First week

Ｉsurvived my first week! Yippee!

Yesterday was my first day of classes. I had 21 students in my first class and nearly 30 in my second. My first class is from 8 AM until 9:50, with a ten-minute break at 8:50. My second class is from 10:10 until noon with a ten-minute break at 11. It's really not bad.

Because I'm not used to doing my business in the school's bathrooms (they're holes with no flushing system or toilet paper - I tried to go yesterday but there were flies coming out of the hole and I just couldn't get myself to do it!), I actually went back to my dorm to pee, and couldn't find my keys! So I was around 5 minutes late for my second class - oops. The students are nice. They talk a lot in Chinese, they talk in class, they don't necessarily do everything I tell them. But things look OK. Pretty good. They're sweet.

Today, I had the same schedule, but my classes both had around 50 students (a little less but apparently there will be more than 50 by next week because new students are coming). My voice was very sketchy because I have a cold. I also talked very loudly for a long time so by noon I had no more voice left! Pretty funny.

The hinge on my dorm door fell off yesterday. My door was all screwy. But the people at the front desk fixed it that same afternoon. Yay!

Yesterday I went walking around the city with Melanie (American friend from Arizona learning Chinese this year) and Guillaume (French student learning chinese). Remember I live in the foreign "students" building until the teachers' building is completed. We went to a bar district that's supposed to be popular with foreigners. We went during the afternoon though, and it was pretty dead. We tried to go to a park, but it was enclosed with a high fence and we had to pay to get in...not so much fun. We watched old men play Chinese checkers. We went to the Silk Market, which is the headquarters of fake brand names. Guillaume bought a poster to decorate his room. It's fun to bargain. But it can be tiring. 　　　

Today we went bowling of all things! We went with three Korean students (also here to learn chinese). It was an American bowling alley. It was lots of un. No something I expected to be doing. In my imaginings of China, somehow I didn't think I'd be bowling with Korean students, a French guy, and a blonde American girl. Quite funny the way things work out.

Josh is arriving tomorrow (Wednesday the 31st) in the evening. My work week is over for now. One of the Koreans is going to make me "Korean medicine" to help me get over my terrible voice (bad throat). We'll see how that tastes...

I always enjoy hearing from you. I hope you're all doing well.

*****

September 13th update: I drank the Korean tea, which tasted great and did a lot of good for my throat, but then Josh arrived and ruined any chance of me getting better, so on Sunday Sean's friends and family got me Chinese medicine which I added to hot water and which also really helped my throat. So I got help from traditional Korean and Chinese medicine, as well as the standard Western pills, which Sean's family also got for me. Such generous and thoughtful people!

busy

Sorry I haven't been keeping up my blog. Friday the computer wasn't working (just too damn slow!) and Saturday I was out for most of the day.

I saw my cousin from France who's actually lived in Beijing 8 years (not 10) and who's called Veronique. She came to visit me Friday evening and we went to eat dinner in a nearby restaurant. It's so nice having somebody who speaks Chinese to order the food. It was also very nice seeing my cousin!

OK, this computer is screwing up again [Sep 13th: I meant the font was screwing up]!

ARGH!

I try writing this in Microsoft Word and even then the font goes all screwy.

Sigh. This is more work than I thought.

I'm tired and I still need to go shopping for stuff and I start work tomorrow. I better go.

I had a wonderful week-end. I spent lots of time with Veronique. I saw Tiananmen Square at night with the kite flying and Mao's giant picture and everything. Very nice. And we went to a traditional tea house where I watched some very cool shows - singing, dancing, acrobatics, comedians, everything!

Maybe you can change the font, wonderful editor of mine! :P Lots of work.

Alright you guys, wish me luck because tomorrow I start school!


*****

September 13th update: I hardly slept at Veronique's because I was too hot and simply too uncomfortable. It was unfortunate. And then the next day she gave me the keys to her building and apartment so that I could go walk around freely, but I ended up not being able to make the keys work and so I stayed in her apartment. It's too bad because she lives near Beida - Beijing University - which is a very cool area. The neighbourhood is called Wakoudo (or something similar) and it's well known to be the young, hip clubbing area. I went there last Friday night. It's where there was a club that gave free drinks between midnight and 2 AM.

lunch

I'm pretty much eating one big meal a day... Usually lunch.

