ice-capades and ktv
my last week in gz for a whiles...so i'm damned well determined to enjoy it, even in this sweltering, melting heat!
last week was quite eventful--
alex millman (you guys remember him? little bundle of energy?;)) came to visit me! he's doing an internship in kunming this summer and was in hong kong just chilling until it was time to go, and because i am his "shi jie (rough translation: dorm elder-sister) and friend, i had to take care of him! my students really adore him (he was here with the YUNA people in March, too), so i took him back to class and let them chill out together. we did the usual dimsum, market walk, and then shamian island tour. it's good to know that i will be seeing a lot of him in china!
thursday night, coco and jarvis took luke and me to a chaosan restaurant where we ate like there was no tomorrow. my favorite dish? the geese feet. they're so HUGE and amazingly delicious. before i started eating dimsum, i didn't really understand why people ate chicken feet or pig's feet, but i've discovered they're actually quite yummy. we took all sorts of pictures making fun of ourselves and had a good time in general. i'm also going to learn how to make cantonese soup from coco's mom *yeah!*
on friday, coco, jarvis, lion, pete, jessie, sage, luke, and i headed to this fantastic place for a little ktv fun. if you don't know, renting out huge rooms and singing karaoke is a favorite pasttime of many chinese people (and those who are infatuated with china, like us ELIs). of course, sage and i sang jay chow like there was no tomorrow (much to luke's dismay), and i discovered that pete and jessie have the most beautiful singing voices i've ever ever heard. i couldn't get enough of them singing...while it's fun to sing yourself, it's even more fun to discover what talented friends you have! i've been going nuts on the downloading site recently, so i've gotten all of this awesome chinese music--one of my favorites being this song, "Shi Nian Qian (ten years ago)," talking about yuanfen, or fate. the words are quite beautiful, not to mention the melody!
many of my conversations recently, i must say, have centered around this topic. apparently everyone and every relationship has a little yuanfen, but the degree of this fate determines the ultimate outcome of the relationship. i still haven't decided if i believe in this so-called "yuanfen," but i think there is definitely something there. i mean, i believe everything happens for a reason, but i don't think that every single meeting results in yuanfen happening. i pass by random people every day that i don't think i will ever see again...but then again, perhaps i am being picky about the definition. pete and lion seem to think that this mysterious thing exists. perhaps i should believe in it, too.
after some fun singing, pete, lion, jessie and i decided we'd like to go ice-skating, so we did. they all skated absolutely beautifully!! i haven't skated since i was 13 or so, so they were all trying to hold my hand and help me skate around the rink...haha:) skating is so good, but surprisingly more work than it seems...and it will make your feet absolutely sore. i finally got the hang of it and reached the point where i was moving quite quickly on my own. i only fell once, but it was a spectacular fall that made everyone around me unsuccessfully try not to laugh at my expense. it was amazing...i remember thinking how great this fall would be if i could only see it as i was going down. hehe
oh!! i get to see perry this friday!!!!!! i'm so happy that i get to see someone i love as soon as i get to a new place:):):) i can't wait...it makes leaving gz easier to some extent...
my one complaint: china's bureaucratic system is by far the worst system i have ever encountered. god help ANYONE who needs to get anything done here! i started applying for a VISA extension in MARCH and it is now, oh, june already. but the funny thing is that they had my papers done by may 27 and somehow lost them in the post office, so now i have to apply all over again! it is SO frustrating trying to get anything done, and i was so angry when the woman in the office told me that i actually started crying out of sheer anger/frustration. *sigh* I just hope that it's all taken care of by the end of the week, otherwise...
but i can't end on a complaint! happy duanwujie! i didn't get to see any dragon boat races, but i did eat zhongzhi to commemmorate the holiday. i also sewed with megs and swam in her apartment complex's pool. i love this city:)
last week was quite eventful--
alex millman (you guys remember him? little bundle of energy?;)) came to visit me! he's doing an internship in kunming this summer and was in hong kong just chilling until it was time to go, and because i am his "shi jie (rough translation: dorm elder-sister) and friend, i had to take care of him! my students really adore him (he was here with the YUNA people in March, too), so i took him back to class and let them chill out together. we did the usual dimsum, market walk, and then shamian island tour. it's good to know that i will be seeing a lot of him in china!
thursday night, coco and jarvis took luke and me to a chaosan restaurant where we ate like there was no tomorrow. my favorite dish? the geese feet. they're so HUGE and amazingly delicious. before i started eating dimsum, i didn't really understand why people ate chicken feet or pig's feet, but i've discovered they're actually quite yummy. we took all sorts of pictures making fun of ourselves and had a good time in general. i'm also going to learn how to make cantonese soup from coco's mom *yeah!*
on friday, coco, jarvis, lion, pete, jessie, sage, luke, and i headed to this fantastic place for a little ktv fun. if you don't know, renting out huge rooms and singing karaoke is a favorite pasttime of many chinese people (and those who are infatuated with china, like us ELIs). of course, sage and i sang jay chow like there was no tomorrow (much to luke's dismay), and i discovered that pete and jessie have the most beautiful singing voices i've ever ever heard. i couldn't get enough of them singing...while it's fun to sing yourself, it's even more fun to discover what talented friends you have! i've been going nuts on the downloading site recently, so i've gotten all of this awesome chinese music--one of my favorites being this song, "Shi Nian Qian (ten years ago)," talking about yuanfen, or fate. the words are quite beautiful, not to mention the melody!
many of my conversations recently, i must say, have centered around this topic. apparently everyone and every relationship has a little yuanfen, but the degree of this fate determines the ultimate outcome of the relationship. i still haven't decided if i believe in this so-called "yuanfen," but i think there is definitely something there. i mean, i believe everything happens for a reason, but i don't think that every single meeting results in yuanfen happening. i pass by random people every day that i don't think i will ever see again...but then again, perhaps i am being picky about the definition. pete and lion seem to think that this mysterious thing exists. perhaps i should believe in it, too.
after some fun singing, pete, lion, jessie and i decided we'd like to go ice-skating, so we did. they all skated absolutely beautifully!! i haven't skated since i was 13 or so, so they were all trying to hold my hand and help me skate around the rink...haha:) skating is so good, but surprisingly more work than it seems...and it will make your feet absolutely sore. i finally got the hang of it and reached the point where i was moving quite quickly on my own. i only fell once, but it was a spectacular fall that made everyone around me unsuccessfully try not to laugh at my expense. it was amazing...i remember thinking how great this fall would be if i could only see it as i was going down. hehe
oh!! i get to see perry this friday!!!!!! i'm so happy that i get to see someone i love as soon as i get to a new place:):):) i can't wait...it makes leaving gz easier to some extent...
my one complaint: china's bureaucratic system is by far the worst system i have ever encountered. god help ANYONE who needs to get anything done here! i started applying for a VISA extension in MARCH and it is now, oh, june already. but the funny thing is that they had my papers done by may 27 and somehow lost them in the post office, so now i have to apply all over again! it is SO frustrating trying to get anything done, and i was so angry when the woman in the office told me that i actually started crying out of sheer anger/frustration. *sigh* I just hope that it's all taken care of by the end of the week, otherwise...
but i can't end on a complaint! happy duanwujie! i didn't get to see any dragon boat races, but i did eat zhongzhi to commemmorate the holiday. i also sewed with megs and swam in her apartment complex's pool. i love this city:)