The last bit of my misadventures in China...

...I think the time has come to write it.
But believe me, it's painful. The last week wasn't fun at all.
I know, you got used to my interesting routine but this is a bit different. More than a year passed and it still hurts. Mmmh... I guess sometimes bad things have to happen to allow us to grow.
Memories are just coming back like the tide and I wish I could shut them out. But what we lived cannot be forgotten or denied, I guess.
No regrets, they do not work at all.

Well... maybe another day.

Good night

x

And so it's winter again... isn't it?!

Hello my invisible friends, how are you?
I'm alright, sitting on the sofa sipping crap coffee. Sorry about the long silence (have you noticed it?) but I've been busy being busy.
in Manchester is finally winter, after a long scorching summer that lasted almost 3 weeks. And I mean it... THREE WEEKS!!!! Now we're finally back to our normal temperature of 10 degrees. Ah, we can breath! And, obviously it's pissing down. But well... this is the North West, as they say.
Oh well who cares! I love cycling in the rain without glasses, splashing pools, randomly avoiding traffic, freezing myself to death and get to work completely drenched. That's life, isn't it?

What happened?
Nothing... mmmh... well, we had the Royal Wedding in England, how could I not mention that?! They started the countdown as soon as those two poor (relatively) guys got engaged. I mean... for the last month prior to the ceremony we knew absolutely everything about them... what they eat, how they fart, what they're wearing... everything but the bride's dress! You know, it's bad luck... everybody was speculating about those two, but I wonder.. who actually cared? Luckily I do not own or watch a tv myself, so I was almost safe. But I do read newspapers and every single day Kate was on it. My god... I'm so not envious, I would never be happy about becoming Queen.... you do not own your life anymore. Bah...

Well, on THE day, while the whole of England was off, I was working. Cleverly enough, my school organized a "Let's watch the Royal wedding together" party, so I skipped one hour lesson, taking the kids to the common room to watch the ceremony. If you want my opinion, and I'm sure you want it, it was pretty cute to watch it and I really loved Kate's dress. Good choice, girl. I got a bit emotional as well, I always do at weddings... probably because I think how bad is life going to be from now on for the bride. Ahahaha... ah ah
We had some food as well, even better.
I bought a biscuit tin with their faces on, obviously a gift for my mum. And you know what? She liked it. I mean... it was just unbearably kitch, but she liked it. Ok...
The local chippy was even offering free chips on the wedding day. Whatever, as soon as I finished work I jumped on a plane and I went home to sleep and sleep and sleep.

Yeah, that's all I did in Italy. Slept. I really needed it, believe. I'm an old woman and I just work far too much. Good to know that the money I give in taxes are invested in Royal weddings. Great. THAT wedding cost the poor tax payer something like £20m. That means twenty million pounds. Rock on! Wouldn't that make you furious? And now they are on their honeymoon. Nothing wrong with that, obviously, but they rented a whole island in the Seychelles... £45,000 a night... guess who's paying that...

>.<

And I was worried about spending 69p for a doughnut this morning... bah

Back....let me tell you about Copenhagen!

Tomorrow's the first day of Spring and today Winter's doing its best to not let us forget about it.
Cold, rainy, windy...dark, cloudy...generally shitty.
Luckily I have so many things to do that I'm not even considering going out. Things that I'm clearly not doing, because I'm actually updating this. About time, I'd say.

So. More less 2 weeks ago I set off to Copenhagen with my boyfriend. It was a present from him (just the flight...actually the cheapest part of the whole...) so I was happy to have a short break. 4 days in total, more less.

The funny thing is that 2 nights earlier I went out for a curry and since then I suffered from devastating diarrhoea. You can easily imagine how I was feeling the day I left...hehehehe...tired, hungry, sleepy... but I decided to not give up and, with a massive bag of Imodium, I boarded the flight!!!
We got to Denmark and it was incredibly freezing (fact that seriously didn't help my belly's well being) but luckily the hotel wasn't far. Denmark is incredibly well organized and incredibly expensive. Sweet. The city centre is only 10 mins away from the airport, by train, and it was actually reasonable priced.
Anyway, we got to the station and it took us the same amount of time just to find the right exit! Luckily most of the people there speak English so you can always ask. We didn't, but you can.

The hotel was bang in front of the station. Very cute. especially considering that I was really looking forward to have some me time in the toilet... we got to our room that was unbelievably clean and nice, but a shared twin instead of a en suite double. Whatever, I surely wasn't in the mood for sex and not having the toilet in the room could actually bring some positive effects (eg Paul not suffocating because of the vapours...).