This morning I went for a walk around the neighbourhood. I spent quite some time at another university campus where I took a picture and there was a "lens error" with my camera and my heart stopped while I thought, "great, within my first few days here my camera stops working." Luckily it looks like it was just a glitch. I turned it on and off a few times and it works fine now. The people outside my university are poor. There are alleyways that I don't want to venture down myself. Although they're picturesque in a way, I don't want to take out my camera to take a picture, not because I'm afraid of thieves but because I'm embarassed to be taking such pictures. One day I'll get the courage, though. I guess I'll have to if I want to report my trip... People stare. Especially construction workers who aren't from the city and parents (older generation). It can be disconcerting at times. But whatever.

This morning I got my work schedule. I'm working 4 extra hours (and getting paid extra too, but not much) so I'll be working 20 hours a week, which is a lot (10 classes), but it means only preparing for 3 classes because most of them are repeats, if you see what I mean. I teach the same level repeatedly, so it's not so bad. I also found out I have nearly two months vacation in the winter. Part of it is because I don't need to prepare for class because there are two weeks of exams. Fun times. That'll be in January.

I was given a desk today, in a shared office with other teachers. I took the CD player that was left on my desk by the previous foreign teacher who's now in Thailand, apparently. This one teacher gave me candy, this other one gave me a Chinese snack thing, and then they gave me this really expensive although quite useless glass tea mug that I'm only supposed to use on "special occasions" because it's so expensive. The teachers told me the dean had given it to the office as a gift of appreciation and now they were giving it to me. They're so generous! They give me everything! One of the teachers gave me a stack of China Dailys although very out of date (January and February of 2005) - China Dailys are the English local newspapers.

One of the English teachers wants to learn French so we said we'd do a language exchange: French for Mandarin. We'll see how that works.

All the teachers went to some meeting around 11 AM and I stayed at my desk hoping they'd come back later and I'd get a free lunch. Sure enough, they came back at noon and there was a big lunch at the dining hall above the pool, which means nothing to you guys, but that's the way we call it here. Apparently all the staff from our department was there, so it was a big deal. Everyone's super friendly and super supportive and I like them all. I ate my fill.

This afternoon I didn't do much. I went to the supermarket and didn't have enough cash to buy an iron. The card cashier (there's only one) wasn't open at that time. Argh! I prepared my first class, which starts next Monday. I only have four classes (two on Monday, two on Tuesday) next week, and they're all the same level, so I only prepare for one class (which I did this afternoon). The week after next, five more classes will be added (all the same level). And in the third week of September another class will be added. So I get to ease into working mode. Nice.

I went swimming in the evening. It's a whole 20 yuan (over $4!) to go swimming. The theory is that there are over 8000 students and if it was any cheaper the pool would be too busy. I bought a swimming cap. People stared at me in my bathing suit. Whatever. I swam for about twenty minutes. It felt good. Gave me a rush. My ears have been plugged since. Oh well.

I heard English in my hallway and met the American girl who lives across from me: Melanie. She's from Arizona and she lived in Germany last year and will probably go back next year. She's typical American: loud, sure of herself, and quite in-your-face about everything. She's 21. I also met Guillaume, a French 21-year-old who speaks English well. All three of us went to dinner at a local "diner" - I tell you they have everything here, even American diners with the retro music and Marilyn Munroe and Elvis Presley pictures and everything! This was Melanie's idea... I only had a drink because I wasn't all that hungry and I've got left-overs from lunch waiting for me at home. The three of us trooped to the supermarket together: there's strength in numbers. We bought hangers and pots and sponges and various household things. We were the last out of the store - everyone was waiting for us. It was terrible! They turned off the lights right after us and the army - seriously, it's an army; there's so many workers!!! - of workers trooped passed us in their uniforms as they were called off duty.

So I've met people. Today was the day I met people. And Guillaume speaks some Mandarin - he gets by. He's been learning for a couple of years (in France), although he says it's super hard to communicate here (in Beijing). Many students have arrived. On Monday and Tuesday there was hardly anybody on campus, but students are continually arriving and the place is filling up. Classes start next Monday after all. Most of the foreign students are Korean. Melanie's roommate is Korean. I'm glad I'm getting out of there at the end of September. I mean, it's comfortable and definitely liveable, but it'll be nice to have a fridge and a computer in my room. Plus an extra room. All to myself.

I continue to watch the English channel for news of the outside world. There's lots going on.

