Umbrella Locks

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I just got out of my last Elementary class (they finish the Semester tomorrow), where I made pancakes for my students. I've been ranting and raving about pancakes since the day I walked in that class, so I got some pancake mix, and some "real Canadian maple syrup" and I attempted to recreate something similar to home. Not a chance in China! First off, I cooked them in a little oven, I didn't have good oil, it wasn't quite hot enough, and they ended up raw and doughy and white. BUT I smothered them with syrup and the kids ate em up. Especially JiJi! Paris almost mawled me when I took some over to Daphne's class.

But here's what I've been up to.

Last Saturday, the 14th, I taught all day then went to the Spring Cafe with Duncan and Daphne. The food there is great.. we had bruscetta, pasta, apple pie and a chocolate milkshake with Baileys! Yeah Baileys. Dave and Julie showed up later and we all just hung out until about midnight, taking test tube shots. At Dave's, after about half an hour of Duncan and Dave tag-team pressure, I downed a shot of baijou (pretty much rotten wine) which is the most disturbing taste I've ever experienced. It also made me feel like someone hit me over the head with a bat.

Some of the kids in my "animals" class wanted me to give them Western names, and since the popular names here all end with the "ee" sound, I made a tribute to Kelly, Kerri, and Chelsey. And Matt too, minus the "ee" sound. Court, there wasn't one who'd do you proud, but trust me you are going to get a child named after you!

On Sunday I worked until noon, then got home and had a nap waiting for Duncan to show up for our photo expedition. Turns out he was still asleep so Daphne and I headed to the Carrefour (he ended up coming) to do some grocery shopping. I bought shoes (that later, absolutely distorted and tore up my feet with blisters) and found some actual Western-style muffins, which bring a whole new meaning to breakfast. Duncan and I wandered alleyways and side streets for about an hour.. in his attempt to capture the "horror, filth and shit" that he's survived the last 6 months, and in my attempt to find what he called "beauty in squalor". We ended up at UBC and talked for a few hours. Went home, and Daphne and I went to the Pyramid around 11. I met an older Aussie guy named Nixon, a young girl from the States named Melissa and her friend Megan, visiting from Ohio. We had pizza and free beer (Sundays are "teachers nights") and danced a bit, and I got a chance to play the congas! Home around 2 AM.

Monday was my day off (thank god!) so I slept in and called home, then went to Melissa's for speghetti and salad (I've found penaut butter, now I miss salad...). Went to UBC with Duncan, got some shit from his place (dishes, a clock, some food, misc. other things he didn't want to cart along to Shanghai) and went home to watch 2 movies and fall asleep. My off days are the most mellow.

Tuesday was Duncan's last day of teaching. We went to UBC after work, then Daphne, Duncan and I caught a cab to Jenny's cafe to meet up with Melissa and Megan. In the pouring rain, we hailed a cab on the other side of the street, and while he was pulling a U-ey to get to us, he hit a lady on a bike! He stopped the car in the middle of the road to help her (she was okay) so we caught another cab. At Jenny's, we met a girl named Rebecca from the States (she's veggie!) and a big guy from Scotland named Ian. I had my first official shot of tequila, with the salt and the lemon. Not bad, but I think it was hella watered down. Had a couple milk and Baileys (chick drink!) and then Duncan, Mel, Megan and I took a cab to a club called Cinderellas around 11:30. The Pyramid is the foreigners bar, while Cinderellas is definately a primarily Chinese bar (and a lot bigger) BUT it has a bouncing dance floor. The floor bounces. We danced and even got Duncan out there with us, staring down the Chinese guys. Haha. I met a guy named JR who is from a Phillipino band that was playing. There is a Phillipino band at every bar. Took a cab home in the rain and Duncan crashed on the couch because he didn't want to sweat it out in his hell hole of an apartment.

Yesterday was a tough day. Emotional exhaustion. Rained all day.

On a random end note, here is something strange I've noticed this week:

In the UBC Cafe, they have umbrella locks. They will lock your umbrella when you come in, and unlock it for you when you leave. Guess there are a few too many umbrella poachers out there. I'm not surprised.

Xes and Oes,
Laura

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Comments

[Matticus]

Umbrella locks and dirty socks
I have a chinese kid named after me? Hawt