After toilet&shower, we went exploring in the freezing cold. How brave are we!!! We started following a frozen canal, surrounded by people running up and down the pavements and others cycling along. Very fit...I felt a bit guilty, but it didn't last long, no worries. We went on for a while and Copenhagen looked absolutely crap, something like Salford. Very bad. On the plus, it was spotlessly clean; I felt like dusting the floor every time I removed my foot from it! wow.
We soon got lost. The streets' names on the map didn't match reality. Great. I tried counting streets and canals but it didn't work very well! Luckily a very nice local lady stopped by and gave us some direction, mainly pointing us towards the centre of the city. Cool. Super cool. Freezing, I'd say.
Nothing really remarkable happened after that. I guess I was too cold and tired to actually enjoy the evening. I just remember ending up in a pub drinking Carlsberg...and that's it...Paul couldn't survive an evening without drinking!!! Then we went back to the hotel and we had a couple of sandwiches we brought from home and we started watching the Danish version of Kitchen nightmares. We didn't understand anything at all, obviously, but it looked pretty funny!!!
The day after we had a humongous breakfast! Wow! Danish pasties (really?!?!?), cakes, yogurt, cereal of any sort, bread, jams, butter, juices, teas, coffee and ham, cheese and so on. That was good enough to keep us full till lunchtime. Or, personally speaking, till the next trip to the toilet. That actually happened 30 minutes later. What a lucky lady.
We then set off to visit the city. Centre, castles, canals...it actually came out being very beautiful! The centre is very historical and the buildings are very pretty. there are then many frozen canals full of boats trying to move somehow (not achieving anything) and a funny one covered in ice where bicycles were abandoned. The canal - cemetery for bikes? I wish I could reach far enough to get one...anyway! We walked and walked and walked till 2pm more less when we decided to have lunch at a buffet place that was pretty cheap (compared to the other places in Copenhagen, obviously). Now...they had only pizza, pasta and some salad. I had a bit of it, hoping that it won't affect my stomach, but obviously I was completely wrong. After lunch we went to see another castle (that was close) but the garden was very nice...I sat down there for a while, trying to communicate with my belly and convince it that everything was alright. The day was incredibly beautiful and sunny, even if cold, and I really wanted to stay in that park longer. But that's when my sciatica kicked in and I had to go back. Not a lucky bunny. Luckily I still managed to see the Little Mermaid, staring sadly and silently at the sea...poor girl!

I went to bed straight away with a horrible pain in my back...it was only 4 in the afternoon! I was so pissed off with myself...I was in Copenhagen and I couldn't even go out and visit. Paul went for a walk and came back with some sweets to cheer me up...how cute! I spent the evening watching random programs and fell asleep very early. I had a trouble night because of the impossibility to walk matched with my toilet need... gosh, that was bad! In the morning Paul got some painkillers so after breakfast and a short recovery nap, I decide to venture out again! It was our last day, I couldn't give up!
We went to see Cristiania a famous hippie - drug place. Very colourful and nice, pity that it wasn't possible to take pictures in there. People were just wandering around smoking cannabis and doing nothing. Great life indeed...does it not get boring? bah...

After that my belly and back were still holding on pretty well, so we decided to take the train to Malmo, Sweden. How cool! It's only a 30 minutes journey and you get to cross the frozen see. I was so excited, even if I don't really know why. Malmo is cute, small, cold and mega expensive!!! ehehehhe

We spend almost £15 for a couple of coffee and a plate of lasagna...but it kept us warm. We walked a lot there as well (we didn't seem to do anything but walking in there...) and then sat in the main square, warming up in the sun, looking at a crazy guy dancing to some (possibly?) Swedish music. It was a cute afternoon!
We went back to the hotel, had a shower, a little nap and then we decided to go out for dinner, since it was our last night in Denmark. We went to a steak house and had some lovely burgers, made with real bread, real meat and real cheese. Not English, that's it. And it the deal there were nachos with real cheese for starter, salad buffet and ice cream. I loved it! It all came to £24 for two people...wow, not too bad!
Happily full we went for a digestive walk around the centre of Copenhagen to admire it by night...sigh, what a pity to leave, right now that I started feeling better!

On our last day we had a gigantic breakfast and then we went to a park a bit out of town (we got the bus, even if terribly expensive, because I didn't want to force my back...). The place was so nice and peaceful, with trees, birds (well, it's a park...you get the idea...) and ladies running while pushing prams. What the....?!!? These Danish ladies are completely crazy, Again I felt guilty but for a short time. We had a long walk following the frozen canals, on the little bridges, watching the animals walking on the ice.How cold must have that been??? Very brave little birds. We stayed there for an hour or so, then picked up our stuff and went to the airport. There I had a massive pancake and a cup of tea while waiting for our flight. Right at that time it started snowing, after 3 full days of sun.
Top tips: the Lego shop is not to be missed, to cool to be true! There are dragons and streets or Copenhagen made entirely out of lego blocks...it's great! Beside it there's the sweet shop...you cannot miss it, go in and have a look! The "sunny side", the little canal aligned with small, colourful houses, shops and restaurants! lovely by day and night. Cristiania, the Opera House and "The Island", where you can find the black diamond aka the new library. The Kastellet, a small island where the army lives. You can walk around it and it's very nice. Downside...you pay to get in everywhere, so I didn't see any museums.

