Tuesday, May 10, 2011

National Holidays and Stuffed Cake ~ by Abby Goldstein

Sorry its been so long, I have been very distracted as of late. My computer broke, I lost friends, I gained friends, I went swimming… I smell something burning.
Moving on, last week was pretty much a blur, a lot of new work and training. I am now learning our Tibetan routes, as I started sales today (yay!). I have been offered a post grad job here for a few years. Definitely something to chew on. Speaking of chewing on, I had pizza this past week, it made me delirious. It was a Chinese national holiday similar to the American Labor Day. So we went to Richard’s country club for swimming, pingpong, and badminton. I also tried new foods this week… chicken blood, eel, sea creature of unidentified origin (Manny and I couldnt pinpoint what it was and have taken to calling it sea creature). We went to Hot Pot with a girl named Olivia who was in from Shanghai, she was a total sweetheart, and we walked all the way from dinner which was on the north west side of town, to the clubs on the south east side of town (it was a surprisingly refreshing walk). We stopped along the way to pick up a dress for 20 quai for me which looked fantastic with my sneakers, and a shirt for Manny to replace the oil splashed one he ruined at hot pot ( I suggested we just rub some mud and other weird stuff on it to make it look like part of the design). Either way, we had a blast (and a free bottle of champagne, oh how I love being foreign).

On Saturday Manny, Florence, and I did 6 hours of ktv…. straight through. It was awesome. We did everything from Elvis to Lady Gaga. This was all for only 15 RMB per person, non-alcholic drinks included! I was a little shy at first, but I was belting out by the end of the first hour, I was belting it out like I was possessed by Whitney Huston herself. My companions’ enthusiasm is contagious. I met a bunch of local girls, which was nice. Apparently, we hit it off enough that they were asking Manny for my number. Ah, if only I was that popular with the opposite sex. C’est la vie.

I met a ton of foreigners, many of whom I will be seeing at a concert tomorrow. I met a dance crew who was in Step Up 3 who were here from Holland for an international dance competition (apparently they liked me enough, I was sought after when they went into CC.) They are also the reigning champs in their competition, so mazel tov to them . I was given an oven too… a toaster oven, my boss is like you can cook cakes in this right, I shook my head and said I would try my best. I have mosquito bites up the wazoo, it totally blows, but I got them being outdoorsy so I am okay with it. I hit the mountains to the south of Chengdu this weekend with some friends, the views were breath taking, I need to start remembering my camera, its a really bad habit of mine to not have it. I will upload some new pics at some point, let me acquire more first.

I met my Chinese tutor, we have set up our first few meetings. My co-workers have gotten especially busy as it is peak season now, and don’t have time to teach me anymore. She seems very nice and has friends at Sichuan University. She works in a company that specializes in tutoring. Isabella referred me to her, she seems to be a very powerful woman, Isabella, that is.

I will keep you updated on other things as they happen, starting with a concert tomorrow. May is a month of new beginnings I have decided, and as such, there will be a lot of changes made. Social, academic, health-wise, and breaking bad habits. Sadly I am not much of one for making New Year’s resolutions and am beginning making some just a bit later in the year. With that strong note, I leave you for this evening.

A pleasure updating you all, as usual.

Soooooooooooooooooooo much love,

Abby
Cultural Embrace Intern in China  2011

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