I hope you guys are doing well. I hate the fact that I can't look at my own blog. Crazy. I tried on the teacher's computer and it doesn't work. This means I can't read your comments. Oh well. It's an opportunity to send me emails!

Day 2

Today was great. I'm so lucky. I went to bed around 8 PM last night. I had to fight to stay up that late because I was so tired. I woke up around 6:30 AM, after having been woken up by Wang Xin Yu's (Sean's) phone call around 9 PM, and waking up around 4 AM for no reason. I slept pretty well, considering it was only my second night. On the first night I phoned my mother around 3 AM and she got Pierre to give me a call. Talking with them was super great. Phoning entails having a phone card and dialing numbers and code numbers, just like with any international phone card. I have a phone and private number in my room, so my mother usually calls me right back when I phone.

Today I spent pretty much the whole day with my friend Wang Xin Yu, who was born and raised in Beijing and who's leaving for Dalhousie (Halifax university) on Friday. He studies engineering. He hates it there. He's always complaining about it. Anyway, his father came to pick me up in their car and they took me downtown to the Beijing equivalent of Cloud Nine (the revolving restaurant in Vancouver). It was high up (28th floor) and there was such a great view - too bad air pollution limited how far we could see. The food was buffet style. We met up with WXY's mother and her collegues and their 15 year old son, Joe Chow, who might take me sight-seeing this weekend. His English isn't as good as WXY's but at least he's a local who can help me out! We exchanged phone numbers.

After that, WXY took me to Wangfujing - a touristy shopping strip that's partly pedestrianised. Lots of shopping malls and stores. I bought a new handbag at NineWest - it's smaller and has lots of pockets so it's practical. We walked around a lot. I was tired because of jetlag. We were so full from lunch! I also saw the East Cathedral, also known as St Joseph's Church. We can't go inside. I didn't even take any pictures because I figured I'd go back. I don't like looking like such a tourist but I guess my race gives me away so I shouldn't worry about it so much... I don't make sense sometimes. Anyway, we also went to a well-known night market down Danghanmen street. It's a food market - lots of food stalls selling interesting kebabs of different meat and sea creatures like squid and starfish. We didn't eat anything because we were still full. I don't think I'll eat dinner tonight!

We took the subway home. It's really not so bad. WXY scared me saying he hadn't taken the subway in years and that it was dirty. In fact, it's quite clean and there's even air conditioning and I think it's actually better than the Parisian subway! The only problem is that there aren't many lines so it's not that convenient. However, it does take me to the centre of the city and it's cheap. That's good enough for me!

I got in touch with my cousin through email. She wants to see me and will probably take me around. It's wonderful not being alone... Josh (a friend from Vancouver), who knows how to speak Chinese and who knows Beijing pretty well, will come live with me for a few days next week. I'm really quite well surrounded by people who can help me. That's why I think I'm so lucky!

I start working next week. I had a tentative schedule but apparently I'll be getting a new one by the end of the week. Looks like I'll be starting work everyday at 8 AM and I'll finish either at 10 AM or noon. Classes are two hours long. I'll only work 16 hours a week and I'll be teaching conversation so it shouldn't be too difficult. I've got a book to follow too, but they haven't given me the book.

Today I also bought a textbook on how to learn Chinese. WXY helped me find a good one at an international bookstore on Wangfujing (it's a very touristy street). I'll have to start studying!

Daily life here is not bad. I still haven't really walked around the neighbourhood. My campus is very nice with lots of trees and green areas. I live across from tennis courts. There's a large recreational compound with basketball and volleyball courts and a track. I wanted to go for a run this morning but when I arrived at 9 AM it was closed! I was disappointed...

There are security guards everywhere - at the entrance gates of the university and at the doors of the administrative buildings. I guess it's to up the employment rate because it sure seems like they don't do anything but sit there...

I still haven't met anyone on campus. I haven't met any of the foreign students on my floor or any of the other teachers. It's kind of weird. I guess all in time...

I have to wait a good two minutes before the water starts to get warm when I take a shower. I didn't realise this the first time I took a shower (usually my showers are only two minutes long!) so I thought I was going to have to brave through cold showers all through the winter! But also I'll be moving to the teacher's building at the end of September and it looks like those apartments will be much better. I'm looking forward to it! But I'm not complaining about where I am right now - it has everything I need to make me comfortable.

