“You like saying ‘dui’ a
lot, don’t you....”
On Monday, I had an amazing
lie-in and didn’t dread going to teach for 6 hours because I’M ON WINTER BREAK!
Instead, I had a lazy morning (mostly consisting of washing, drying and
straightening my hair to then put it up because I walked too fast and it went
curly), and then met Brooke at Mann Waffle and Toast. I resisted ordering a
waffle or French toast (it was very difficult) and instead settled with a cappuccino.
However, Henry, the waiter, only brought my drink over and not Brooke’s and we
struggled to make him realise this. Thankyou to the Chinese women opposite us
who told Henry of his mistake and managed to get Brooke her coffee. Stupid Henry - we weren't going to share a coffee #cheapskate.
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| How pretty... |
After a chilled few hours
drinking coffee, we realise that we should probably get some dinner and headed
to Jiedaokou, one of my favourite areas of Wuchang for food. We got mala xiang
guo – a dry, pick-your-own pot of food. The staff found two western people
picking various meats and vegetables quite a sight and watched us intently. We
successfully chose our food, ordered rice and drinks and then waited for it to
cook. There was a slight issue when the dish arrived covered in peanuts (had
even used my Chinese dictionary app to state no peanuts) but I didn’t die so
it’s fine. Later on, we both went home and I Skyped my sister before going to
sleep.
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| Brooke and I with our mala xiang guo |
On Tuesday, I went for
coffee with my New Zealand neighbour, Marianna. She took me to a café on my
university campus, which I’d never even seen because my campus is ridiculously
large. The café, Figaro, is owned by people from the Philippines and was nice and quiet. I ordered a cappuccino and
oreo cake (it was literally incredible) and she told me all about New Zealand, which now makes me want to visit! My afternoon was
less enthralling, as I had to translate ‘bathroom leak’ to my maintenance man,
who then ventured off to order the part, and then plan my tutoring lessons.
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| Cappucino and oreo cake |
My evening involved catching
up with Broadchurch – OMG!!- and watching Esio Trot. It really didn’t help with
my yearning for a tortoise. In the evening, I Skyped my mum so we could go
through some of the things she is bringing with her to China (in less than two weeks!!) and it’s safe to say that
my dad has about 750 grams of luggage allowance. Sorry about that dad, but my
need for Yorkshire tea and Dairy Milk is far more important.
Wednesday was supposed to be
a productive morning of cleaning my apartment but I decided to sleep in until 11.30am instead. Cue a mad rush of cleaning and having a
shower before meeting up with Brooke, Carly, Paul and Marie. Luckily, they came
to my neighbourhood, which bought me some more time, and I took them to my
favourite drinks shop and favourite restaurant. The restaurant is a typical
Chinese one, with a menu in Chinese characters and no one that speaks English.
I amazed myself in my successful ordering of 5 dishes and then Marie wrote it
all down. If I am ever in doubt over Chinese translation, I just say ‘dui’,
which means yes. I use this word a lot, so much so that Paul actually commented
about my over usage of the word. Whoops. The food was incredible as always and
then, with major food babies (because it was kinda too good to leave any), we
went back to mine.
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| Our incredible food |
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| Closest thing I've had to chips in months! |
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| Marie, Paul, Brooke, Carley and I |
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| Meat drying everywhere! |
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| Me and Carley (I'm holding my chopsticks because I just want to eat) |
We spent the afternoon
relaxing and chatting over copious cups of tea (PG tips you’re a winner), and
then watched a film called ‘A Lonely Place to Die’, which was good but very
unexpected. Finally, we grabbed some tung bao (little meatball bread things)
near to my apartment and then I went home to relax.
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| Tung bao |
Thursday came around far too
quickly, and I woke up late after another lie-in. My sleeping pattern is ruined
already. I went to help Marianna pack up her apartment because she is leaving
to go back home, and she gave me loads of freebies! I got a heater, blender, books,
doormat, tons of food, new boots and some other things. It was like Christmas
for my apartment! In the evening, after researching soup recipes (was supposed to be planning my classes for next semester), I went to
tutor my children and they were very cute. I’m currently trying to teach them
days of the week and months of the year, but they’re too interested in watching
the stories and songs to actually say the words!
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| Procrastinating at it's finest |
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| Dumplings with hot sauce and potatoes |
Later on, we headed home and
realised that it was after 3pm
and we’d forgotten about lunch. After nipping to my university (to get a new
part for my bathroom), we went to a ramen noodle restaurant. I had pork rib and
bamboo ramen and you got a ladle to eat it with! I had stupidly worn boots that
hurt my feet after a few hours, so had to take a taxi home and then get my
bathroom leak fixed. After 4 months of potential flooding every time I used my
sink, my bathroom, floor is now water free! Friday evening involved me lying on
my bed in an exhausted state because seeing animals is tiring work, and eating
crackers.
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| Pork rib and bamboo ramen - complete with ladle to eat! |
The weekend soon rolled
around and after an amazing 13-hour sleep on Friday night, I found myself doing
odd jobs all day Saturday. You know the ones, which you don’t want to do but
then you complete them all and feel super productive. Bedding changed, floor
mopped, admin done and tutoring lessons planned, I headed out for some food –
cai mala tong = vegetable noodles. You pick your vegetables (and meat, tofu etc
if you want them), then choose your noodles and finally, the level of spice.
Volunteering was good as I
got to see Mr and Mrs Mai after their holiday to America and found myself chatting to a young boy, about 10
years old, who’s English was amazing. He told me all about his science lessons
and how he is studying the pH scale. On my way home, I picked up a few cushions
for my apartment and then watched a movie before bed.
Today, I'm going to meet up with Marie and then we're walking to Han Jien (a street with Western shops). She's informed me that it will take about an hour so in true athlete preparation, I'm going to meet her for some food before we set off. I've even done a few stretches to make sure I don't pull a muscle a mile down the road. Marks and Spencer 'Percy pig' sweets, I'm coming for you.......
