Friday, May 23, 2008

Day in the Life of Me (maybe long & boring, but now you have an example of a whole day)

I had a really nice, mild day. Got up at 8 to go to a meeting at work at 10am, which was actually kind of fun. Because it was early and a few of us wouldn't be teaching until evening, 3 of us showed up in jeans & sneakers, one guy with huge holes in the knees and a baseball cap & scruff.... I've only seen him before, for months, looking all sharp & professional. And no one told us in advance we'd each be getting our pictures taken. So it was a slightly giggly-meeting, with us younger shabby-looking teachers sitting in the back row where the shabby-looking students usually belong. The baseball cap guy colored in all the holes of the letters on the agenda (a,b,d,g, etc), as any good back-row-sitting student should. Got a free lunch afterwards.

I took the bus home, which I like doing if I get a seat. On the bus I can look out the window, which I really find fun and interesting, and daydream a bit or practice Chinese in my head. Walking home from the bus I stopped into my neighborhood market & bought 2 kinds of tofu, vegetables, some fresh handmade noodles, and yogurt (total=15yuan, or $2, or $15 if we put it back into proportion; it's only cheap if you earn a US salary).

At home, wasn't sure how to spend the next 3 odd hours before going to class. I did a load of laundry, got online a while, then started feeling really antsy, not sure why, and didn't really know what to do with myself. Played my drum a little, but that didn't help because I was too worried about bothering the neighbors in this new 1st floor apartment as opposed to the top floor one I was in before, where I could go out on the roof and actually feel alone. I miss that. Here, I know the doorguard & elevator lady would be able to hear anything loud in my place. I lifted my son's dumbbells for a bit (after taking off the heavy plates; I'm weak) and did some couch-pushups (because real ones are just not in my repertoire) then finally decided to try a new yoga dvd. It's awkward following a video (the first few times) because you're supposed to be facing other directions, or hanging your head down, but you have to keep turning to see what they're doing - "[peeking up]... oh, head should still be down... [peeking up again...] nope, heads still down... [now...?] .. oh golly she's standing up now in some crazy pose, how'd that happen?"... Ended up sweating and feeling pretty good.

Early dinner was leftover broccoli & ginger and brown rice from a little buddhist restaurant, to which I added two eggs, all mixed together. It was really good.

Rode bike to subway, running late even though I had that free 3 hours. Go figure, but that's me sometimes.
My class was great. We didn't use the book at all. The 4 students who showed up were relaxed casual friendly ones, so we just talked the whole time about all different topics. I learned the chinese version of "speak of the devil!", which includes the name of an emperor, not the devil, and sounds funny because it rhymes. Theirs is better, sorry to admit. (shuo1 Cao2cao1, Cao2cao1 dao4) They also asked me lots of personal questions, like who do I live with, and about my son & "husband" (I just say "we're not together anymore" avoiding the words married/divorced, since those never got around to happening and I really hate lying)... my lifestyle is not exactly traditional for this country, but I like explaining it to people who are genuinely interested because then they learn something... like being a single parent isn't a BAD thing, and there are reasons, etc... and they already know me & respect me, so they actually listen and see another view.

Riding home from the subway was REALLY nice - the air was the perfect temperature, and riding a bike gives that nice little breeze that makes me want to stretch my arms out (but don't worry, I only put one out) so I rode around my apartment complex a little extra before going in. (confession: I often sing while riding my bike. Pedestrians will only have to bear a moment of it as I quickly pass, and they'll never see me again, so it's safe)
The kid was unexpectedly home (a bit after 10pm) and we talked a lot and didn't end up playing a game like we said. I let him go online without bugging him (rare for me) and dozed off on the couch daydreaming... which turned into real dreaming I guess. Woke up at 2am and went to bed for real.

There you have it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good words.