And so it goes…(did anyone else sing this to the tune of a Michael Buble’ song?)

Since I lost the 3 out of the 5 posts that I have already written, (I know right?! so annoying. How fan!!! -chinese) I am going to skip re-writing them and just focus on what happened after the last one I wrote. Yes, I am that lazy. So, where were we… Oh yes! right after the trip to the zoo. So the month of June was fairly easy. Nothing over the top extraordinary happened either good or bad. Then here came the BOOM! July was wrought with unpleasant and wonderful adventures! So, as the old saying goes, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” Let’s get the bad news out of the way.
The first two weeks of July both Monica and myself were sick. We both caught a very bad cold, and I had the added pleasure of catching the flu… more than once! Plus, this one was outstanding in my mind, I got one of the worst cases of food poisoning I’ve ever had. My boss came in with some dim sum (Chinese dumpling filled with different meats, veggies, or beans) to share. This one was made with egg and rice. My initial thought, “Ohgood! I won’t have to fake like eating meat.” When I raise the dumpling to my mouth, I noticed it was..slimy? Let’s just say it contained way more grease than I was expecting. I took one bite of this and immediately regretted my decision. My body basically reacted to this bite in my mouth with an all out war.
My body: “don’t do it! don’t swallow it!”
Me: “But I have to! I can’t seem rude to my boss”
My body: “you will regret this”
Me: *swallowing*
My body: “NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!”
I apparently made a face that displayed my inner warfare, because all of my co-workers enjoyed a good laugh at my expense. About 30 minutes later I did not feel so well. I guzzled some water hoping to stave of the stomach churning sensation, but to no avail. 30 minutes after that I leaned over to my TA Lena and told her I was unwell. I had to leave the office and sit by the window. No good. 30 minutes after that: sweaty, shaking, lightheaded, stomach violently churning, I arose from my seat by the window and shuffled to the office in search of medication. I must have look like death himself because Lena gasped in horror! She turned to Ray, the head teacher, and asked her if we had any stomach medicine. We didn’t. By now, both of my coworkers are showing signs of deep concern, and I even hear the word “hospital”. ENTER: My boss. “Oh! What is wrong?! You are sick?!” By this point I can’t walk straight, and my boss has to guid me to one of the couches. She lays me down on the couch and tells me not to move. The first thing I see when I am mummy like on the couch is Lena literally running out of the office. I am told she is going to the pharmacy to buy medication. Praise the Lord for Lena. Ray is now hovering over me, and my boss is in a mild state of panic. (she probably believes she has just poisoned her only foreign teacher. lol) Ray’s solution to my stomach mishap? Mentholatum. She grabs a jar, and she rubs this stuff on my exposed belly. Let me tell you, having a coworker rub your belly…is weird. Lena was finally back with the medicine and after taking 2 different kinds of medication, I was able to sit up. The effects of the dim sum did not wear off until the next morning. It was quite a day.

And this was only the first two weeks…

Right after the horrible sickness, the sales ladies at my office dropped a bomb on us teachers merely asking a question. “Are you prepared for summer camp?” The responding question on all of the teacher’s minds. “what summer camp” Now we all knew that some time this summer we were going to have an English summer camp, we just didn’t know when. Aparantly the sales ladies had scheduled the camp and then they forgot to tell the teachers about it…. Summer camp started 2 days from when we all found out about it. We had to create 3 classes a day for 5 days a week for 2 weeks for three 8year olds using materials meant for 4-6year olds. If we had adequate time, no problem, but with such short notice, creating games and lessons for those kids (without offending them by using material meant for younger kids) was quite a challenge. The kids ended up being great kids and we had a lot of fun, it was just a tough more stressful than it needed to be.

One of the most unexpected and the most disgusting item on this month’s list was.. the infestation! Reese was at the apartment to pick up some food he had left. He picked up a piece of paper we keep the wifi info on, and SLAMMED it into the wall.
Me: Sooo, what was that for?
Reese: Did you know that you have mites?
Me: NO!!!!!
Reese: In fact, now that I’m looking, there’s an infestation. They’re covering the walls.
I was immediately horrified. I didn’t even put on real shoes before I dragged him out of the apartment. Straight to the front desk we flew! I begged them for help. Please kill the bugs. Abut 30 min later, housekeeping showed up at the apartment with 2 cans of raid. Basically, spray away. Reese and I BOMBED the house. There was so much raid in the apartment that we had to leave it for several hours. My horror knew no bounds, and he had pity on me. We walked to the little mall across the street and bought a couple dvd’s and had dinner. By the time we were finished it was safe to re-enter. The apartment manager was kind enough to let us sleep in another apartment that nigh, and they even scheduled to have our apartment scoured for us. It turned into a 4 day affair of the hibijeebies. We still don’t know where the infernal terrors came from. We are all clean people and we live on the 27th floor! These things look like dust specks, which is why we missed it long enough for it to get that bad. PTL the apartment is now bug free!
The End.

On to better things!

Our wonderful housemates, Cassandra and Tianne, now have their own apartment! It is a beautiful loft with one of the best views money can buy. From the 22nd floor you can see Canton Tower, the Pearl River, and the IFC building. Spectacular! I can’t wait to bring food and a movie to go chill with them at their new place!

Monica and I had the privilege to meet up with a friend of our from the States. Let me tell you, there is nothing as comforting than talking to a person who knows exactly what you are saying. I am the only native English speaker at the training center. The head teacher speaks English, but there is a big difference. So, most days are completely silent with a few sprinklings of Chinese “English”. Not only does she understand my language, but she understands the same things and doesn’t understand the same things that we do! We were a bit homesick this month, and it was such a balm to our souls to see her. We started our excursion with a trip to a Chinese tea shop. We ate so much food, and I still don’t quite know what most of it consisted of. After tea we still wanted to chat, so we meandered over to a mall and sat for a couple more hours in a Starbucks. We had a few encounters that day with the locals, some of the hazards of being a foreigner, let alone a group of foreigners, in China is that you are watched. Constantly. Everywhere.

You all remember Reese? He is now one of our favorite people here. He comes over for dinner, takes us to foreign food shops, and we even had a movie night. In fact, Monica and I were out at a place called Shamien Island and we went to an elegant, peaceful Starbucks as a reward for a long tough week. All of a sudden Monica calls out “Reese!” Lo and behold, there he was, and he had a friend with him. What was intended to be a quick hour long rest turned into a three hour social event. Melanie, Reese’s friend, was bright and energetic and fun to talk to. The conversation flowed so naturally between the four of us I barely noticed that time had passed. All of us got along very well.
Remember our friend Robert? He hosted a party at another friend’s “small mansion”. 5 words: All you can eat bbq! Bobby, another friend of mine and the owner of the mansion, invited some of his fashion employees and other associates. It was a great mingling party. Everybody was so nice! We meet so many people from all over the world. South Korea, France, and Italy: to name a few. And, since several of the are fashion designers or buyers, I now have some way to buy pants and shorts that will fit me here. Good food, great conversation, new friends. Awesome night.

WE FOUND MEXICAN FOOD!!! Legit! It was a wonderful treasure. A bit on the expensive side, but worth every penny. The costumer service was terrible, but that is a general rule here, so no big deal.

Today, August 3rd, my boss went out of her way to be nice to us employees. She went and bought everybody Starbucks! She even asked me what drink I wanted instead of just grabbing me something! I can count on one hand how often that has happened in my life, but it remains to be one of the sweetest things someone could do for me. It truly made my day! 😀