31/5/11 Last day of May. Still not sure if I’ll get to teach. The man at the teaching center yesterday sounded like he wanted a SAT math tutor and asked for my score. AACK. Math, especially SAT math, is my weak point.
Today: grocery store to find some snacks, maybe a plastic bowl and chopsticks for my own, shampoo/conditioner, and later tonight: maybe night market, need to find Engrish shirts! I saw one that said “Leave me alone” and I saw another grandma wearing a skull and bones shirt. It was classy too, the pattern was all skulls.
Yesterday I got around the whole south west corner of Xi Hu (West Lake) on my own! I took a taxi there, asking to go to “Nanshan Lu.” Well, I realy just said “Nanshan Lu” and just nodded when he said something else. Apparently Nanshan is really long, so I kinda said “Ok” and pointed when I wanted him to stop. I ended up stopping a bit too early, but hey, I saved some yuan! I used the map to find a café which I guess isn’t there anymore…but ended up finding another place with free wi-fi called Costa Coffee. It was kinda overpriced, but the cool mango passionfruit smoothie was worth it. The girl who worked there, Helena, talked to me for a few minutes and gave me some great tips. I love it when Chinese people are genuinely interested in where you come from and what you’re doing here.
I think I’m developing something called “Foreigner Radar” because whenever I see another foreigner I tend to stare and wonder what they’re doing here. Yesterday I saw another African American/african (!) that’s a rarity. We exchanged a wave and smile. I don’t know if there are a lot of European and American tourists in Hangzhou, I’ve only seen a few European tourists, but there are a lot of Ex-pats (ex-patriates) around who seem to be on their e-bikes (moped type things) and bicycles like the locals.
I’m surprised by the sheer amount of Chinese tourists. In our little section of town near Ling Yin Temple, tour guides pass behind our apartment every. single. morning. I wonder what they could be saying in their megaphones, holding their flags : “And here is an apartment where we have heard news of foreigners!”
The family has a little baby girl and she is SO CUTE. Everytime she sees me she does a cute little wave and I’m like “awwwwww” inside. SO CUTE. CAN I STEAL CHU? KXIEXIE. (kthx, Chinese style.)
I still haven’t had to use my phrase, “my Chinese isn’t that good”. I use my two food vocab words, “mien” which are noodles and “tang” (sp?) which is sweet. I usually depend on our more talented peers who can order for us.
Now, back for a day on the bus and traveling by foot. We walk around a lot. It tires me out, but that’s fine. I’ve gotten used to the rock hard bed, now it feels normal! Sleeping at home is gonna be mega-weird.
zaijian!
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