Buh bye Beijing

It was a last minute decision, to join Kristina and Staffan on a backpacking trip, but a great one nonetheless. 

Our trip began on the 3rd of January, after having spent an entire week trying to purchase airline tickets from the dreadful AirChina. The tickets from Beijing to Kunming in Yunnan were only about 600 Yuan, the ONLY reason why we persisted the entire week after dozens of calls and e-mails. The airplane took off punctually and served us dinner that afternoon. Arriving in Kunming was pleasant not just because the airplane made it but the sun was still shinning and the palm trees gave the city (we were only around the airport) a warmer and tropical feel. We must have felt wanderlust because we decided to head straight to Lijiang. 

Before our departure on the night bus we had to find the hidden bus station, purchase the tickets from the concealed ticket window(perhaps it wasn't so concealed but it certainly appeared shady to me) and eat dinner. 

Near the shady ticket window we met a tall, skinny man that didn't have much hair and wore a blue jacket. He called himself the "manager" and surprised us with his English abilities. 

He was a swindler and we knew it. He lead us to a room that was tucked away on another floor and happend to be a restaurant meanwhile raving about how he was the manager and we should eat there. He did seem like a nice guy and we were hungry so we followed up the steps and into a room and sat around a round table while a girl brought us the menu. She asked how many we were and the manager answered "four," clearly he had counted himself. The question now was, will we also be paying for his dinner?

He presented us with an interesting conversation, which I don't recall, and more importantly our first lesson on our new trip.  

After dinner we bought some snacks for the trip and our friend lead us all the way to our beds on the bus which were changed because we are foreigners. We were sent to the back  of the bus so that we would have more leg room since the beds are made for shorter people, like myself.

I couldn't see anything through the windows but it felt like we were on dirt roads almost the entire ride. This made sleeping a bit more difficult than normal, when I sleep on my fixed bed.

I recall sitting up and almost banging my head on the roof (ouch). Not to mention, it was cold, I had to wear my gloves and scarf to bed but other than that I recommend sleeper buses. It was a very efficient method of getting from point A to B. It certainly allowed us for more time at our destinations and they are certainly more comfortable than seats. I also don't think all of the roads are as bumpy as the one we happened to take. 

Wednesday 11/26

Wednesdays are always a day I look forward to now. Not only do I get to sleep in but I just don't have class and I get to catch up on laundry, studying, e-mails, current events and cleaning...I love it. Of course, I can't get up too late otherwise I wont get to catch up on anything considering I have to leave to work about an hour before I start. Unless, I take a taxi. The cab drive only takes about 15 minutes but costs 20 yuan opposed to the 30+ minute bus ride that costs .40 yuan.
I decided to take a cab today, the driver was quiet and fast. He cut people off, honked and almost got in the way of a bus. By now I've gotten quite accustomed to this, I didn't even flinch.
All three classes went great. As a matter of fact, class no.2 paid attention for the most part (excluding Bob & Fred). I did try something new so maybe that's why it went so well. Jamie suggested I not try to speak over all of the kids that talk when i'm talking so I did it. I'll do try it again tomorrow and see if it works two days in a row.
Anyway, I taught them about baseball, fingers, these are opposed to this is and we went over their vocabulary words and after all of the classes were over Jamie acknowledged it went well so I felt great. However, there is one thing that kind of bothers me, the little boys kept trying to touch/slap my behind, it was pretty annoying.
Well, after this I decided to check out this English cafe I was told about by a good friend. The cafe was near the Wudauku subway station, or so we though, so Janelle and I took the subway there directly after work. It was only two stops away so we were there in no time but then we didn't know where to go. We had part of the address so we resorted to asking random people on the street. Needless to say they did a good job of directing us toward the right direction but no one really knew where exactly this place was, or it didn't seem like it.
I decided to call Danie, the assistant manager and we met her infront of the Microsoft building only about 5 mins away from the Wudauku station. She was really nice to pick us up when it was so cold and windy and in all reality we weren't that close to the building. She was also really friendly and I really like the earrings she was wearing. Her English was also unexpectantly good. She led us to this hidden cafe and told us it was new. It has only been opened for 3 months as soon as I got in I felt at home. The declaration of Independence was hanging on the wall as well as Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech a long with other political and historical documents. The music was Irish and mellow, there were book cases with books we were free to live and the atmosphere was just chill. The chairs were black and comfortable, there were adjustable standing lights next to each squared table and it was a nice studying environment for me. So I did just that after the interview ( I guess that's what we can call it). Basically Janelle and I just sat at a table with Danie and Jane, the manager/owner and they asked us questions but mostly we asked them questions about what it would be like to teach there, details and what they expected from us. I actually loved her idea. She has a book of topics and form what I understood we would just be facilitating a debate on each of these topics and correcting the participants pronunciation.
We decided we would check out a class on Saturday and then stay for the after party and they agreed to give us a free coffee while we studied after our convo. It was great and I have a good feeling but we'll see how it goes.
After, Janelle and I decided to have dinner at a chinese restaurant right near the cafe...it was delicious but a bit spicy. The rice was extraordinarly soft and tasty and the waiter who served us our food insisted on speaking English everytime he came to the table.
The cab ride home was interesting, the cab driver was unusually talkitave considering my limited Chinese and his complete lack of English. I don't think he knew a word but we managed to communicate without him laughing at us...it's a great feeling.