We got on what we thought was the right bus and began our journey, however it quickly became apparent that we were going the wrong way so we got off again! We found a Western Cafe called the Greenhouse Cafe but it didn't serve food so we continued our search for Cafe Java. We eventually found it but it was closed!! We met up with one of our Chinese contacts called Kelly and she found out that the cafe would be open in an hour or so. Across the road from the cafe was Xining Culture Park so we decided to go and burn some time in there. We walked in and saw that we could rent a golf cart for 20RMB for half an hour, Mike and I decided to split the money and time. It was so much fun! The carts weren't fast but much fun was had driving round with Deena and Alex (they got one between them too). I tried to do a 3 point turn but quickly realised that there was no reverse gear (duh...) and had to wheel myself backwards, Mike found it hilarious.
The park was really nice but like most of Xining there wasn't much greenery yet. Kelly said that there has been virtually no rain or snow this year, so the ground is very dry. I am sure it looks a lot nicer when there are leaves on the trees and flowers in the flower beds.
We decided it was time for lunch only to have Will ring us and ask us to help guide him to where we were. The general feeling between Alex, Mike and I was that if he had wanted to come he should have stayed with us. We were more interested in western food than getting Will to us; in fact we'd have preferred him to be elsewhere. Alex describes him as a cloud of negativity while I just describe him as an ignorant moron.
Anyway we went into Cafe Java and ordered ourselves a burger and a coke (no diet coke here in Xining), the coke was even chilled and served with ICE. This is unheard of here in Xining. It was glorious. We sat down to wait for our food and Cecilia and Kelly taught Mike and I how to play Chinese Checkers which was good fun! It was weird being in a place with so many foreigners! The burgers soon came and my goodness, they were to die for. I mean they weren't that great quality but it was meat with no bones in it! Oh and CHEESE! Was very happy! Even Will's arrival couldn't put a dampener on my mood. We had chocolate cheesecake after which was very nice! China doesn't do desserts so this was a treat. Mike headed off to meet Fish and go pick up his laptop from the repairman. I was quite happy just chilling out in this cafe enjoying the atmosphere but of course Will was restless and demanded we go. This annoyed Alex, I actually thought she was going to attack him; I guess his attitude that day just tipped the scale. The thing is with Will, he does things to get a reaction and yet is so socially inept that he fails to notice when he goes too far and then he never lets things go. In all he is just a spoilt brat, who is used to getting his own way.
Anyway to avoid the next World War I suggested that we go and meet up with Fish and Will. We got on a bus and found ourselves waiting outside of the market. I got a phone call which was all in Chinese so I passed my phone to Kelly. She talked to the man and then relayed to me that he had a package for me but couldn't deliver to school because it is too far out of Xining. Once Michael and Fish arrived, we went to this massive supermarket. My phone rang again and Fish answered it, we had to go meet the courier to get this package. We walked for a while but luckily Fish is really nice and her English is fantastic! She said I was very intelligent which was nice! We met the courier and he handed me my package. Now to see what was in the package... red noses. Lots of red noses! I forgot I bought these! Oh well I will have to use them in teaching somehow!
Fish and I headed back to the supermarket and had a quick look around. I bought some sun cream and a mop. The supermarket was huge, we are going to have to go back. We then made our way slowly to the bus stop. By this point I was wearing a red nose; I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to feel down when wearing it, everyone smiled at me, one kid even tried to use a lychee as a nose so I gave him one of mine, he was so happy! Alex, Cecilia and I ended up getting distracted and fell behind the others so we told them to go on without us. It was nice to just be the three of us; we casually strolled toward the bus stop stopping to look in shops and the like. It was just lovely.
Monday was fun, I was excited about my lesson this week as I am doing some letter writing to the kids at Hyde Park. This weeks' lessons will focus on the difference between English and Chinese schools and I will be playing some English playground games with my classes, this will hopefully give them a break from letter writing! I seem to be a lot more blasé about my lesson plan this week. I have an activity bank and a rough plan but it is nowhere near as thorough as the last couple of weeks. I guess I am growing more confident...
Anyway so Monday morning was filled with lesson planning, after lunch I had a nap and then the power went. NO ELECTRICITY. On top of that it was so windy that we couldn't go outside because of the dust being blown around. Once the wind had died down a little bit, Michael and I played some basketball (I am still awful). We were joined by some of the Chinese teachers which was cool, though I quickly felt very silly because they were so good. It was fun though!
After basketball I played some Chinese checkers with the girls (lost twice...), then dinner. Even after dinner there was still no power so we quickly found ourselves sitting in the dark! Siz, Alex, Mike and I decided to do some exploring and play some games in the dark. We played tag and hide and seek, the Complex is very creepy at night! I won hide and seek though (even if it was through default)! We then decided that it was far too cold to stay outside so we went into Mike's room and he played his guitar for us and we had a sing-song. It was really nice!
Overall I have had a really amazing couple of days! I am lucky! Oh and I forgot to mention that my new Jasper Fforde books arrived on Monday too! EXCITING!
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