This Week: Thus Far

Me thinks me be blocked from my blog. Again. I can't get to it to respond to comments but I'm still getting them via email, so it's all good. Carry on!

Not too much to report on. Still sick, but getting over it. Slowly... Still haven't been to tai ji quan since last week. I'm contemplating going tonight, but I forgot my tuque in Ottawa, and am currently hatless. Given it's 10 degrees at the moment, with a bit of a nippy wind, I think I'll have to opt out or find myself in worse shape tomorrow. Practiced for about an hour this afternoon, though.

Got a cute email from my Chinese teacher, in response to my cancellation email on Saturday:


Dear Patrick, Are you feeling better now? What kind of medicine are you taking now? This season it is likely to catch a cold. Be careful and eat some pear which is good for your cough, and drinking chicken soup is useful for respiratory organs. Your "hanyu" is good. I am happy to teach you Han Yu for you bring me happy elements.

Made me smile. Happy elements indeed! (I really need to stop bringing xenon and tungsten to class...)

Last night, I had my business English class... with both my Director of Studies and the Director of Academics, North China, observing. Of course, they just had to choose the first class that had 3-4 assistants sitting in. I also had a new student. Ugh. It was almost like a military review board, except silence wasn't an option. The first hour was brutal, but everything got better in the second half. Their only real criticism was that I moved through some tough material fairly quickly. Otherwise they were pretty pleased - everything else was positive criticism. I was the only one they observed because no one else was teaching.

"Funny" story. I was out for a beer with Duncan, Michelle and Camilla after my class, and got home around 11:30. Well, the apartment was dark, and Alistair's door was closed. I assumed he was asleep. So I cleaned up, flipped the dead-bolt on our door, and went to bed myself. Problem was...

... Alistair wasn't home. He got back around 1am, only to find the door bolted. (There is no key for the dead-bolt) So Alistair knocked and banged, then went down and used the apartment ringer. Me no wakey. He went and got two of the guards and they banged and knocked and buzzed. Nothing from me. They got tools and tried to take the hinges off the door. Me no wakie. The guards, after attempting to remove the door (which didn't work) attempted to physically evict him from the compound. He resisted and told them to kindly piss off. Alistair then spent the night out on our step. At 6am, I hear the buzzer going like mad, and then knocking. So I stagger to the door wondering who in the name of Jesus God-Dancing Christ would be stupid enough to wake me up that early. I had it in my mind to hurl the offender down the concrete steps.

I opened the door and my first thoughts (vocalized in my bleary state) were: "Alistair?! What the fuck??" He was none too happy, but what can I say? I'd have been in the same situation myself had our positions been reversed. We always flip the dead-bolt at night. He was pretty cool about it, actually. Not sure I would have been. It wasn't exactly nice weather last night, and squatting in our building isn't a cheery thought. (see picture at the top)

Thankfully he didn't have a lesson or any staff meetings today, so he just slept until 3:30pm. I felt like a horse's ass and then some, I'll tell you that. It was funny - I usually wake up to most sounds, or even if someone is standing near me. I suppose I've become completely acclimatized to night-sounds in China (construction, horns, screeches, people shouting, etc.). Also, I was having a nice dream that my subconscious was clearly unwilling to interrupt.

That's it for now.