They changed my TV so that the remote control works and the buttons on the TV work too (on my old TV one of the buttons didn't work). I tried to tell them it didn't matter because I only watch one channel anyway (the English channel of course!) but that's impossible to communicate so I let them change everything. They're really helpful here, but the TV is really the least of my worries. It's true that I enjoy watching the English channel and learning about the world. TV has become a bit of a comfort blanket I guess.

That's it for now. I'm unable to view my blog for some reason. Maybe it's blocked here or something. So if you have comments, please also send them to me by email because I can't look at them on the site! Thanks. Oh, and if you would like to receive a postcard, please send me your address by email too.

I made it!

Wow! I made it! I can hardly believe it!

It looks like I might just survive this place.

The flight was 11 hours and twenty minutes. After some hectic last-minute re-packing at the airport (where we found out three bags is cheaper than having two over-weight bags, which is what I had, so Pierre and my mother went to buy a third suitcase and we took some things out of the other two and put them in the third one), and some tearful good-byes, I arrived on time for boarding. I bought a bottle of water and souvenir RCMP and killer whale key chains at an airport store.

On the plane I was so excited. I had an aisle seat and nobody sat next to me!! So I moved to the window seat for take off. But soon after take off a woman came to sit beside me. Much later she changed seats with another guy and we talked. He was a professor of agriculture in a north-eastern Chinese university, specialising in fertilizer. Enthralling. But he was really nice and he helped me pick up my three very heavy suitcases when we were at the Beijing airport.

China looks...brown from above. From that far up, houses look the same as anywhere else. The roads in the countryside are very skinny - yellow pieces of string going in all directions and rarely straight. It's also very flat until you start getting near Beijing, when it gets hilly (but hilly sounds like these nice, comfortable round things appear, when really, they're hard, jagged things with sharp edges). Many buildings have bright blue and red rooftops. And I noticed a lot of large three-walled compounds with nice-looking courtyards in the middle.

I'm in a smoky internet cafe. It's getting hard to breathe. Yuck.

Entering the country was a lot easier than I expected it would be. Didn't have to line-up for long anywhere. No questions were asked. Pretty simple. And my seat-mate helped me with my luggage, so really, it was a piece of cake! Then I went into the entrance area where a huge crowd of people were waiting and they all had signs with names...on top of that, I had the choice whether to go left or right and the crowd continued for a long time in both directions. How was I to know which way to go? I chose right and scanned all the signs I could. What if I missed my name? Then I found her...a charming young Chinese woman called May was holding up my name "Carone Grover" in ink, with "li" in pencil written between the "o" and the "n." She was all smiles and really helpful. She took me to the old, small car that was parked in the parking lot. There was a driver who didn't speak any English. I talked with May in English all the way to the university, which actually isn't that far because it's in the outskirts of the city.

I'm going to be staying temporarily in the foreign students' building, because the foreign teacher's building is under renovations until the end of the September. Once the renovations are done, though, it sounds like it'll be pretty nice...with a computer and internet access in my room and even a fridge in the kitchen! Right now I have a room with two beds and a private bathroom and a kitchen which I'm too afraid to use because it's a gas stove top (that's all) and I don't want to die young. The instructions for how to use the stove are, by the way, in Chinese.

Most of the students on campus speak English, which is nice. May is very helpful. In less than 24 hours since my arrival I opened up a bank account at the Bank of Agriculture and I've bought some things with my new debit card at a local supermarket which has everything. I didn't have to worry so much! I brought a lot of things I could've bought here, but that I didn't know they had here!

There's even a swimming pool on campus, which I might use today. I bought goggles, but I also need to wear a swimming cap (I'll be so stylish!). Or else I'll walk around and explore my new surroundings.

I do have air conditioning in my room, which is super nice. And I also have a TV so I watch the English channel 5. I realise that the Gaza strip has been successfully and somewhat peacefully emptied of Israelis. And that the Palestinians celebrated in the streets and thank Hammas for everything. Yikes.

I don't know how much time I have left, so I better post this thing while I can. Hope you're all well. I'd love to hear from you! An hour on the computer is 3 yuan so I think I'll be coming here regularly.

Take care and have fun!

Last day...

Wow. I'm pretty much ready. Didn't do everything I wanted (for example, I didn't buy any books to help me learn Chinese), but most of it. I'll be okay.

