Things That Make Me Happy
I've been in a brighter mood lately, so I felt a little optimism was in order. Here are some things that make me happy here, in whatever random order they pop into my mind:
1. Not being (very) sick. For the first time in a long time, I am more or less healthy. As it turns out, not constantly feeling miserable does wonders for one's mood.
2. Paying my bills. Really. The bills themselves are no fun, but paying them is terribly convenient. I just scamper on down to the 7/11 right next door and they ring it up at the register like any other purchase.
3. Speaking Chinese. If I was ranking these in any particular order, this would be one of the most significant. Unfortunately, it's usually more a matter of being unhappy because I don't speak Chinese, but tonight I'm flying high because I just had an actual legitimate conversation with a cab driver. He complimented my Chinese and asked me where I'd learned it, where I'm from, how long I've been here, whether I'm a teacher or a student, etc., and I managed to come up with coherent answers most of the time. Made my day.
4. Greasy night market food. Good for the soul, if not the physique. mmmm... 鍋貼。
5. Carrefour. My extraordinary discovery of the day. I knew it existed, of course, but I hadn't been there and I didn't realize I cared until I took my kindergartners there on a field trip this morning. Carrefour is a french chain of "hypermarkets", basically filling the same niche as Wal-mart. I feel somewhat guilty about being so happy about it. I want to say that I have no interest in Carrefour, I'd rather just do all my shopping at local mom and pop stores or night/morning markets. But when I first stepped into Carrefour.... I almost cried. (OK, not really, but I liked it a lot.)
6. Some kids, sometimes. I'm not going to go so far as to say that my students always bring me joy. In fact, a lot of them make me fairly miserable. But I've got to admit, some of those little brats are alright.
Well, 6 things to be happy about isn't a bad start. I'm sure there would be more if I was in a thinking mood. Suffice it to say, the sun is shining here in Luzhou. (Not literally, of course. )
1. Not being (very) sick. For the first time in a long time, I am more or less healthy. As it turns out, not constantly feeling miserable does wonders for one's mood.
2. Paying my bills. Really. The bills themselves are no fun, but paying them is terribly convenient. I just scamper on down to the 7/11 right next door and they ring it up at the register like any other purchase.
3. Speaking Chinese. If I was ranking these in any particular order, this would be one of the most significant. Unfortunately, it's usually more a matter of being unhappy because I don't speak Chinese, but tonight I'm flying high because I just had an actual legitimate conversation with a cab driver. He complimented my Chinese and asked me where I'd learned it, where I'm from, how long I've been here, whether I'm a teacher or a student, etc., and I managed to come up with coherent answers most of the time. Made my day.
4. Greasy night market food. Good for the soul, if not the physique. mmmm... 鍋貼。
5. Carrefour. My extraordinary discovery of the day. I knew it existed, of course, but I hadn't been there and I didn't realize I cared until I took my kindergartners there on a field trip this morning. Carrefour is a french chain of "hypermarkets", basically filling the same niche as Wal-mart. I feel somewhat guilty about being so happy about it. I want to say that I have no interest in Carrefour, I'd rather just do all my shopping at local mom and pop stores or night/morning markets. But when I first stepped into Carrefour.... I almost cried. (OK, not really, but I liked it a lot.)
6. Some kids, sometimes. I'm not going to go so far as to say that my students always bring me joy. In fact, a lot of them make me fairly miserable. But I've got to admit, some of those little brats are alright.
Well, 6 things to be happy about isn't a bad start. I'm sure there would be more if I was in a thinking mood. Suffice it to say, the sun is shining here in Luzhou. (Not literally, of course. )