Overdue

I’m surprised I haven’t received any scolding comments or e-mails! This post is totally overdue. And sadly it will not be as great. I think of things to include and funny ways to say them, then time passes and they stay in my head. Sorry! You get the condensed version.

Total random side note: I want to try sardines. And even more than that I want to see how packed in the can they really are. I think it is a random saying: “packed in like sardines”. Some of my FHE brothers at BYUI were going to let me try their sardines, but I never did. Bummer.

TODAY
Monday is my longest day in terms of classes – 5. Two in the morning and 3 after lunch. My throat was sore and tight after I finished at 3:55. But I had fun. I’m enjoying my students and they are good (for the most part). Yvonne gave me a little scare when she came in and sat down during one of my morning lessons. I forgot she was going to come observe randomly. And she looked serious, bordering on severe. She said that was for the kids. AJ and I were both intimidated/surprised by it :)

I didn’t have a good breakfast because my milk went sour. I cleaned the fridge and left it out too long. Then I tried to fix it by freezing it. I left it in the freezer all night and was SO confused the next morning! I thought someone had come in and stolen my milk. Ha ha. I found it and left it out to thaw – accidentally left it out too long so that helped it sour faster. Lovely! Over $3 US dumped down my drain. What a sad thing. Especially when it is something I like so much. Anyway, today I was planning to grab a sandwich at the breakfast place downstairs. So I only had some handfuls of dry cereal.

You have probably surmised that there were no sandwiches. I left later than usual so they were all gone. I was hungry after my 2nd class. I headed down to the store one floor below our office (why didn’t they tell me about that sooner?!) and found something that made me happy. Lays original potato chips. AJ said it so well when I shared with him, “greasy little slices of home.” I laughed pretty hard. That’s the whole point of these past 2 paragraphs. But you got a good story in the meantime, right?

This evening I went with my friend Emily on the MRT to Fongshan. It was only 2 stops away. Would have been just as easy to drive our scooters the entire way. But I got to experience the brand-new MRT! It just opened and is free this entire week. If I’m feeling really brave, I could ride it alone. All the signs are in English and Chinese. I’m just concerned I wouldn’t be able to find the station again once I got out and wandered on the streets.

So the main purpose was for Emily to take me on the MRT. When we decided on the trip Sunday night I mentioned my need for jeans. And she helped me all right! She buys expensive jeans (bordering on $100 US – ridiculous!) but I wanted cheap ones. I tried on some expensive stuff but didn’t buy it. A lady at one store kept giving discounts and wanted me to buy a little dress (granted it was beautiful) and black jacket for $200. HA! Maybe if I was rich. I’m just a little teacher. And I keep remembering talking this job over with my dad and he calculated how much money I could save . . . that hasn’t really happened yet.

{another side note: I’m starting to think I’ll stay here for 2 years. I’m spending money getting settled and now I’m buying a new wardrobe (I plan to send my other stuff home with my dad when he visits in Oct.). And I have made friends that I don’t want to leave so soon. We’ll see. If I’m still working here next summer, I’ll go with Scott and a bunch of students on their tour to the US. Fun, fun!}

So I feel successful in a strange way. I was telling Emily on our way to the city that I’m too tall. She said “No! Tall is good.” Then I tried on jeans. After around 6 pair that were too short she said, “You’re too…” and I finished her sentence by shouting “TALL!” Ha ha. Told you so. I did find some that are an okay length. And not too expensive. But I have another problem. My body is not proportionate. My waist isn’t too big but my thighs are! So I have extra material in the waist area – but I can’t take it out because I need it big to get the pants on. So lame!! I’m bugged.

The reason I need new jeans is because I’ve lost weight, or my jeans have stretched. Some of both, I think. I didn’t eat very much when I first got here. Scott thought I lost weight. And I air dry my jeans now instead of using a dryer so they are probably a little bigger than back home. But it is a bit ridiculous – my “skinny” jeans, as I called them back home, are a bit baggy. So lame! You always think you will be excited to say your jeans don’t fit. Trust me, it’s just annoying. Especially if you’re in a foreign country and can’t speak the language. I’m all bugged that my pants hang funny and are loose even with a belt on. Seriously, it bugs.

This post is long and I’ve only described one day. I’ll sum up. (Princess Bride!) And what I meant is that I’ll say less about all the other stuff. That won’t be hard since it is being pushed out of my brain. I just don’t have enough space up there! Oh, I think it is the recall function that is the problem. Everything fits, but once it is in sometimes it doesn’t come back out. Sad day. I’ll put more info in the next post. :D