Today is SUNDAY yet we will be at work. Just seems so wrong. Oh well. Lucky it’s work we enjoy and doesn’t feel like work, so all good really. We have three lessons on for today, and I’m doing ‘body language’ with my students this week, so lots of acting and charades for my classes today. Should be fun.
Apart from that, today is my rest day of the week, after meeting every exercise goal and plan that I had for last week. Feels great to complete everything and tick it off (I am old fashioned I guess – use a proper pen and paper system and write what I plan to do in my diary).
After yesterday’s awesome long run, I spent the day eating, sleeping, watching a long documentary with Husband, before going out to eat and drink some more. We went to one of our favourite restaurant and had a few beers to start. Some men from another table came over to toast us and have a drink with us, urging us to ‘gambei’ (down in one) our drinks. It is impolite not to, so, when in China and all that… Anyway, later we headed back over to their table to return the ‘favour’, and sat there for a bit of a chat (half in English, half in Chinese, so probably a fair bit of confusion all round). They had already eaten (a feast it looked like, judging from the many empty plates on their table), so we ordered some food that we asked to be placed back on our original table, and we’d go back when it was ready. One of the dudes we were with had had a skinful it seemed, very blurry, but very happy and chilled, no drunken aggression or anything, so they started to head off. The other one came up to me and was trying to say something about money for the food, or I thought maybe he was trying to tell me that the food had arrived back at our table. No, he was trying to tell us that he had paid for our meal! We tried to say no and that there was no need etc, but he firmly insisted, saying we are friends and it is already done, no arguments. Sooo kind and lovely and generous. And still amazing to me. I don’t think that would ever happen in Australia or England – strangers randomly paying for a couple’s meal and lots of drinks, and a couple who they had only met very briefly too. But, seems this is the norm here, as often we’ve been out with Chinese friends and they have beaten us to the bill or insist on paying, and we’ve seen others at restaurants insisting too - almost violently in some cases we’ve seen, as other patrons have been physically struggling over who gets up first to pay the bill.
This town we live in is so friendly and loving. We are really going to miss this place.
Here are a couple of pictures from one of our other favourite restaurants over here, where the day before yesterday Husband was taken in to the kitchen to be shown by the amazing Chef how to make his favourite dish that we routinely order (a sizzling egg-plant dish – ‘qieze’). He filmed the genius at work before we got straight into the delicious feast he’d whipped up (the egg-plant dish, sizzling tofu (doufu), egg and tomato, and green beans - some of our favourites over here). We were there with our good friend and her daughter Lu-Lu, who will both soon be heading to Australia! (Yunbo, her husband, is already there, and they will go over later to join him and get Lu-Lu enrolled in an Australian school).
Ok, it’s off to work I go soon. So, happy Sundays everyone! Have a Funday-Sunday.
Does anyone else work on the weekends?? Hope yours is a good day all the same.
Apart from that, today is my rest day of the week, after meeting every exercise goal and plan that I had for last week. Feels great to complete everything and tick it off (I am old fashioned I guess – use a proper pen and paper system and write what I plan to do in my diary).
After yesterday’s awesome long run, I spent the day eating, sleeping, watching a long documentary with Husband, before going out to eat and drink some more. We went to one of our favourite restaurant and had a few beers to start. Some men from another table came over to toast us and have a drink with us, urging us to ‘gambei’ (down in one) our drinks. It is impolite not to, so, when in China and all that… Anyway, later we headed back over to their table to return the ‘favour’, and sat there for a bit of a chat (half in English, half in Chinese, so probably a fair bit of confusion all round). They had already eaten (a feast it looked like, judging from the many empty plates on their table), so we ordered some food that we asked to be placed back on our original table, and we’d go back when it was ready. One of the dudes we were with had had a skinful it seemed, very blurry, but very happy and chilled, no drunken aggression or anything, so they started to head off. The other one came up to me and was trying to say something about money for the food, or I thought maybe he was trying to tell me that the food had arrived back at our table. No, he was trying to tell us that he had paid for our meal! We tried to say no and that there was no need etc, but he firmly insisted, saying we are friends and it is already done, no arguments. Sooo kind and lovely and generous. And still amazing to me. I don’t think that would ever happen in Australia or England – strangers randomly paying for a couple’s meal and lots of drinks, and a couple who they had only met very briefly too. But, seems this is the norm here, as often we’ve been out with Chinese friends and they have beaten us to the bill or insist on paying, and we’ve seen others at restaurants insisting too - almost violently in some cases we’ve seen, as other patrons have been physically struggling over who gets up first to pay the bill.
This town we live in is so friendly and loving. We are really going to miss this place.
Here are a couple of pictures from one of our other favourite restaurants over here, where the day before yesterday Husband was taken in to the kitchen to be shown by the amazing Chef how to make his favourite dish that we routinely order (a sizzling egg-plant dish – ‘qieze’). He filmed the genius at work before we got straight into the delicious feast he’d whipped up (the egg-plant dish, sizzling tofu (doufu), egg and tomato, and green beans - some of our favourites over here). We were there with our good friend and her daughter Lu-Lu, who will both soon be heading to Australia! (Yunbo, her husband, is already there, and they will go over later to join him and get Lu-Lu enrolled in an Australian school).
Ok, it’s off to work I go soon. So, happy Sundays everyone! Have a Funday-Sunday.
Does anyone else work on the weekends?? Hope yours is a good day all the same.
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