mornings

well, since i have mostly afternoon and evening classes, i could sleep in in the morning. for a while, i did.. but even that.. sleeping in meant sleeping in until 8am. i do watch movies at night, but sometimes i don't have the urge to. and when i get to bed at 10 or 11, i won't fall asleep until past midnight. it's kinda sad.. but yes.. my mornings..

when i first got here, i realized that it could be pretty noisy living in the school residences. there is a tape that plays at 8am every morning, people running up and down the stairs (staircase next to my room), and older folk doing tai chi in the main courtyard. one thing about china is everyone's understanding about how important exercise is for their body. in the mornings, in parks and other spaces, people do tai chi together. everywhere. in towns. cities. also, in the parks they set up these gym equipment that would remind the westerner of the jungle gyms in the west. or you can think of gym equipment made of metal, in the simplest form. people hop on and move their thing. the government really invests in stuff like this for the people, which is great i think. oh yes, i had been meaning to tape the older people doing taichi outside, but i have forgot so many times. then, a cold day in november, they stopped doing it. i lost my chance.

hmm.. at certain times of the day, there is a man going through the residence's garbage bins, looking for useful things for himself. in jincheng, in taiyuan.. very common in china, i think. also, there is a nice man that i recognize who uses this twiggish like broom to sweep the ground, also the grounds for the running track. the workers would take their broom and make a big sweep from one side to the other. then, another big sweep, on side to the other. one day, i was very insensitive and laughed (in my head) when leaves fell to the ground where he had swept.

those are some mornings of mine.

crossing paths

every week, i brave twice walking diagonally off my living block to a student's house for dinner. when i say diagonally, i mean, walking diagonally through the intersection to her block. i had never walked across like this in jincheng. apparently it's quite common in this city to do so. there is even a green arrow for people to do just this. every time i cross, i cross with her, arm in arm. can you believe it? it's a little crazy, i think. in the west, it's so unheard of, at least in canada. so yes, when there is a green light arrow, we walk diagonally left, cars turn left. they have their own rules and such. i guess, perhaps they do this also because the streets are sometimes just too wide and it would be tedious for people to wait for two lights or something. i haven't figured it out, but that is my guess.

i went for a walk. it was good. i discovered that ingze road doesn't become any more busy, as busy as i hoped. but, from what remember, and realized, was it was the next street east that was. i found the street that i remember from the week that richard visited and his friend drove through it (syntax?). i saw a mcdonalds. i'm a little relieved, but am more excited about the fact that it is there. i had enough in beijing when i went that week in september :S. in any case, there are lots of kfc's, which i'd prefer, but try to stay away from anyway.

so i discovered that the streets in taiyuan are not as gridlike as i thought most chinese cities would be. there was a road. it had some shops on a street that went on a little tangent. i was at points where i was swear i thought i'd be lost. so yes, small shops. i was half looking for a yarn shop. i saw one that sold scarves, but no yarn. there was a tibetan jewelry shop, that i totally must visit again. i didn't stay too long, 'cause then i'd want something. my bargaining skills are okay, but i'm not so confident with my chinese, and i can wait until when i could go with a friend. excuses.

just across there was two stalls selling muslim food. god, i love muslim food. it made me think of my eating buddy in Jincheng. here, i have to cook on my own. i got no new friends here. just, really, one student from Jincheng college that doesn't eat too much. it.. doesn't work with me.

so, for the exploring and going up to foreign folks and networking, i decided not to do it anymore. i did that once, and the person was only visiting on business for a few days. today, i saw a young [white] foreigner, with her asian friend. i held back and just walked on. i guess, i didn't want to be disappointed again. she probably was a teacher, and whatever. i'm fine i think. i think. it bothers me a bit that i don't have any more contacts here, but i'm not too bummed. i'm pestering people on the net, and somewhat keeping myself busy. it seems that other foreign teachers are plenty here anyway. in two months, i've bumped into one every one or two weeks. i'm not dying. i got my movies.. i need to implode somehow.. onto another subject, get my creative juices flowing. generic. how lovely. that's writing, by the way.

went to meet-all supermarket. got more movies. and!! tao zhe's new cd. i love his voice. unburnt, that's the best part.