International Shopping

February 8, 2017
11:30 pm
Beijing, China

Hey guys. Sorry, I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. The long absence was partially due to my busy schedule and partially my laziness on days off. 对不起.

Remember how I told you guys a little bit about the amount of work caused by preparing for Winter Academy? This past weekend was insane. Lots and lots of preparation to get everything ready for these next two weeks. I had to create, organize and print hundreds of flashcards, prepare binders for each of the classes, and somehow try to plan for my own classes. In addition to all of my duties as lead teacher, I also became the person everyone aimed their questions towards. As a result, the last two days of preparation turned out to be two of the most stressful days I’ve had at work, so far. Now that the week has started, though, my stress has actually died down. Apparently, since I already have so many normal classes, I was not given many additional teaching hours for Winter Academy. Although I did teach an extra class on Monday, this week hasn’t been much different than normal. Next week may be a different story, but so far I’m okay.

Since I have no evening classes on Mondays, I was actually able to leave work early. The extra hours of “weekend” were nice. I was able to get a bit of housework done and still get plenty of rest. Monday evening, I actually made dinner. That’s right, I finally christened my apartment  with a homemade meal. What was it? French toast. Unfortunately, maple syrup isn’t much of a hot commodity here, so my local supermarket did not have it in stock. So while my french toast was good, it tasted a lot different with melted Hershey’s chocolate instead of Betty Crocker.

Luckily, today Brian and I made our way up to the international market, Jenny Lou’s. We found quite a bit of American food, including syrup. We spent quite a bit of time there—and I spent quite a bit of kuai. Luckily, I was able to purchase many items of food I’ve been missing from home. Additionally, I was able to find (hopefully) good coffee, normally flavored chips, and ingredients to make more buckeyes, which I’m planning to make for the weekend. We also had a lot of fun catching up and exploring a bit more of the city.

Now I’m off to bed so I’ll be rested for the coming weekend. Tomorrow, I get to wake up to a fresh pot of coffee and free breakfast at EF. I promise to try to update more in the future.

Night,
Kristen