A little of this and a little of that...

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The last four days have been enlightening to say the least. Somebody on our block has passed away. Do you know what happens in China when someone dies? We didn't know every ritual either, but now we do! First of all, firecrackers are set off at all hours of the day and night to scare away ghosts and evil spirits. Imagine Canada Day fireworks, but 10X louder and nonstop! Yeah, it's not a fun way to wake up - and this has been the last four mornings!!! Then the elderly people that know the deceased get together, and along with a PA system proceed to sing horrible songs at the top of their lungs - for hours!!! Seriously, we're a block away and 20 stories up, and we hear every word clearly with the doors and windows closed. *sigh* As you can imagine, we've been going out as much as possible. But when the firecrackers start by 6am, and the singing doesn't stop until almost midnight, it doesn't leave much room for sleep. I'm not sure how long these rituals go on, I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, my earplugs are my best friends😊

On Friday we went to the bank and sent our money to Canada, all the while hoping for better results. And sure enough - when we checked our account in Canada on Saturday morning, there it was! I'm so happy, and very thankful it all worked out. Now we can get caught up on some bills that were falling seriously behind. Not fun!

Saturday evening was supposed to be a fun one - Jenny and I planned on going to the night market! But alas, the skies decided to open up and pour out "blessings" on us in the form of millions of rain drops. Needless to say, the night market closed down, and we had to take refuge inside department stores where it was warm and dry. I still managed to get rain soaked feet, and arrived home soaking wet and grumpy. grrr....

Then on Sunday Jean and I decided to take the bus across the city to do some book shopping. When I lived here four years ago there was a huge bookstore there, close to Wuhan University, and they had hundreds of English books. When we arrived, there was no bookstore! It is now a sports clothing store😞 I was really disappointed, I've been starving for something to read. Oh well... guess I'll have to make do with emails from home (hint hint).

And today we're back at school. Jenny (who is one of the most responsible and hard working people I know) somehow forgot that we have class second period on Mondays, and she didn't show up. I was a little panicked as she had half of our teachings supplies, but I winged it, and survived. She showed up for third period looking all rested, while I wanted to strangle her! Haha she felt so bad, she's been apologizing all day. And of course I can't let her forget it, told her she should run home and grab her brain before her afternoon classes! Poor girl, I highly doubt she'll do that again. After I calmed down, it was rather funny.

All in all, life in China goes on as always - with some strange things mixed into normal daily living.

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