Here's a picture of us from last night. That's me on the left, then Nik (white hat), Rachel (pink shirt) and Cheryl (white shirt). Aren't we just a beautiful bunch of people?

What did I do today? I was really tired... I woke up early and went to my half-sister's ex-husband's house for breakfast - delicious crepes! The reason was to see all my half-nieces and nephews since it's not often they're all in town (there's four of them and they're all in their twenties). One half-nephew (the youngest) didn't make it. He coordinates events at night clubs and sleeps during the day. It was lots of fun to see everyone, though, and other friends were invited, and the crepes were super!

Then it was off to see Pierre - take the sky train one last time. We went for Japanese for lunch. He gave me my new digital camera and set up the software to transfer the pictures and everything. Showed me how to do all that technology stuff. Hopefully it all works out once I'm on my own in Beijing...

This evening I went out to dinner with my mother and brother at a restaurant we always go to and where we have a nice view of trees and greenery. Yay for greenery.

And that's about it. Nothing too dramatic or special. I'm really tired. Thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement and support. It helps. :-)

Last Friday!!!

Thanks to my editor for fixing up the links - that was annoying me and I had no idea what to do about it and I didn't even have to ask you to help me! Wow. What a fabulous editor!

Today was my last Friday!!!

Josh came over and we sipped tea on my back deck with my mother, who asked all sorts of questions (but never enough) about China and classic Chinese opera (which is what Josh is studying and where he's going to work this year). Josh had brought over some Chinese tea and at first I didn't like it, but then I suddenly realised it was delicious! I guess you just have to get used to the initial newness of the taste, but it's really quite good. I liked it a lot.

For lunch I went to the new restaurant on Kits beach (called the Watermark - check it out at http://www.watermarkrestaurant.ca/) with my Canadian cousin who lives in Paris at the moment, his Canadian girlfriend, my mother and my brother. It was beautiful. Their patio is awesome and will soon - if not already - become a city favourite. The food was really good too, we were all happy with what we ate, but it is a little pricey. At least for me it was. Go to the site if you would like to see their menu. The lobster club sandwich was a favourite at our table.

I also packed some more. I washed ten bras. Pierre's like, "Who gets to see all these bras???"

This evening I went out with what my mother calls "the gang," because we've been hanging out together since elementary school (and Nik joined in high school). We went to Moxie's for dinner and dessert and talked for four hours. It was great being a "gang" once again (whatever!). I mean, it was lots of fun, although I was tired. Rachel's going to send me pictures so I'll post them up when I get them.

My brother participated in a 48-hour movie festival (make a movie in 48 hours using a "creative package" given to you by the organisation, which in this case was a drink, a photo, a sound clip of grunting, and a location: tennis courts) and I just watched it and really enjoyed it. I thought everything worked. It's called "Mourning Air" and is about two spouses who are never awake at the same time and communicate by leaving video messages to each other. My brother's the husband. I couldn't believe this was all designed, filmed and edited in 48 hours. Amazing. The screening is this Monday on Granville Island, starting at 6 PM (my brother's film is showing between 7 and 8 PM). I highly recommend you go because I won't be able to. I'd like some of you to tell me how it went! For further information check it out at http://www.reelfastfilms.com/screeninginfo.htm. The venue's called Performance Works, at 1218 Cartwright St on Granville Island.

And that's it for my last Friday in Vancouver (for the year 2005) - boo hoo!!!

New Links

I'd like you to notice new links to the map of Beijing and to James' live journal on the right-hand side under "links." Funny thing about James is that he remembers things I'd rather forget about myself...

Only two full days left...

Yikes, I'm getting nervous.

This morning I went to the Yaletown Blenz to meet an old friend of mine, whom I haven't seen in a really long time (trips across the globe make everyone suddenly feel a need to see everyone), but with whom I always enjoy getting together. We sat outside and I enjoyed an Americano while he sipped tea and wolfed down a sausage roll ("semblance of a meal"). We are talking about James, here, the one who works in a comic store. For the next two years, starting in September, you'll most likely find him at Douglas College (New Westminster) following professional writing studies. This is to help him with his comics and become an incredible, innovative, modern, super cool writer. I wish him lots of luck (and determination to finish his school). James has a live journal, and if he obliges, I'll post a link to it on this blog, so that you too, can meet this fine specimen of a gentleman. Please say "yes!" James!