Kiss the rain...

Hello my invisible friends, how's your evening going?
I'm a bit tired/bored/unable to think. And it's raining. I have so much to do but I'm just staring at the darkness outside the window. How romantic.
I'm starting a new job tomorrow, teaching still but in another school. Exciting but worrying at the same time. I think that is how it feels every time you start somewhere new. Hopefully it won't be as bad as China...heehheh!
I don't think so.
So from now on I will be working in 2 different school and I'm desperately looking for a bike to move around. Believe it or not, second hand bike are incredibly expensive and I cannot really afford spending £50 on a bike. I'm still looking, never give up, they say...
My cake is liking my cupcakes. Now, that is not nice.
So I'm planning lessons for the week ahead. Not too bad, but sometimes you just run out of ideas. Mmmh...you cannot just follow the book, that would be boring. I'm trying to make it interesting. Well, I'm not really, I'm writing on my blog.
Today my Italian friend came to visit me. How strange. she's just moved from Italy and  everything seems so weird to her! She reminded me of when I first moved to the UK...I just couldn't believe how stupid British people looked. Winter...and they are walking around in t-shirts and flip flops; only ready meals in the supermarkets; squash...the most disgusting thing in the world! You think is fruit juice but it's syrup...and you add water to it. How crazy is that? English teenagers, female ones. Short skirts, so short that you don't even see them under their tops. Heavy make up. They all style their hair in the same way...eheheheh...so funny! And no tights in winter! You'll never get used to it, even after 7 years they make me laugh! And boys...with their pants half way down...and they cannot even walk! what's the point? Someone's got to explain me that...
The weirdest thing in England is still the benefits system. Benefits are money, money that the Government is giving you for doing NOTHING.
You don't want to work? Just claim benefits, you'll get money and a free house! Or just get pregnant...you see so many young girls pushing prams while smoking and drinking. Who cares? if I make babies the government will pay for everything. Pretend you have a disability...tell them that you are an asylum seeker...anything will do!
I'm a bit bitter tonight, what do you think? I guess it's the rain...or just me being bike-less. Or just me...

The misadventures of an Italian English teacher in China - part 4

My good guinness, it's cold.
Last week I was going around in a top and sunglasses, now I'm sitting on my bed with closed window and a blanket wrapped around me. How life changed! Now it's cloudy, foggy, windy...generally shitty, that's it. And, to make it better, I'm working this week end. Good.

Anyway, happy days! Where was I? Oh yeah, I was going on holiday! Yep, thanks to Mid Autumn festival (beginning of October) I had a week off. Well, most of China had it. But who cares about the rest, I had it and that's enough to me.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...I went tooooooooooooooooooooooo SHANGHAI! How cool is that? Very cool, trust me.
But let's go back a bit. As you know, I have a few furry friends coming to visit my house very often. So often that the last few nights before leaving I couldn't sleep at all, thanks to those noisy little (I hope...) things. I've been complaining a lot (as it's my custom, as you know) but nothing happened, still. Mmmh...so I've been exploring around and I found a big hole in my wall. That I closed with a few rocks. Will it work? Time will tell. I've been promised a cat as well, let's see what happens. The only thing is that I was so unbelievably tired that I had to call in sick and spend one night in a hotel to get some sleep (my expenses obviously). But that's life in China...if you have a problem, it's YOUR problem, mate!!!

But life goes on and, after a fantastic night of deep sleep, I spent half the first watching the parade in Tianan' men, in Beijing. Honestly this Chinese army look slightly gay but I would prefer not to see Italy attacked by them...just because of the number. After being delighted for a while, I decided that it was time to go and I started walking towards the bus station, causing the usual havoc around me. I'm surprised I haven't actually caused any accident yet, with my shining beauty! ah ah ah. Anyway...I get to the station somehow (I'm honest...ripped off by the usual taxis. bah...) and I find two very nice English speaking girl that super help me with buying the ticket and finding the bus. How cool is that! I sat happily on the coach and we starting watching another super interesting Chinese movie. To be honest, I think I fell asleep.
We get to Wuhan (remember? the Shining Capital of The Middle of Nowhere Province) and I jump off the bus...to find out that I have no idea of where I am. great. I look around suspiciously at the people staring at me and I push away all the taxi driver that approach me. Oh live me alone. Take out the map, and it's obviously completely useless. There are 3 bus station in Wuhan and I didn't know which one I got to. So I start walking, looking convinced of where I was going. Suddenly on my right I see a kind of...dunno, something station, and I get in looking for info. I get a poor unlucky woman, I show her the map and I start waving my hand around and then point at the map "Here...where?". She was totally scared. She said something in Chinese and she ran away screaming. Bah...after a few moments a guy came over, looking super sure of himself (like me on the street a few minutes earlier...so I didn't trust him at all). He looked at me and I said "HI" and he went very pale. Ok, you don't speak English either. Good. So I started again with all my waving around, and somehow he understood. He pointed at one precise bus station! Yahi! So I moved forward... "Train station?" and I actually started miming a train Ciuff ciuff and everything. You should have seen the faces of those guys...but I think they understood because they started pointing in a direction, screaming something in Chinese.
Ok, so off I went.

