I went to help a friend buy a new bike yesterday - her old bike got stolen. Unfortunately, the bike was just about brand new. She had bought the bike second hand off another foreign student, who showed a scary amount of foresight and was selling it after getting too afraid of having it stolen. Therein lies the concern with buying a new bike in China - as a sparkling new bike, it's a very eye-catching target for would-be thieves. Buying a crappy old falling-apart bike - it's not a great target for thieves, and even if it does get stolen, you ought not get too stressed - it was after all, a crappy old falling-apart bike.
Women and maps... the battle continues
Anyway, we found a bike she liked (Pink, of course), and off we went. For those unawares, I think most major Chinese cities are built around the principal of main roads running north-south, with concentric ring roads emanating out from the centre. Now, my friend was riding home. She thought she was heading South on the North-South road, when she was actually heading West on the East-West road. It took her to the edge of town for her to realise her mistake. Chengdu isn't exactly small... so she rode quite a way. More amusingly, she also overshot on her way home, after discovering her mistake. Hilarity is compounded once you know that she was carrying a map the entire way, with roads marked both in English and Chinese.
I wouldn't be able to sit the end of semester exam
This week is actually a week of mid-semester exams. I'm not particularly stressed, which is refreshing. At my speaking exam this morning the teacher told me that if I missed anymore of her classes, I wouldn't be able to sit the end of semester exam for this class. Now, I'm really sure if this should concern me. I mean, sure, I it does, but I'm not really sure what the ramifications are. So I'll be looking in to that and in the mean time, I'll be going to more classes. Pretty gaaaaaaaaay. I wonder what I'll do when my parents come? I'm planning on missing like 2 1/2 weeks of class. lulzzzzzzz
I've started wearing my retainers again, after a 1-2 year hiatus or something like that. Teeth kinda hurt like a bitch, but I think they're starting to edge back towards 'correct' locations. I can't even really remember why I stopped wearing them - I needed to clean them or something? And just never quite got around to it.
Speaking of things I'm getting back in to - I'm at the gym 5 days a week now. I quite enjoy it, though it's necessary to time your session - if you go too late in the afternoon, you'll end up waiting to use any/every piece of equipment as the gym is swamped with Chinese. I payed 120 kuai/20 Aus for a 2 month membership - to be honest I don't know if this is good or bad by Chinese standards for university gyms... Oh and the gym is about the only place you see 'big' Chinese guys. Speaking of big people, funniest thing in that 'Ancient Town' I mentioned from the trip was that we saw a huuuuuuuuuge Chinese guy. Seriously, he made Jaws look small.
Seriously, bigger than this guy.
Ummm so what else? We've had Halloween, which is basically only celebrated where there are foreigners. Which makes sense really... Anyway, it was 70kuai/11 Aus all you can drink at one of the bars. It was a good night (I think. Memory allowing). I didn't bother with a costume, poor form, I know.
It's Movember of course, and I'm looking pretty horrible. Noone here has heard of it and noone understands it. Noone wants to understand it, even. Fools... (Although apparently an American believes that March should be the time to grow a mustache. Huh, crazy Americans.)
Yeah, reaaaaaaaaal pretty. Room-mate's head in the background too.
I'm still thinking about a haircut. Watch this space.
I got involved in a game of rugby over the weekend - I was only expecting to watch the game but ended up jumping in and playing for the visiting team (Chongqing) as both sides were wearing down their reserves and it was a pretty relaxed 'lets-all-give-it-a-go' atmosphere. For a few people it was their first game. Kinda wish I had gotten involved earlier, but such is life. Kinda have enough distractions from study already as it is. Amusingly, more important than the game is the drinks afterwards - the team is sponsored by a local bar (Shamrock) and Guinness - so it's free/cheap drinks afterwards and a 30 kuai/ 5 Aus all-you-can-eat buffet. Also the biggest collection of foreigners I've seen to date, though their origins and ages vary vastly.
That's a wrap.
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