After briefly checking out his comic store, I speed-walked down Robson to Denman, where I was to meet up with Jessie for ramen, but we would've had to wait for 20 minutes and Jessie was in a rush, so off we went to pretty much the next nearest restaurant: Vina Vietnamese. We sat outside in the sun and she had a veggie crepe and I had some weird stuff, and neither of us were very satisfied or thrilled with our orders. I don't think I'll ever go there again.

Jessie is writing an article on Vancouver for the National Geographic Traveler magazine. She had an interview with David Suzuki this afternoon. If you have any tips or suggestions for her, please feel free to use this blog as a medium for knowledge transferral. Her article sounds awfully exciting and I'm so happy for her. Let's all cross our fingers she gets her American visa renewed in the fall so she can go back and work in Washington!

Once I saw Jessie off, it was a hectic afternoon of shopping down Robson. I bought Puma shoes and a Jacob skirt and Gap jeans and American Eagle tops - everything was on sale. This evening will be relaxing - I plan to start packing clothes and find my UBC medical insurance number and look for a transcript of my grades from my year in Paris for the UBC Education department (very annoying).

Oh yes, and I cancelled my gym membership! But it'll start up again next August, which is good, because right now it's only $20/month, which is an awesome deal. This'll force me to come back next year!

Congratulations to Pierre for getting a new and improved job...out in Surrey! Sucks it's so far away. He might not take it. Still working for the RCMP as a computer technician. A big thanks goes out to him for helping me get a new camera: the Nikon 7600. Looks nifty! This is the camera I'll be using to take pictures in China and sending them all back to you guys!

Josh just called and told me his friend Sean (we like to call him "WXY" for "Wang Xin Yu") will be in Beijing until the 26th of August! This is great news for me because I've shown Sean around here for the past couple of times he's been in town (in the winter), and he's from Beijing (born and raised!) so he'll be able to show me around at least for the first few days. I'm relieved! Then he's going back to engineering at his university in Halifax (which he doesn't enjoy).

Night out with the girls

This evening I went out with my "girlfriends": Grace, Erika and Rita. And since none of us had a camera, I decided to draw us out so y'all would have an idea of what we looks like. Hope you enjoy my artwork.

We don't get together very often, so it was fun catching up. Erika's leaving August 30th for Montreal, where she'll be doing her master's in biophysics, being the smart, very sweet girl that she is. Hopefully she'll find a cool martial arts club there and continue kicking some ass. Rita's starting to work as a pharmacist and will be visiting Argentina this winter - lucky girl has a personal guide and everything!!! And Grace will always be grace itself - she'll be finishing her law degree soon and wondering what the bleep she's going to do with her life. *sigh*

We went for bubble tea. It wasn't as good as we expected it to be. Oh well. It was so nice to relax together once again. I'll miss Vancouver...

Oh...and one more thing. Erika likes the basic look of my blog, and I respect Erika's opinion, so maybe I should keep it simple...

Another day

Here's a picture of Dave and me at Lake Louise. Thanks to Dave, Pierre and I had an extraordinary week-end in Banff! Thanks Dave!


I got a few things accomplished today:

1) returned my UBC books - yippee!
2) picked up my last projects and my TESOL diploma from VCC and sent out three thank-you cards to three of my favourite teachers from the TESOL program (big hint: thank you cards are very much appreciated out there)
3) picked up my letter of reference from my old work (Shane Global Village in Gastown)
4) had lunch with my mother (very important)
5) bought luggage at the Bay
6) packed my first bag! It has all my books and binders that I think I might need and it literally weighs a TON...

The last "big things" I've got to do before leaving are:

1) get some traveler's checks from the bank
2) buy contact lenses for a year
3) buy some new clothes (especially shoes) and pack all my clothes

I think that's do-able.

A big thanks to my behind-the-scenes "blog editor" who seems to be more excited about this blog than I am :-). Thanks for making my blog look a little more spiffy.

Lucky

This is Rachel's dog Lucky. I love Lucky. Rachel loves Lucky. You should love Lucky.

My dog's still better. But this is totally awesome. Now I know how to upload photos. Nothing could be simpler!

Stuff about Beijing

Here's a map of Beijing:

http://www.mapmatrix.com/asia/02101.pdf

I'm at No.1 Dingfuzhuang Nanli, Chaoyang District. That's in the bottom right-hand corner of the map (well - a bit closer to the centre of the city you can see Chaoyang road). Maybe you guys could help me find the street because I certainly can't.

