routine of things?

some days I wonder how long it will take me to get into a good routine. will it always be this exhausting? well, not every day is so tiring, and there are a lot of good days. but I don't like the feeling of "just getting by" with my school stuff. we had an open house last night. and Scott is at his tonight. I didn't see as many parents as I would have liked. but what I hear from parents, their students are happy so far! one girl who was always bored in grade 3, isn't bored this year. that's good news! I must be doing something right :) and the kids seem pretty happy in general. did I mention that have of my class is labeled "ESL" ? it's quite a challenge at times. and I'm glad I only have 15 students (one left for another school this week).

in other news, we had a very busy but exciting weekend. I went to the school first thing in the morning for 2 hours, then Scott and I ventured to a touristy location, the Temple of Heaven. it's one of the first temples built in Beijing. but it's all been restored, and there were LOTS of people there. then we went to the "Pearl" market. they sell lots of things. floors of electronics, trinkets, clothes, household decorations, and lots of pearls! pretty neat, but the vendors there really harassed us. they are so pushy! you can't look for something in peace, they ask you "what are you looking for?" and then quote these ridiculously HIGH prices. my first line is "no way! I live here, I know what I should pay for this!" then they say "ok, for you, this price! just for you!" but it's still too high. I was looking at a little wallet, but I didn't really like it. she started at about 280 yuan, and I quoted her 20! I got her down in price quite a bit, but then I decided it wasn't really what i wanted so I started walking away and she was yelling after me for awhile "ok, 40 for you! I'll take for 40!!!" hehe, it's entertaining. Scott and I can also split up and compare prices. but one lady almost wouldn't let me out of the store to talk with Scott about a price! she probably knew she was asking too much.



we also bought a few movies off the street, for 5 yuan each, which is about 70 cents! we bought Oceans 13, 'Evan Almight" (no 'y'), and the third Pirates of the Caribbean. so far we watched Oceans 13, and we think it was copied from a european version, because the subtitles for the spanish parts were maybe in russian? hehe.....but Evan Almighty was all good. ya never know what quality you'll get. James Bell, you'd love it here! they also had season 6 of 24, do you have that yet? I can't keep track of what season it's in.

on Sunday evening we joined some other teachers and their church friends, and went to an area called Hou Hai. it's this old lake with a nice path all the way around, lots of nice restaurants, and some parks with some genuine chinese musicians. we went to a well-known pizza place that was quite good. the whole area reminded us of hanging out in Port Dalhousie. you can rent little boats, and eat dinner at a little island too.

I finally decided to buy some flour! the stuff we're used to is only imported, their flour is different. so I had to buy it from the imports grocery store and it was a little expensive. but I was ready to start making my own pasta sauce! I made a nice chicken and broccoli pasta with white sauce. yummy! chicken is quite cheap here! people don't eat very much of it. they prefer pork. and we are able to find cereal for Scott's ritual giant bowls for breakfast. but it's expensive. I opt for the instant oatmeal or toast. we don't have a little oven yet, but might invest in one eventually. I also bought olive oil this weekend! now I can make salad dressings too.....because the prepared stuff is very expensive. hehe....little things that get me excited, things I took for granted back home.

well, it's nice to know some people are reading this. thanks! bye for now!