Time flies

Wow, is it just me or is time going by at the speed of light??? I can't believe this week's already over... Today is Friday morning already.

Internet was down for a while so I couldn't post, and then yesterday I was pretty busy all day. So much to do... So sorry for the lack of up-dates.

Wednesday night I went to yoga class with Katia from 7-8 PM. It was super funny. There were only girls (this being a university with a clear majority of girls) and many of them were Korean students learning Chinese (they all have good levels of Chinese). Katia and I were the only white folks and we were the only ones who didn't understand much... Katia has been doing yoga for two years now, so she knew a lot of moves and she didn't have to understand. I've only taken one or two classes and I forget, so a lot of the breathing and meditating part went over my head. But after class Katia explained it to me and we're definitely going back. It went by too quickly but after doing some of the moves you really feel extraordinary.

We did yoga to music, so we waited for the first ten minutes for the music player to get hooked up. And while we waited Katia and I had no idea what was going on, we were sitting cross-legged and the teacher would speak and sometimes a person from the floor would speak and we were wondering if they were discussing their past boyfriends or something... When we started to do our exercises Katia and I couldn't stop laughing. In French we had what's called "le fou rire." I felt so bad because I found it difficult to stop myself and yet I really wanted to do a good job and show that I was serious! At one point I needed to laugh so bad I thought of leaving the room. And whenever I started laughing, Katia, who was behind me, started laughing too! It was bad... but we eventually got over it. So now there's yoga Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Plus, we're even learning some Chinese: we learned "breathe in" and "breathe out"!

I spent Wednseday afternoon perfecting the midterms for my first and second-year students. It's going to be tough. I made Katia and Loic do the test (I interviewed them) in order to see how the test would pan out. It was a good idea because I made many changes after testing the test on them!

Yesterday (Thursday), after class, I went for lunch with Jack and Alice (Chang Ping). We went to a new restaurant that had a large group celebrating something so it was quite noisy. We took the subway to the centre of the city.

We went to a Nikon store where we first had to wait to get recognized amid the group of people needing help with their camera (there is no line-up, you just shove your camera infront of the worker's eyes and he deals with you then). Then we were told that it would cost 700 RMB (6 RMB = $1 Cdn) to repair it, PLUS the cost of any components they might have to change (and in these cases, there are always spare parts to change...). I was ready to pay, thinking I really liked my camera and I wanted it back, when I was told they'd have to keep it a whole month! There was no way I could not have a camera for a month in China!!! So I decided I'd buy a new camera - blow my emergency money on a new camera.

I was so unbelievably angry because I had just bought this camera - I bought it right before my trip to China, only two and a half months ago! It had given me good pictures and I still wanted to use it and not have to buy another $500 camera!

So we left the store and I was a little depressed but I didn't want to show it in front of my students, who were being so kind. We went to Xidan where we went clothes-shopping. I now understand my Korean and Japanese students who would come to Vancouver and say there was absolutely no choice in shopping in Vancouver...if their shopping experiences are anything like in China I understand! There are stores upon stores upon more stores and then shopping malls with even more stores...it's just amazing. I'm overwhelmed... Plus, I felt weird buying in front of my students. I ended up buying a navy-blue duck feather down coat for winter, for a whole 299 RMB (around $50 Cdn).

We stopped at an outdoor patio and sat down and drank some OJ and stared into space for a while.

Then we went to a watch-and-cell-phone store where apparently they also repair cameras. There was a guy behind a glass window who took a look at my camera and started to take it completely apart right before my eyes. I cringed. Did this guy know what he was doing? He seemed to know most of the time. But he was burning off wires - was that OK? How would he put the wires back together?

Then he told us he'd wash it for 200 RMB but he wasn't sure he'd be able to fix it.

After more fiddling and testing he said he'd be able to repair it for under 400 RMB (well, that's what he said, we'll see today when I pick it up). Plus, he would be able to do it in a day! I'd be able to come pick it up Friday! This was amazing news!!!

So that's the story of my camera.

I was so happy I kissed my students. They're wonderful.

We rushed back home because my students had class at 6:30 PM. They made it!

I had dinner with Katia, Loic, Bob (Chinese guy), and Matt (the American teacher who just turned 24). We went to a new restaurant for all of us - a Korean place that served boiling soup and we added meat and vegetables and stuff to it. Hot pot I guess, or "hua guo" in Chinese.

Anyway, I've got to prepare for class. I'm going to have lunch with two first-year students today. They're a couple and they've known each other since they were ten! It's so sweet. I think that's true love...I mean, I wish I could've known someone since I was ten and been with them pretty much my whole life. They'd know me so unbelievably well... And I think I'd be able to trust them with my life.

Alright, good night for you guys and hope you all find your true love!