It's been a rough few days for Mike & I & everyone here in our China life :(

Maybe I'll sit and ponder...then type it all down. Or just keep it simple and say I love China very much, but home can't come soon enough.

I haven't written back to Cindy...I haven't sent out packages and cards for my grammy, my aunties, my friends, my SJB/KE kids :( my life feels very out of my control.

Yesterday was the single most stressful day of my time here in China, but it was a bit of a relief because what has been building for weeks & months finally came to a head. But, I felt like I had developed an ulcer instantly from everything that happened yesterday. I know this is cryptic, and probably very frustrating to anyone reading this, but I need to get some of this out :S

Not everything has been so negative the last few weeks...there was a hysterical moment along the way. Mike & Darryl dragged me out for a break. They took me golf club shopping at the silk market. The guy led us across the street, up to an apartment where he stores all his extra golf bags & clubs. Darryl, Mike & I were crammed into this tiny apartment with the golf guy, his cousin (who lives in the apartment) and dozens of bags. Maybe five minutes into Darryl & Mike searching for the perfect bag, the golf guy drops one on my head... I saw stars! I shrugged it off like it didn't hurt...but man, it really did! I'm happy I stayed standing, or it would've been a nosedive into the golf bag collection, lol!

Then, a few days ago, we had a pizza party at the Canadian Club at our school. Last year we had one where we invited all the Chinese Teachers of English to come and be our guests. This year, we did the same thing...and for the most part people helped out, but a lot of work for it fell to me. Being the Administrative Assistant isn't all just sitting and typing. Planning a dinner party for 30 people is not easy. Chasing people for their money nearly killed me. Then people just started inviting whoever they wanted, not realizing that I didn't have an enormous unlimited budget to work with (I wish I had!)...grrrr

Just like last year, I have some nicknames for my co-workers (but only Mike hears them):

Mr. "Windbag" - likes to hear himself speak ...all...the...time
Mr. "Tuesday Nights with Starbucks" - self-explanatory
Li'l Miss "Tag Along" - she won't go anywhere on her own (but she's funny, I like her)
Li'l Miss "Drama Queen, version 2.0" - the original left, phew relief, but was replaced with a new and even more dramatic one, arggghhhhh!
Li'l Miss "Mini Me" - she's Li'l Miss "Drama Queen" in training if things continue...
Li'l Miss "Barbie" - she is like a human Barbie doll, down to the fake eyelashes (she's cool too)
Li'l Miss "I have a question..." - every single sentence she has ever spoken to me has begun with those four words, lol
Mr. "Saskie" - he's from Saskatchewan, one of the friendliest people I've ever met
Mr. "Snort" - he snorts when he laughs about anything, which is all the time :S
Mr. "You Go Girl" - his favorite line to say to me

...the other teachers haven't earned their nicknames yet...but they will. It's inevitable!

After yesterday's craptacular events, today was a wonderful experience. Mike & I drove our bikes to Tongzhou, and we left just as the first snow of the season fell. It was a cold and calm... fluffy, delicate flakes fell around us as we walked our bikes to the gate. I needed that little pick-me-up.

The bike ride was fun, mucky (my backside ended up splattered with mud!) & productive (we bought 2 webcams, 2 microphones, milk, juice and got fenders & a kickstand installed on Mike's bike).

Oh...We've reserved our tickets for the Spring Festival holiday. We'll be back in New Brunswick on January 27th, and we'll be home until February 23rd (unless something happens between now and then). Home...hopefully there will be tons of snow for cross-country skiing while we're there. But really, I'd like hugs from everybody I love, I miss them most of all.