I started walking in that direction, looking around to see the station, till I see a big building with the familiar Chinese sign for station on it! Yuppi, I made it! Time to eat, then. I start walking around looking at my map I hear "Hallo! Can I help you?" I look around and I see a happy Chinese couple! How lucky am I today??? So I tell them that I'm looking for some food before catching the train. And they said "But the station is very far from here!" WHAT! It's just across the road. Obviously it wasn't. So they put me in a taxi and sent me to the station, where I waited for like 4 hours to get on the train to Shanghai. And many interesting things happened...

Obviously on all the videos around the station, the parade in Beijing was being shown. At that point it was very nice, no more army, just thousand of people dressed in beautiful colours, all dancing around! It was actually impressive, honestly. I was sitting contemplating the parade, when a kid sat beside me. Ok, no probs...then his dad decided to give him a snack...a chicken foot! mmmh...ok, we're all different. The great thing is that this boy started chewing his snack and spitting the bones everywhere. Especially in the direction of my backpack. Good. Sooo...I push it away...and the boy spits harder and further...so, I push it again...till I found myself under bones fire! So, quite disgusted, I got my bag and moved.
Another great experience you will have to try if you come to the China, is the public toilet. Good luck. Dunno about the men ones, but I had few experience with the ladies' room. Oh my god...if you're lucky you get a Turkish toilet, with a door. If you are having a very bad day, you will get a small canal that runs through all the cubicles and a broken door. No sign of toilet paper, always bring tissues. But the hardest task is to survive the smell. Seriously. Chinese toilets are seriously dirty. Use wellies to get in, at least. You can smell them from afar, you don need the signs. Sometimes doors are very low, so that your head sticks out...so you can have a chat with your fellow pooer. How nice. The problem is that if you're having some...let's say, problems in taking out, everybody will see your over-concentrated face. Cool. Chinese have the nice habit, as you know, to do everything with the door open. And I really don't understand why...and, most of the time, they don't seem able to flush the water. How nice. Nowhere to put bags or belongings...a real task. But don't go with open shoes, you never know.

Finally the train arrived and here we are again, ready for another night on the train. Obviously, upper deck. So...upside down octopus all over again. But I slept like a baby, and in the morning I suddenly woke up not knowing where I was...and threw the pillow on the people underneath...who shook their head obviously thinking "Messed up foreigner...". But that's life.
So octopus lady gets to Shanghai. That actually means "On the ocean" and this time it's true, Chinese doc. I'm learning, seeeeeee?
The hostel was quite easy to find. You see, Shanghai works more less like London. Push people to get a ticket, push people to pass the gate, push people to get on the tube, push people to get off the tube...see? It's a "push and pull" way of life. But the metro is logic to follow (thanks god) and the names are in English as well, so I got to my destination straight away. You can admire me, no problems at all. Got to the hostel (very nice one with very nice toilets...and TOILET PAPER!!!!!) and had a shower. At this point you have to know that I was supposed to meet with a friend of a friend of a friend (clear) who lives in Shanghai (where else) and could help me move around. A Chinese English-speaking lady. I sent her a text to tell her that I was there. She called me, and from then I lost the plot. She was supposed to come to the hostel (allegedly very close to her flat) then she wanted to speak to someone Chinese, then again to me, then she said "I'm coming" and hung up. Ok. So i sat in an armchair looking at the people and I started thinking...WHEN she will come? The problem is that Chinese is vaguely different from English, so Chinese, sometimes, can't really speak it well. You can't distinguish a question from a normal sentence...plus the accent, sometimes very strong. So i decided to send her a text and ask WHEN. Answer. This evening at 6pm. Good. Go up and went to explore.

