After leaving the job I had at a little piece of hell on earth I will refer to as 'kid castle,' things are starting to look up in my life in China. Found a great job with a great boss and great coworkers. I am teaching business English to adults and doing some classes with teenagers. Have definitely realized that I am SO much more suited for teaching adults and older kids than the younger ones. I can't be a clown in a classroom. I don't want to dance around like a singing monkey and amuse kids who speak no English for hours at a time. I am an educator, thus educating those who are willing and capable of learning is the ideal situation for me. Tonight I had my first class. 15 adults all from the same company. Some big wig company that pays for them to attend English class once a week. We had a ball! We laughed, we learned, we talked about cultural differences and touched on business etiquette. After class they all wanted their picture with me, so of course we got a brilliant class pic taken that I will post as soon as they email it to me. So the never ending job search has officially come to an end and I am happy as a clam at the super laid back adult language school that I'm working at now. Never thought I'd actually get to type that sentence in any of these blog entries.
Going to look at a house tomorrow in downtown Hangzhou. This is funny for a couple of reasons. There is this website here for expats called, tellingly, hangzhouexpat.com. Its a site that is used frequently by expats such as myself for looking for apartments, roommates, jobs, etc...So last night I get a phone call from some French dude named Paul. I agree to meet him in the lobby of his hotel as he is new and also looking for room-ate/place to live. Wow, Paul and I were about as opposite as two people could possibly be. I'd like to think of myself as a pretty easygoing gal. This guy was wired so tight that I swear if ya put a chunk of coal up his ass, one week later you would have a diamond. Anyhoo, the funny part is not that I met Paul (banal Paul, as I refer to him) last night. (Seriously, my little toe has more personality.) No, the funny part is that after we met and essentially hated each other, I find out today from a guy I've been talking to for the past week in regards to renting a room in his house, that he has ALSO spoken with banal Paul. And so the story goes...tomorrow, Alex (British guy), banal Paul and myself are meeting at Alex's house (THE potential house), for drinks and dinner. The clincher, and its a good one, is that banal Paul has no idea that I am the 'American girl' who is also looking for a place to live and will be joining them for dinner. The expression on his face when he sees me will be priceless. Alex has already mentioned he will have the camera at hand. Banal Paul made passes at me last night that wouldn't materialize in a million years and I'm pretty sure I bruised his ego. But sh*t, I'm looking for a flatmate, not a hookup. So, Alex sounds cool as hell. His only stipulation for tomorrows shindig is that we each bring a bottle of red wine and that it cannot be Chinese red wine. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, indeed! He is away on business all the time so will essentially never be living there....leaving me and banal Paul, ha! Has 3 bedrooms and he said its like a cozy, nice log cabin. He said, and I quote, that "...its not Chinese-y." If any of you have ever lived in China, you know that this is something to look forward to. I'll leave it at that. Well, wish me luck tomorrow. Fingers crossed and would love to live downtown and right off the tube line. Is it possible that my shit is finally starting to come together in this damn country? Possibly. But then again, this is China. Anything and everything is possible.
ALSO!!!!! Found out that one of my best friends in the world, Evelien Raave, is coming to visit me for one week from the Netherlands for New Years!!!! I met her in Madrid, we had Spanish class together...when we actually went, lol...and i have not seen her since our trip to Paris in 2011!!!! SOOO excited to see her and have a great friend to get into trouble with in China...let's just say that Eve and I are pretty talented when it comes to having fun and getting into shenanigans!
ALSO!!! I found out my parents are flying me home for a month from January 20-Feb 10, for Chinese Spring Festival!!!! (chinese new years...biggest holiday of the year in china and no one works. I am BESIDE myself with excitement!!!) 94 more days til i get to return to the best country in the world!!!
Going to look at a house tomorrow in downtown Hangzhou. This is funny for a couple of reasons. There is this website here for expats called, tellingly, hangzhouexpat.com. Its a site that is used frequently by expats such as myself for looking for apartments, roommates, jobs, etc...So last night I get a phone call from some French dude named Paul. I agree to meet him in the lobby of his hotel as he is new and also looking for room-ate/place to live. Wow, Paul and I were about as opposite as two people could possibly be. I'd like to think of myself as a pretty easygoing gal. This guy was wired so tight that I swear if ya put a chunk of coal up his ass, one week later you would have a diamond. Anyhoo, the funny part is not that I met Paul (banal Paul, as I refer to him) last night. (Seriously, my little toe has more personality.) No, the funny part is that after we met and essentially hated each other, I find out today from a guy I've been talking to for the past week in regards to renting a room in his house, that he has ALSO spoken with banal Paul. And so the story goes...tomorrow, Alex (British guy), banal Paul and myself are meeting at Alex's house (THE potential house), for drinks and dinner. The clincher, and its a good one, is that banal Paul has no idea that I am the 'American girl' who is also looking for a place to live and will be joining them for dinner. The expression on his face when he sees me will be priceless. Alex has already mentioned he will have the camera at hand. Banal Paul made passes at me last night that wouldn't materialize in a million years and I'm pretty sure I bruised his ego. But sh*t, I'm looking for a flatmate, not a hookup. So, Alex sounds cool as hell. His only stipulation for tomorrows shindig is that we each bring a bottle of red wine and that it cannot be Chinese red wine. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, indeed! He is away on business all the time so will essentially never be living there....leaving me and banal Paul, ha! Has 3 bedrooms and he said its like a cozy, nice log cabin. He said, and I quote, that "...its not Chinese-y." If any of you have ever lived in China, you know that this is something to look forward to. I'll leave it at that. Well, wish me luck tomorrow. Fingers crossed and would love to live downtown and right off the tube line. Is it possible that my shit is finally starting to come together in this damn country? Possibly. But then again, this is China. Anything and everything is possible.
ALSO!!!!! Found out that one of my best friends in the world, Evelien Raave, is coming to visit me for one week from the Netherlands for New Years!!!! I met her in Madrid, we had Spanish class together...when we actually went, lol...and i have not seen her since our trip to Paris in 2011!!!! SOOO excited to see her and have a great friend to get into trouble with in China...let's just say that Eve and I are pretty talented when it comes to having fun and getting into shenanigans!
ALSO!!! I found out my parents are flying me home for a month from January 20-Feb 10, for Chinese Spring Festival!!!! (chinese new years...biggest holiday of the year in china and no one works. I am BESIDE myself with excitement!!!) 94 more days til i get to return to the best country in the world!!!
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