教师节(Teachers Day)

---

I apologize for inundating everyone with an entry for every day, but so much happens! Maybe things will slow down in a week or two.

I've managed to put together a breakfast that is not the least bit Chinese. Oatmeal with bananas and peanut butter. I can't believe I was able to do that here. I don't even miss cereal, because I eat so many carbs the rest of the day, and milk is a lot easier to come by than everyone said.

Flavored milk is my new favorite thing. I like mango, pomegranate, strawberry, walnut, peanut, coconut, milk tea, and coffee milk. I'm sure there are more and, trust me, I will find them.

Class was boring, boring, boring. Basic and speaking until noon. In speaking today we read the vocab and dialogues over and over again after the teacher. And then we introduced the person sitting next to us to the teacher, and the teacher to the person sitting next to us.

After lunch at Relish, Maria showed Clare, Audrey, and I the convenience store behind the trash heap, which is much closer to our dorm than the convenience store across from My Coffee. Then Clare, Audrey, and I picked up our business cards. We each got a thick stack for three bucks. Good deal, and they all turned out really well. Now we are set for networking.

We took the bus downtown to find Karrefour, the French version of Trustmart. But when we got downtown we could not find it. We walked around until we found a donut shop, which smelled too good to pass up. They had green tea flavored donuts, some with rose jelly in the center, spicy donuts and seaweed donuts. Audrey bought one with chocolate shavings, Clare got a tiramisu one, and I bought one called Durian's Dream that looked pretty safe, and a tiramisu milk tea. Mine was plane with little spikes on top and cream in the center. It smelled and tasted vaguely of onions, which was strange.

I just looked up durian online though, and discovered that a durian is a type of spike covered fruit with a bad smell, so I guess that is what it was.

When we left we walked around and tried to find Karrefour again, but of course ended up in clothing and shoe shops. We were in the shopping district, and we are girls. A woman tried to sell me a pair of men's Vans, since my feet our so big. I put them on and my feet still touched the toe of the shoe. I tried to tell the woman that they didn't fit, so she put a plastic bag over my foot and forced my foot into the shoe again. At that point I gave up and told her 对不起，and went to find Clare and Audrey who have smaller feet and better luck.

We all got shirts at a store that was having a big sale. Tons of Chinese woman were scrounging through the 10 元 bins, so we had to wedge ourselves in.

Eventually we found a taxi and took it to Karrefour, which is in a mall, of course.

It was a lot like Trustmart, but less crowded. Clare and Audrey found their cheese and french bread, and also more clothes. I got an orange, a bag of bugles (which I don't even eat in the US, so who knows why), and ice cream for Sara(h) for her 22nd birthday because they didn't have cake.

We left the store at six o'clock to catch a taxi back to the dorm. We were supposed to meet at 7 to go to the Sichuan opera. But finding a taxi downtown at rush hour is almost impossible. Every taxi that drove past-- about a third of the cars on the street-- was full. We walked all over trying to find a primo spot. Eventually we settled in front of a hotel, thinking that people would have to get dropped off there. They were, pretty frequently. But a bellhop was at the bottom of the drive sending all of the empties to the door to pick up guests. I was getting pissed and stressed and not fun to be around. At about 6:45 I texted Adam that we were stuck and probably wouldn't get back in time for the opera. At 6:50 the bellboy went away and we finally managed to get a taxi.

We got to campus at 7:15, when the group was just leaving, and we fell in with them. I received my student id, which is like a miniature passport and handwritten. I didn't have a chance to stick the ice cream in the freezer, or use the restroom. But we made it!

We were all having a good time. We sang happy birthday to Sara(h) in four or five languages. Then we realized that we had passed the statue of Mao in the center of the city three times. The bus driver stopped the bus and got out, and got back in and kept driving. Then we passed the statue of Mao again and did the same thing. None of us cared. Adam was making a fool of himself.

We got to the opera at 8:20, late of course. It was another tourist type thing with a sampling of different performances. There was an erhu solo, a stick puppet performance, a hand shadow puppet performance, mask changing and fire breathing.

We all went out to the Shamrock for Teachers Day. In China, students give gifts to their teachers on Teachers Day, and sometimes have dinner with them. And apparently sometimes drink with them. Beer and spirits were half off for students and teachers. Some of the girls were doing shots to celebrate the end of the week. A few hung out with a group of teachers from an international high school in the bar. I am not a fan of loud music and shouting to be heard, so I stayed outside on the patio with about half of our group. I had a Bitchy Peachy, which is like a smoothie with Advocaat, whatever that is. Then I had a plate of french fries. The fries weren't salty enough, but the ketchup was good. Then I had a rum and coke. Most of the group left to go to another bar. I felt sleepy, so stayed with Maria, Scott, and Amber and talked to them while they smoked. Then we caught a taxi and went back to the dorm. We talked in the lobby for a while with Joshua, Bobby, Malia and Moppy. And then I talked with Sara(h) for a while when she came back. I went to bed a little bit before three in the morning.

---

Comments

[Heather Greenberg]

For shame!
Flaunting your drinking in your poor mother's face like this!