Back on the tube (after stopping to Family Mart to get some water and some not recognizable sweet stuff) and head back to the centre. Renmin square. That would be People's square. As you know, everything in China is "people's"...hospitals, schools, banks...there's always "people's" in front. And in every city there's People's Square. So I knew where to start from. Very nice and very (you bet it) full of PEOPLE. The fact is that we were going through two very important holidays in China: the 60th anniversary of the PEOPLE's republic of China and the Mid Autumn Festival...stuff for lovers, I think. So all the PEOPLE of China were off and wondering about. I didn't see a single foreigner in the square. Me and me. And PEOPLE staring at me. I became the PEOPLE's foreigner. How exciting.
I stayed there for a while, enjoying the sun, admiring and being admired (you never get enough of it!) then I moved to the Old Town (People's old town? Not sure). Now, being a hero, I decided to go by foot. As if I was in Portree. Shanghai has 25 million inhabitants, and growing. You can imagine the size. But I didn't dare taking a bus, believe me. So...off we go, one step after the other, following the map, and here I am (breathless) in the Old Town. Sooooooo beautiful! Soooo Chinese (Shanghai is not really Chinese, trust me). Loved it. I spent the whole afternoon wondering about, looking at pagodas, buying stuff (I bought a painting on silk for 100 yuen. She wanted 200, but, AH AH, I didn't give up! 100 yuen is more less a tenner) and ended up in a Buddhist temple. The smell of incense was overpowering, but so nice. I didn't understand AT ALL what was going on, but I found it peaceful and relaxing. People (yeah!) burning incense, praying, bowing and I don't know what....very interesting. So many gods in just one temple, I was very confused! Big, golden statues of scary looking gods, fat gods, smiling gods...anything. Cool.
After such a peaceful moment, I went back in the crowd (and in China crowd is CROWD, believe me) looking for some food. Good luck. I didn't get any. Queues, queues, queues. Just to see the menu. So I kept wandering among pagodas, gardens, small lakes, dragons...and people. Till I had enough and I decided to move towards the river bank.

One side of Shanghai is, as to speak, the old one (where I was), across the river is Pudong, the new bit with skyscrapers and all the western stuff. From the West bank of the river you can have a great view of Pudong, so I decided to go there. Walking, what else?
On the way I found a small not-for-tourists restaurant so I decided to get some food, finally. Got in and people look at me and point to a stair. Ok, I go upstairs. Don't have the time to get up, that I meet the waitress. Never seen anyone looking at me in that way. She simply stopped and stared, but...this is difficult to explain. Her eyes got round and big, her jaw dropped and she didn't speak a word. So I looked around feeling a bit uneasy and I said hi. She didn't blink. Luckily another waiter came up and shouted something so she woke up and took me to the table, and gave me the menu. Right, very clear. So I opened the bag and took out my shiny little book...Mandarin Phrase Book! What would life be without it? I don't even try to think about it. Anyway, when she came back I just pointed to some names and she was happy...even if she was still a bit shocked. The food was actually fantastic, I had rice with steamed aubergine! yummiiii!
After lunch I resumed my walk and I finally got to the so called Bund, the promenade on the riverside. And it was closed. Just my luck, again...you have to know that next year there is Expo Shanghai 2010...I don't even know what this is, but, thanks to that, all the city is a "work in progress". And so was the riverside. Slightly pissed off I made my way back to the city centre, fighting with thousands of Chinese to just walk. I went down the main shopping street and the situation just got worst...I couldn't move, poor Ellie! So I decided to go home and that's it, sorted. Got in the metro and back to the hostel (pushing and pulling, obviously).
At 6 o'clock I finally met Judy, the Chinese girl. She came to the hostel with what, I found out later, was her husband. They took me to have some dinner (dumpling soup, yummmmi) and then a bit around the area where we were, to end up in a shopping centre. She's quite nice, to be honest, and she offered to take me to get some English books in the morning. 9am in front of the metro station. After that, they push me in a taxi and send me home. Ok, off I go.

The morning after I get up early and I go down for breakfast (steamed bread, steamed bread!!!!!) where I meet a super nice girl called Jo, a Chinese girl from Beijing. Very nice. So we had breakfast together and then we go to the metro station. And as soon as I got there, I received a text from Judy saying that they will be there at 9.30. Ok, I wait. Come 9.30 and i get another message saying that they are eating now (what?) and they will be 10 mins late. They got there at 10. We went down to the centre and we started looking around book shops for English books. Book shops in Shanghai are massive, so many books. Unfortunately, most of them are in Chinese. Surprise surprise. But there were a few English sections, so I could get 3 new books. Ole'. After that we went hunting for a Post Office. You must know that when I got into China I had only a tourist visa, valid for a month (expiring the 11th of October). So, last week, i had to send my passport back to the agency in Beijing, to get it renewed. I wasn't very happy about it, but unfortunately I had to do it. Still no news about my passport, keep your fingers crossed. Anyway, we found it, but it was closed because it's holiday time. Ok, let's try tomorrow. So I suggested them to go to the French Concession (the old European quarter), but mister husband was tired so we went in different direction. And that was actually good, because Chinese are more interested in shopping that sightseeing.