Chaoyang's easier to see on this map:

http://www.beijingtrip.com/beijingmap.html

It's to the right. Anyway, that's approximately where I'll be I guess.

And here's the weather forecast - look at those suns! And not *too* hot...

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/54511.html

Alrighty, time for bed. Good night you guys!

Nice day

I'd like to say bye to Justin, who left Monday for California, where he's going to spend - if he likes it - two years studying theology. I wish him the best of luck.

Today I finally got my visa (tourist, that is)! It's in my passport and it looks great - it's got the Great Wall on it. I went downtown and did some shopping - mostly for underwear. I decided spur of the moment (because I knew I was going to do a lot of shopping) to get a Bay card and get 10% off everything for this one day. I took the opportunity to buy some Clinique moisturizer for my mother, and the Clinique lady sat me down and did a test on me to show me all these other (very cool) products. I was proud of myself and only came out of there with three little boxes in my bag - $100 more in debt.

I was stupid and thought it was 4 o'clock when really it was only 3, so I arrived an hour early for my doctor's appointment. Luckily she was able to see me an hour early! I started reading the books I got at Chapter's earlier: Insight City Guide for Beijing, and Lonely Planet's China. I spent a while checking out the guide books while I had been at Chapter's. There's a beautiful Eyewitness guide for China that looks so absolutely amazing, but I had to be practical, and Lonely Planet is the practical choice.

I went to Bin 942 for dinner this evening - the one on Broadway and Granville. It's not that great. I don't know why everyone raves about it. And it's pricey (yay for gentlemen acting like gentlemen). I had the beef carpaccio with popcorn and Pierre had the Bento box with elk stew and avacado salad (it was good!). Their mashed potatoes are delicious. Their pommes frites, as they call them, are...interesting. Very skinny and long and doused with a sweet brown sauce. The decor is nice - they've got lava lamps and mirrors and big vases with big bouquets. And the service was friendly. We went early (6-7 PM) in order to make it to our movie - MY DATE WITH DREW.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (maybe 3 1/2)
I hadn't realized this is about a no-namer wanting a date with Drew Berrymore - I had just heard that it was a good date movie (and it is!). Kind of slow in the beginning but there are some hilarious moments and all in all, you really root for the guy, and the ending is sweet. I recommend it. But like one of the people in the movie says, "I hope it [the project of making a movie trying to get a date with Drew] is a success for you, but I hope for America it's a failure," meaning it's a new low in American culture. Ah well, it's entertainment, what can I say. And I go to the movies to be entertained, first and foremost.

I also had gelato and a nice walk in the rain (I discovered not many people walk in the rain - even in Vancouver). Probably my last time having gelato.

I enjoyed my day. A big thank you to Pierre for making my day so special. I know it's sappy but it's true...

New Link

I'd like to make you notice the new link on my sidebar...8 1/2 by ELEVEN. It's my talented friend's comic that you just HAVE TO read because it rocks. Plus, he also posts dates for his concerts, because he's a very cool trumpet player, which rocks even more. His name is...Lucas TdS. His last name's difficult to spell...

Got some things accomplished today:

1) returned overdue library books (I owe $1.50)
2) cashed my last cheque
3) paid off my MasterCard bill (my gym - I thought my contract ended in June! - billed me for July: bastards! I never went on purpose!!!)

And I did get my last shot this morning and finished cleaning up my room, but I didn't find what I was looking for... At least now my room's pretty clean - I can see the floor and my desk! Yay!

Thanks

Thanks everyone, for making it out yesterday. It was lots of fun seeing you all again. And it was truly a beautiful day at the beach :-) I'm glad I was able to make it in the ocean - my one and probably only time this year!

Last night I didn't get much sleep, since I went to bed around 12:30 AM and was kept awake by a stupid misquito! Then this morning I was awaken by a large "boom" sound - I think it was the newspaper - around 6:20 AM, and I couldn't get back to sleep, so that sucked.

Today I get my last shots at the Travel Clinic and I'm planning on going to the bank and figuring things out with them.

Going Away

Hello. I'm leaving in exactly a week and I'm psyched. Nothing's really ready. At least I have my ticket. And my visa finally went through and I'll pick it up on Tuesday.

I hope you guys are all coming out this afternoon to my beach party at Spanish Banks. See you there!