worker bees and questionable cheese

finally !
some rain. not the measly five minute drizzle that has been letting loose every now and then, either. this is rain, how it should be.
so here i sit, inspired by my shabby balcony with the view of more shabby balconies. it all looks quite regal in the rain.
masses of freshly washed laundry hanging from windows, railing and long hollowed out pieces of bamboo. a few socks, some shirts, is that a pair of calvin klein briefs i see? you go, guy.
just hung my whites up. stupid ink stain, be gone with you.
did i mention that nothing beats the sound of rain on a tin roof?

moving swiftly along - after three days of no work, no play, some cleaning, eating and mostly sleeping, i'm finally awake. stopped off at a bakery on my way to the office and wandered around, looking for something to ease my "western cravings". stumbled upon a large, triangular-type eat called "cheesy bread". sounds legit? you'd think. due to a staggering lack of refrigeration in china - dairy products are not ideally what you'd find in every store. yet there i was, looking into the face of what appeared to me as god, sent to subdue my hankering for some homemade mac and cheese. in reality, of course, it was literally just - cheesy bread. no bother - i like to keep it simple. devoured the entire thing in a minute flat and found myself thinking only one thing - how is cheese in china so sweet? what do they do to it? and surely cheese is not usually that colour or texture? what's up with the fridges in this place, too? tiny and barely a chill. these are questions that i am determined to find answers for.

when i got to the office i found myself mentally repeating the same thing i had been thinking since i first arrived - i'm an office worker. i sit in a cubicle, i plan lessons, i teach the lessons. it's almost as if one never thinks that going to another country is going to ever propell you into a conventional system of days spent working, cooking, cleaning and sleeping. yet here i am, a worker bee, working for the man. this leaves me with little time to explore and too much time to think and write up silly words for silly blogs.

the journey has already begun and i'm on this ride with no experience, no sense of caution, and no place to keep any cheese.
and this is not necessarily a negative thing. just feels like i have a lot of catching up to do with the world. what better place to start than here?

tsingtao for mid-autumn

06:30. alarm goes off, press snooze
06:45. alarm goes off, press snooze
07:00. alarm goes off, press snooze
07:15. alarm goes off, press snooze
07:30. alarm goes off, press snooze
07:45. alarm goes off, press snooze
08:00. fuck!

"hey dakota, alarm didn't go off, running late - be there in five !"

mid-autumn festival in china is chaos. swarms of smellysweatysmiley folks clambering to get on the train to the heart of gaungzhou. cameras everywhere. envy envy envy. thought about mugging someone and claiming "proudly south african", but this is besides the point.

walked around aimlessly for a bit, dipping and diving through the calamity. got hungry. where should we eat? macky-dees. and lo and behold ! still just as crappy in china. gimme some noodles man.
hopped on to another bus to shamian island, now this was a treat. the little europe of china. old buildings, ancient trees, selfies being taken left right and center.
saw so much, too much.
saw a kitty, called the kitty, kitty ignored.
saw sculptures depicting things i couldn't describe, even in writing.
saw the worst squatty-potty i've ever seen. used the worsed squatty potty i've ever seen. the good times keep on rolling.

hopped on another bus to a garden. like kirstenbosch on crack. followed the path for millions of meanders, sat on some grass, sang some songs, smoked a smoke and got famous for having blue eyes. they'll take a photo of anything or anyone here.

one by one we scattered, off to family or homestead. in my case, back to my flat for two cans of tsingtao and the most amazing ice cream i've ever tasted. it's like a layer-sensation. what is this even? biscuit? oreo? i don't know but i will eat it.

i'm really tired. it's been a good day. happy mid-autumn festival everyone.

one fat hen, a couple of duck

elated, delighted, ecstatic !
euphoric, even ! wowzers.
had the first real breakthrough with my class tonight.
two weeks with a class of ten eighteen to thirty-something year olds, too ambitious, all wanting to walk before they can crawl.
two weeks of trial and error, and tonight's class was a success !
after timidly introducing my love for dreaming as tonight's topic, conversation was attacked enthusiastically from all directions! all the while using past simple tense to interrupt past continuous ! so proud of my little worker bees.
hooray ! spiked my energy levels through the roof.
never thought actually teaching people something could benefit someone so much. c'est putain incroyable!
had further laughs after introducing the non-drinking-drinking game 'One Fat Hen'. needless to say, the word 'frolicking' can be easily misheard as something quite crass when paired with some excitement and a chinese accent.
walking home, listening to 'walk like an egyptian', completely forgot where i was and started havin' a little boogie half way home. the ladies at the local bakery are just going to have to deal with me dancing by if classes keep going this way.
a lot to learn still, but more on that later.

three days off for mid-autumn festival, when i'll have my first taster of guangzhou nightlife. couldn't begin to express the severity of my tequila craving. i cannot wait for this.

on another note:
pro of living alone: can walk around sans pantaloons
con of living alone: i had a conversation with a dishcloth today.

to the market !

asked my foreign affairs officer where i can buy goods for my house, besides the tiny 7/11 next to my school. the cashiers there look at me funny and say things to me in chinese. have a feeling they're questioning how many snickers bars i eat. can't blame me for havin' an insatiable sweet tooth.
so, to the market we went !
walked in to a gargantuan room with vegetable, fruit and meat stalls. live fish swimming in little sinks. live frogs, turtles, eels. all ready to fall victim to a murderous shopping list.
walked in, walked straight out.
overwhelming smells, sights, sounds, smiling faces, frowning faces - assaulting me from every direction.
next to the food section, more stalls with more things and things and things. where do i even begin?
a veritable feast of thrifting.

this is my pick 'n pay for the next year.

now let's make some breakfast and restock the cupboards.
bread jam pasta peanut butter coffee sugar tomatoes rice eggs mushrooms onions broccoli bitter melon cashews make up remover body wash new lighter incense  smaller pots and pans a bread knife

MEMO TO ME - first paycheck, find a camera.

the prelude

i abhor people telling me what to expect.

sit waiting in the spur smoking section at cape town international airport.  i hate spur, i hate smoking sections.
'it's going to be epic. an adventure.'
'you'll have the time of your life.'
'it's gonna be a shock but you can handle it.'
 
shaking hands, i light another smoke.
i hate cigarette smoke, that smell.
 
'you'll settle in quickly, i know you.'
'a year goes by so quickly.'
'you'll make a lot of friends.'
 
smoke in my eye, blinded. can't they open a window in this place?
'nearly time, i should get going.'
 
saying goodbye, most sucky. but i get on the plane anyway.
cape town to joburg, two hours, earphones in and eyelids shut. joburg to hong kong, thirteen hours, open a book, "going to china? you'll love it, lemme give ya some advice -" close the book, earphones in, eyelids shut. hong kong to guilin, earphones in, eyelids wide open, staring at my fellow countrymen-to-be for the next year. i could shout curses at the top of my lungs with a smile on my face and they wouldn't even know. 

arrive in guilin, heavy bags. why did i pack so much shit? thanks for helping anyway, mum.
walk out to to be received by a little bearded man named BB.
"what's your name?"
"tessa."
"i can give you chinese name.
小沙.(Xiǎo shā). it means little sand."

and so it begins.