Slacking in the Yangzhou

August 15, 2011

Been another couple lazy days for me in Yangzhou. Turns out all my exercise hurt my legs a lot, so I stayed home yesterday, reading and watching TV on my computer. At about 3, Kalyn and I went to the plant market. We bargained a little and came home with a bonsai plant and a money tree for 90 Yuan. Kalyn wasn’t sure which one she wanted yet when we left the market, but I knew I would take the one she didn’t want as I liked both. So, I have a money tree in my house now, but I haven’t found a good home for it yet. Today it peed all over my floor when I watered it. It got new dirt yesterday and didn’t get watered, so I thought it would be hungry, but I guess not. I hope it stays alive! We came home from the plant market in time to prepare to go out for dinner. The returning teachers have started arriving back on campus, so we were up to 8 white people. Erin is from New York, and is on her third year here at New Oriental. Mike is from California and is on his second year here. George is from England and this is also his second year. I was warned that Erin might put you off a little at first and didn’t really know what that meant. She’s a small girl of almost 30, with lots of piercings and attitude, but I really like her. Mike seemed a bit odd at first, but he is hilarious. Sometimes he likes to hear his own voice, but he will talk even if no one is listening so it’s ok. George is a mechanic by trade and is a total sweetheart. It’s nice to have a mixture of people my age and an older group as well. I really like everyone so far!

The eight of us went for dinner across the street from the East Entrance, where we went for Chance’s last night in Yangzhou for the summer. Erin ordered all her favorites and there was lots of food, all of it delicious. We ended up a little extra because we ate some of it too fast. We still ate it all. It was a really fun night, getting to know the new arrivals. We were back by 7 and I was wondering what I would do for the rest of the day. Kalyn came over to borrow my internet (for my proxy) and Erin came downstairs to invite us over to her place to watch a movie. The three of us watched The Hangover and had a nice evening together. I know she has had two years to fill her apartment, but I really like it! It’s very homey. I was going to go to bed early, but then Erin (my wonderful sister) had this brilliant idea on how to find the book I was looking for – the obvious answer – go online and buy it. I thought this was a great idea, so I wandered down the hall and plunked myself outside of Kalyn’s apartment as I know she has wireless and I could get a good signal on my e-reader. I am a creeper like that. Its 11:30 and I am sitting in the dark outside someone’s room who is not expecting me to be there! What I forgot was that I have tried to buy this book before and it is not in print that I can find. But, I played with the internet on my e-reader until midnight when I came home and went to bed. I did manage to download the book Erin! It’s all good!

This morning I forced myself awake at 9, but didn’t want to be up at all. I made myself some oatmeal in the microwave (it makes me so lazy) and got a cup of milk from downstairs. About 11 I decided (having done nothing in the meantime) that I was going back to bed for an hour. I got back up at noon, had a shower and headed into town. I knew that the group went to town about noon as well. I went to Gloria Jeans thinking I would sit and enjoy my coffee and read my book if they weren’t around. I guess they saw me go in, because I got a phone call asking where I went and soon enough they joined me at Gloria Jeans. We chatted for a bit and then went our separate ways. I decided to take a bus to Tesco and see what I could find there.

I knew that two of the buses which run what I consider the main street also went to Tesco, so I got on the first one that came my way. It was a double decker so I went and sat up top in the window so I could see everything. I didn’t see anything interesting, but I did see the Tesco coming. Tesco is much bigger than the Da where we normally shop, and has a much bigger variety. I bought some school supplies that was on sale and then headed for the food isle. I even looked for blonde hair dye for Kalyn as she wants to touch up her roots, but it looks like its brown or brown for her! I bought a lot of stuff and ended up spending more than I had with me. I tried to give her my MasterCard and visa, but she wouldn’t take them. I had to abandon some of my snacks. So much for taking a taxi home, I was out of money. I took my three bags and wandered to the bus stop. I was almost home when I got a text that we were going into town for dinner. I asked them to wait for me and they did. I dropped my stuff off at home and turned around to meet the group. We went to Chow Cow which is a BBQ place. BBQ is not like at home at all, but full of MSG goodness. It was delicious but expensive as we had a lot of food. Everyone but Kalyn came with us for dinner. Now I am home again

Tomorrow I think Dave’s friend is taking us swimming, so I am going to go. I need to get into swimming again before I get fat! I think I will try the school’s pool and if it creeps me out, I will go to town, but I am sure the schools must be cheaper. The gym they go to has a pool, but you have to buy a VIP membership to get it. I will pay to go if it’s decent though. We are going to the public pool tomorrow. Should be a good time! On Thursday Mike is BBQing at the school for dinner! Maybe Kalyn would like to go to the Hot Springs that day too – what a great day that would be! And I think on Saturday or Sunday, most people arrive! It’s time!