Anyway, I started walking again and, in a hour or so, I got to the french quarter. Very very very nice. And I have to be honest, in Shanghai it's quite easy to cross the road...probably they are more civilized than in Tianmen! Ah ah. Cars actually stop when it's red. Well done!
I walked around skyscrapers, western shops, banks...all very expensive looking, till I got to this very European looking area. Small buildings, tree lined avenues, local shops and restaurants! I had my lunch in a dumplings-only place (thanks to my beautiful phrase book) and then I got to a very cute park with people playing Chinese violin ( I can catch the correct name), trumpets, people dancing, playing cards...and staring at the foreigner, obviously, the national sport. It could actually become an Olympic speciality...strange that they didn't introduce it last year in Beijing...bah! After listening to some free music in the park, I kept exploring the area. And, believe it or not, I found a pub! I passed in front of it without even noticing it, but then I stopped wondering...what have I just seen? And I walked back in wonder and I saw the bar, the draught and everything...my eyes filled with tears, I couldn't believe it! I felt slightly cheered. Following the map, i discovered a lot of interesting places, till I end up passing between a couple of old houses to find myself in a maze of small old streets full of artists, shops, tearooms (tea rooms!!!!) and restaurants. Oh it was so beautiful! And finally I saw foreigners! Plenty of them, walking around the shops. That's where you were hiding. Oh such a beautiful place...and I even stopped in a tea room to have a cup of Jasmine green tea, for 30 yuen. A fortune, it's like 3 pounds. Worst than caffe nero. But I didn't care, I was sitting in the sun with my beautiful tea, my feet up, watching the world passing by. I loved it.

I spent the evening eating steamed bread bought at Family Mart and chatting with my dorm-mates; a French girl living in Beijing and two girls from Israel. The French lady was never stopping, worst than a radio. Luckily she was very tired, I can't image how much she can speak when she's wide awake. Scaaaary! I was trying to ignore her and read a book, when someone knocked on our door...and it was Jo!!! So we had a chat and we decided to go to Suzhou (it sounds like Zu-jiou) the day after. Super cool!
So off we go, to the city of gardens! How exciting!!! So we got up early and we went to the station (passing through the post office) and in 40 minutes, more less, we arrived. Suzhou is a village, only 6 million people. Ah ah. But the old bit is very beautiful! So cute. We headed straight to the biggest garden, the Humble Administrator Garden. What a name. 70 yuen to get in, more less 7 pounds. But it was sooooooooooooo beautiful! A massive gardens, with lakes, pagodas...each one of them dedicated to a different season! Bamboos, bonsai, and...mandarin duck! I couldn't believe it, they really really exist! I saw them so many times in books, that I thought they were like mythological animals. But nooooo! I was so excited, sooo foreigner! Who cares. We so old Chinese writings, scrolls...anything that is Chinese. I loved it. Then we went for lunch and exploring again. We so a pagoda like tower and then we went to a massive Buddhist temple, with a whole market around it. I loved the colours, it was all yellow and red, everywhere. lovely lovely.
Last we went to Tiger Hill (grrrr) where there is another pagoda like tower, with a massive market. We tried different kind of food,especially we loved this white or grey squares cooked on a grill...well....similar...they had a very strange texture but they were sweet and lovely, with red beans paste inside! Then some other mysterious stuff, similar to jelly....and then we walked a bit along the river, following the crazy market, ending up in a more quite area. It was lovely. I even smelled a toilet, but I was still 1 km away...getting closer and closer I decided that I was smelling it too much, so I thought better not to go. Eheheheh....
We got back to Shanghai around 6pm (we couldn't get a seat on this train, so we had to sit on the floor near the door...how cool, all the people looking at us in wonder...ihihhihi) and we went straight to the hostel! Shower! Peeeee! How lovely.
We decided to go out together hunting for dinner and we ended up eating something very strange. We went to this...place (we can't really call it a restaurant...) and we took a small tray (dirty, obviously) and then we went to the fridge to choose the ingredients to put in the sup. How cool. I got tofu, mushrooms, fish ball, ratballs, seaweed and so on...it was only 1 yuen each! Like 10p!!! So we got a massive bowl of soup with all of that stuff in. It was lovely. We even had a cockroach having dinner at the table beside our. Jo said to not mind it. I didn't. We left very full and happy and we ended up in a 24/7 tearoom. Another one! I love Shanghai!!! The great thing is that in that tearoom you paid only for one drink (28 yuen, standard price) and you could have all the drinks you wanted! So I tried milk tea, coconut milk, ice coffee, juice with jelly...my stomach was bloated when I left! We stayed there till almost midnight, and Jo taught me a bit of Chinese and she explaining why each character had a specific shape. That was so exciting!!! I love it, so interesting. I would have stayed there forever! But we were tired, so we went to bed.

