snazzy hotel... snazzy hotels are fun... But it would be more fun (theoretically) to chill with some friends... we'll see.

So, what's been going on that I haven't written about? Lots of stuff. I've had a much busier (in a good way) schedule in China than I ever would have in the US. (Totally random thought: I wonder if OSU beat UT or the other way around...) Parties, meals, shopping... good times. I already realized that I forgot some things at H's: my little black dress (sniffle... that was a great dress...) and my Dublin jacket (it was so cozy and warm in FL...). C'est la vie. I think I updated you all until the Monday before Christmas... So we'll start there.

That Monday, I taught the writing lesson for the 3rd and 4th times, in the last class, one of the groups did a really excellent job - not only did they look up the assigned words, but they tied them to descriptive writing. It was ery exciting. We did not meet with H's Mon. afternoon Listening class - the English teachers were expected at a department party. The party was interesting. There was much more in the way of entertainment than there would be at an American dinner: Some of the English faculty did a "fashion show", some played instruments, one read a poem. Everyone was essentially expected to contribute to the festivities. As thanks for their contributions, gifts of detergent, toothbrushes, hand cream and other practical things were given. Plate after plate of food was brought in. It was the first 'feast' I'd been to. Only one thing was difficult to eat: cold noodles in gelatin... I definitely gagged on that one... I didn't try the fried chicken stuff because I wasn't certain where the meat was. I tried everything else, though. Some stuff I enjoyed (like the flaky coconutty bread at the beginning), some stuff I didn't (one of the soups). Alcohol was flowing, the other tables got involved in drinking games or something... I held my cup under the table when they came around with the beer, H and K were not so fortunate, so they toasted, but didn't imbibe. My protest when they went to fill my cup was that I was underage... They thought that was pretty funny. We paid our respects and left before the others became too drunk... I wrapped the presents after we got back, even though I was quite tired... I was pretty cranky by the time I was finally finished.

Tuesday... On Tuesday, we had class again I talked about Christmas while H gave the Oral exam, and wound up telling the Christmas story, which was pretty exciting. In retrospect, it was like skiing - I wasn't certain if I was doing it right, but I couldn't stop, and I didn't want to. I also got to meet the rescheduled Listening class. Tuesday evening was the party when I got my Chinese name. I also got to try a lot of neat snacks, including some I didn't like quite as much... I again went solo to the convenience store for drinks (for the party), this time, I found the grape. There were about 30 girls there, evidently guys don't do parties so much...

Wednesday was Christmas Eve. I don't recall what happened, exactly... No, we went shopping - My first trip to Gui Lin Lu (pronounced - Gway-lynn-lou or low)(It's not unlike Canal St. in NYC). H got a headache too quickly, and I tried one of her curry restaurants. After GLL, we made a stop at War-Ma (aka Wal-Mart), then headed home. There was a small gift exchange with some others when we opened our stockings. It was quite fun. (That was when I got my cool water bottle that just died...) H and I had been invited to Christmas dinner in the flat of a couple from the company. It was tasty, but I felt a bit guilty eating things I could get in a few weeks when the others hadn't enjoyed some of the dishes in months. Afterward, we chilled upstairs singing Christmas songs with some of the others. We also watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Thursday morning I decided to stay put when H taught her 8 AM class. Soon after we got up, we found the Skype video cards from the family, which we thoroughly enjoyed. (Especially a certain point when K made a perfectly-timed comment that would only cause hilarity in our family.) While H was gone, I cleaned in the kitchen. Kind of a Christmas present, I guess.

**At this point, it was time to wait to board the plane. I was able to make the connecting flight with time to spare, in case you wondered (despite a bit of fun with customs...). More to come, honest!

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