Then Everything Goes Topsy-Turvy!

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Yet again, life never ceases to keep you alert and guessing... I've had two major bombshells dropped on me this week:

One: My roommate will be moving out of our apartment to seek housing closer to her work, and with her boyfriend. I admit that this didn't come as quite a shock to me as I know how stressed she has been from the commute and it is cheaper living out in Wudaokou. I guess I had been mentally preparing for this departure for weeks. Yes, it is sad to see her go, but she isn't leaving me hanging. Our place is paid for until November, so there is no major rush for her to leave. Obviously we will try and find a replacement much before then, but right now the pressure is off. We've had a great time together and are both a little sorrowful to see it end, but I trust that everything will work out as it should.

Two: I am unemployed. Oh yes... that was the joyous announcement I received on Wednesday. Apparently the wretched school I work at decided to downsize yet again and this time I was included in the cuts. Of course I was given no notice, and am now trying to recover mentally from this drastic turn of events. (I am reeling a little). I have been receiving horrified messages and calls from my students who are disappointed I will no longer be teaching them and reassuring me that I am a very good teacher. The funny thing is that a night before I was sacked I had just planned a massive dinner and KTV party with many of the students... much to their delight and excitement, so I consequently have this list of numbers which I am morally debating with myself as to whether I should attempt to undercut the school and steal their students away. I am doing my best to remain calm and hope in good opportunities... but I confess it's difficult at times. After only working part time I haven't managed to save much money, so I need to find employment post haste! If I had a crystal ball I would say my future holds a lot of ramen noodles. Sigh... just when I had bragged that I have seen the last of them. Serves me right I suppose.

Not working does have one upside however as my old deckhand kidlet, Christi, is visiting me! I have a guest - and plenty of free time!!! She arrived last Friday and we have been having good fun poking around Beijing together. She's attended and contributed to my last classes and accompanied me to my first Chinese lesson. Her being in the tourist picture-taking frenzy made me realize how heinous and patchy my dratted hair had got, so a couple days ago she dyed it for me! (It's ALMOST one color now). It's been really nice having a face from home around, and getting to experience things in a fresh way. I have really enjoyed sharing my favorite things with her and even getting to try new things! I am now a convert to Korean BBQ... it's amazing! Christi is a bit of a good luck charm as well... we finally tracked down a church together and attended last Sunday. Every time I've attempted to attend this church I've got hopelessly lost, so it was great to finally arrive. She has also scored whilst bargain shopping and fallen in love with jiaozi! I tried to convince her to eat a scorpion at the food market last night, but she wasn't convinced by my suggestions. (Her loss). We have plans with some students for dinner and I am still going to host the dinner/KTV night - employed or not. I have fallen hard for my students and wish to continue some sort of relationship with them.

Other news would be an actual intended death wish by a taxi driver... Emily and I were catching a cab to Sanlitun (an area we often go). We hailed a driver and gave him our destination. He then took us on a completely ridiculous route (which I noticed right away). So we attempt to communicate that we know he is going the wrong way and that we will only pay him the usual amount it takes to reach that destination. He began to yell at us and proceeded to pull over and continue screaming. We were quite frustrated, so as we had stopped, I decided to leave the cab. As I stepped out, he started the car again and began rolling. I landed safely and looked up to see Emily hanging out of the cab as it began to pick up speed... luckily she landed safely (in flip flops!) and we both stood there in shock and slight hysteria as we realized how insane that driver had been and the reality of the harm he had wished on us. Looking back on that time, it is really hilarious (Emily's panicked face as she was being carted off) but at the time it was kind of frightening. When we saw him screech to a halt we quickly jumped into another cab before he could come back for us. That experience takes the cake for terrifying taxi rides.

Alright... the internet continues to be terrible at this cafe, so I better finish before I get booted out. Please pray for employment and a roommate... weird to be back at square one again.

P.S. Think my most recent way of accessing facebook has been discovered and blocked. sigh.

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