The morning after I had my good serving of steamed bread and then I packed. Sigh, goodbye Shanghai. It sounds like the title of a song... anyway! Luckily Jo decided to come down to the centre with me, so we got the Free shuttle bus to Renmin square and from there the metro to Pudong, the modern bit. Out of the metro we could admire the majesty of skyscrapers as high as mountains. Wow, unbelievable!!!! We saw the Oriental Pearl tv tower (supposed to be the symbol of Shanghai) and then we moved down to the river bank, and luckily this one wasn't "work in progress" so, from there, we could admire the west bank. Quite impressive. We decided to be lazy and we went to a "Healthy desserts" place and we sat down to drink some strange stuff. At the bottom of the glass there was something like mousse with jelly; then mango juice; then ice cream and pieces of fruits. It was beautiful. We sat there chatting for hours, and I discovered very interesting things about the Chinese way of thinking. Tianan' men murders were America's fault and were the students to provoke the army. Obviously. Only 200 people died, but it's ok, in China we are billions, that's nothing. Ok. Mao is a saint. Jo told me that her mum, every morning, bows in front of his picture and asks him to protect her and make her do good thinks. The same in the evening. So I made her notice that even Mao made mistakes, like in the 60s went 30 million people died because of the famine. It never happened! And, if it happened, it was Mao's wife fault. And anyway, 30 millions is nothing, after that the country was better. In the name of the country we can all die happily. I shivered listening to her, but what can I do? I'm a western, posh, selfish lady.
It's strange to notice what a strange idea Chinese have of us, the westerns. The foreigners. We can't save money, we don't care about the family and we are all lazy. Ok, the last one could be true, but...how many Europeans do you know? How can you judge without knowing? brainwash, brainwash....get me out of here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After that we said goodbye and I ran to get the train to Nanchang. Seriously run, I've almost missed it. And off i went.
But this is another story, and it will come in the next chapter. Till then, my friends, take care and pray Mao to keep you safe.

Ellie

Ps: and remember, my friends...travelling a thousand miles is more enriching than reading a thousand books.
I feel so wise tonight. Must be Mao descending on me.

The adventures of an Italian English teacher in China, part 3b

We're getting closer to the end of my story, mates...keep reading...

During the week nothing really special happened...I killed flocks of spider, using so much spray that I've also killed my self as well: I killed centipedes, ants, mosquitoes and kicked out a few lizards. What a happy zoo. Internet came and went, making me swear loudly again. You can't imagine how isolating is this place without the Internet. You can think that I'm a posh western woman, but walk a mile in my shoes and you'll see....Internet is my tv, radio, newspaper and telephone. Without it...well, you guessed it, by now. It seems to be back at the moment, so fingers crossed.

Wednesday i actually went down to the city centre and I found out that tianmen has a city centre. That was a bit of a a discovery, something to tell my grandchildren.Shopping centres, a bank (I've finally managed to change my money, thanks god) agency (bought ticket to Shanghai) and tea room. Well, more of a tea corner...
But let me digress (again) and complain (yes, again). Chinese are rude. I know British are addicted to queuing, Italians ignore queue but Chinese just don't get the point. At the bank and agency alike, we were trying to do something while people were simply squeezing in front of us handing money, shouting questions, giving pomegranates (oh yes, to the cashier) leaving me in complete shock. Song was alright with that. I couldn't bear it, they were lucky I didn't have an axe on my (I usually do, but I couldn't fit it in my bag). They are seriously testing my patience. To not talk about the mosquito that's eating me alive in this very moment...
But anyway, thanks to Buddha I survived this test and probably gained Nirvana. We ate along the streets, while I was trying to ignore the smell and just concentrate on the flavour..and it was incredibly good!
Oh yeah, I got the ticket to Shanghai. This time I will have to travel on my own, but hopefully I'll find some more foreigners there (in Wuhan we saw 3, not including us! Exciting!) so I can ask something if I get lost. But I won't! Only 25 million people in there, why should I? ah ah. I'm looking forward to it, even because I need to buy some English books...I'll never have enough. And after Shanghai I'll fly to Nanchang (Translated means Smiling Capital of the Full-of-Happy-Foreigners province) where Stevie lives. Can't wait. Poor woman...she will have to listen to me moaning again and again. Ready...steady...worship!

