My Days Off

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So my days off have been pretty fun- they've been a chance to get to know Zhangjiagang a little better and get some essentials.
On Wednesday, me and two of the girls went to Auchan- It's a huuge supermarket and there's a Macdonald's and market outside. We have lunch at Macdonald's (terrible I know) and then had a wander around the market. It was just full of anything you could ever want. We didn't buy anything from the market because being westerners, they would probably charge us more than the locals, so we saved our shopping for the supermarket.
We spent ages in the supermarket and bought everything for cleaning the flat (which the tennant had left in a bit of a state) . I love looking around the supermarket at all the local food and fresh foods. They have tanks packed full of fish- living. It's quite disturbing really as they have no room to move, but at least you can choose and know how fresh your food is. We took the bus home- the first time since I got here. It cost 10 kwai for the taxi (£1) and the bus cost 1 kwai (10p) the price of transport really baffles me- and people still own cars!!! When we got back we cleaned and then went for dinner at the muslim noodle bar with 3 other EF staff. The food was AMAZING and I was stuffed all night. This place is good for westerners as they have picture menus so you don't have to know the name of what you want in chinese! The shops stay open until about 9pm here, so we went to a few shops- one called Kawai- Like claires but chinese- the stuff there is soo cute- like hello kitty and miffy and I bought a few cute little things. We got home about 10pm and I made myself a makeshift washing line outside my window- I officially hate my washing machine. they don't do hot washes here- you have to select the smallest wash so that very little cold is put in and then fill it the rest of the way with hot water from the tap- a bit of a pollava, but My clothes are clean and dry now!
Today my flatmate and I went on a mission to find me a new laptop charger! we went to walking street (a long street full of shops and cars and bikes are not allowed there. It's in the name!) The shop which sells electonics was closed. You find this a lot in Zhagjiagang. The tear down buildings which have not been there very long or re-furbish buildings often to help boost the construction industry. It gives you the feeling that nothing here is permanent- everything is disposable and subject to change. It may seem quite wasteful, but in so many other ways the chinese are very environmentally friendly. For instance- it's very cold here at the moment. They do not have central heating- just ac with a hot setting. The ac is only ever turned on in a room that you are in and most people just wear more layers and deal with it. I'm so cold at the moment- I eventually found a coat today after a lot of searching- xxl here is about a size 12!!!
We ate lunch at a japanese noodle bar and it was georgeous and then we wAndered for a bit and I tried to get my bearings!
When we arrived home, I dumped my stuff and went for a walk to the park. It took about 30minutes to walk on food and was well worth it- I'm missing the countryside a lot. it was getting late when I got there, so I took some fabulous pictures of the sunset. There's a big boating lake which on a warmer day I am going to hire a boat on. It's pretty cool to see the contrast between the skyscrapers/ highrise flats in the background and the greenery of the park.
I've just cooked my self my first meal in ZJG- not bad if I say so myself, but still think it's cheaper to eat out.
Miss you all and happy new year xxx

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