Yesterday night I went out to the Chinese patio to read a book, and as soon as I sat on it I heard a voice "Hallooo" so i turned around and I saw a middle aged man waving at me. Oh...hallo! He told me that he's an English teacher but he can't speak or understand English. Good way to start a conversation, I'd say. He asked me how old I am and if I'm married, obviously. Very happy when he found out that I'm not. But he is, he sadly told me. Very nice guy, he wants to practice English with me. This morning I went down for breakfast and he brought me some stuff to eat. But I don't think i will go again, breakfast is not worth it...pity.

Ok, last gossip and then I leave you.
Today, after a very normal lesson, as soon as the bell rang, all the students surrounded me with their books, asking me to write my name on it. They've almost killed me, but that is what you have to stand to, when you are a celebrity. How exciting.
Oh, you know? Here they don't have RRRING RRRRRING as a bell at school. They have piano music. How cool is that??

My back aches, so I think I will have to leave you now and go to watch my favourite Chinese soap opera....Phantom of the Fog City, or something like that. All in Chinese, obviously, but quiet enjoyable.

Now I go. Back soon with more exciting (...) adventures!

Good night

Ellie


Fun fact of the day: at the canteen they don't do the washing up. Bowls are collected, rinsed and reused. My antibodies are as big as a bull.

Cooking

Hallo everybody!
I actually wonder if there is any-body to say hello to. mmmh...I guess no, but it doesn't really matter! I'll take it as a personal writing exercise.
How are you? Or better...how is me? I'm surviving as usual. I started doing a serious deal of cooking lately.
Oh gosh, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We're already in 2011, less than 2 years to go to the end of the world. Cool.
Some changes.
I left my job. Yeah. Yuppiiii! I used to work in a call centre, a beautiful and rewarding job. Indeed. I lasted 3 months, not too bad, come on. Hallo, Ellie speaking how can I help? How can I kill you or get you to shut up? Well, I couldn't really say that, but so so many times I wanted to do it! Very boring job and let's not talk about my colleagues...monster! Ignorant, stupid and even bad mannered.
Oh well, it's in the past.
let's relax and breath...
....
Better
Since the beginning of this month and year, I started working as teaching assistant! Aaah, back to school! How beautiful! My lovely students. No more Chinese, now they are mostly Saudi. Ladies. Adults, then. Pretty cool. The problem (is it a problem?) is that I work max 16 hours per week. So IT is a problem when it comes to pay bills and rent. Happy days. But we have to always stay positive.
Let's breath.
....
So I started dedicating myself to one of my favourite activities: COOKING!
Oh I sooooo love it, and even my boyfriend is very happy. As soon as I get home from work, I start...mine is the cooker, mine the scale, rice cooker and blender! Mine's the bread maker, the chopping board and the pans, kettle and toaster! And i cook, fry, steam, bake, roast, stir fry, poach, sizzle and whatever. It makes me feel a better person. Yeah I guess I'm going completely mad! But it's a good feeling.
Been home last week and I brought back with me the full encyclopedia of Italian cooking, all of my baggage allowance was it. And I'm just going through it...heheheeheh! My bread is rising, look how beautiful it is!
....
And my cat is not back yet. Did I tell you about my cat? I know, I promised to do it but then I forgot. How bad am I? Bad Ellie!
Once upon a time, in a land far far away called Britain, a young and beautiful lady was doing her washing. She collected all the dirty clothes around the house, picked the washing powder up, opened the back door and went down to the basement. So much stuff to wash, she thought, slightly depressed. She unlocked and pushed the heavy door and put the old chest with the clothes in on the floor. Suddenly she turned around and saw some little black feet walking away. What was that? She decided to ignore what happened and put all the stuff in the washing machine. She shut the door behind her and walked upstairs, back to her flat. Oh I left the back door open! she tho9ught, and then went back in. She put the washing powder away and went in the living room...where a couple of bright yellow eyes where staring at her from the sofa. What? A cat! The thingy jumped off the sofa and started purring, obviously demanding some food. So Ellie opened a tin of tuna and gave it to the cat that looked very happy indeed. After lunch the cat went back to the sofa and Ellie sat beside it, to have a closer look. She was biiig and soft, her fur black, red and yellow. What a strange mix! Suddenly she noticed something around its neck...a medal! With a name and a number on it...Izzy! Oh so you are a girl, she thought. What a cute cat!
A few days passed and Izzy kept coming back. At that point Ellie decided to call the number on the medal, and what was the answer? You can keep her, I had Izzy for 7 years and I don't want her anymore. Vaguely gobsmacked, Ellie hung up and took Izzy in her arms...don't worry I'll look after you.
....
Now Izzy is called Potato, she's getting fatter (remember? I keep cooking...) and wakes me up every morning at 4 for a brisk wee. But I love her!!!! POTETOUUU!
Let's breath....
....