Like the Phoenix

So, last night i slept for 10 hours. It was nice to just leave my alarm off and just crash. Just woke up about 15 minutes ago and I feel great! The headache is gone, I can breathe through my nose, the sun is shining, skies are blue, and I don't have anywhere to be for 3 days.

My plans for this weekend are as follows.

Yesterday i took the 411 bus AWAY from the city. Today I think I'll take either the 35 or the 411 INTO the city. probably the 35. The 411 asks you where you're getting off and frankly, I don't know.

I'm hoping to get a bank account and cell phone this weekend, but that largely depends on local assistance. For most things I'm willing to wander in and order by pointing, but when you get a cellphone here you need to buy A) the cell phone and B) the SIM card and C) TIME on that SIM card, and furthermore they need to all be compatible. Furthermore, the electronics market is pretty stable, prices are fairly regulated, not a lot of haggling. Buying a cell phone? They'd charge me 300 RMB more. I can wait for help, it's worth it.

I might go and try to buy another stick of RAM, too. See how that goes. My guess: terrible. But we'll see. Wait, i'd need a screwdriver for that. OK, First I should go get a screwdriver!

Also, I keep seeing guys sitting on the sidewalk with, like, city maps or other posters. Totally buying some this weekend. Probably 10. The white walls are nice and all but I desperately need some variety.

Finally: Did you know that toothpaste can clean a scratched disk? I'm going to be looking at multiple sources for THAT particular tidbit of knowledge.

Regarding teaching this week, near the end of the week I dropped the hammer. I'm used to a situation where simply being a jerk was enough incentive to snap people into line but teaching, one must threaten dropping grades and homework. Most of my students are coming to every class, but i have a few that have missed 2 out of the 3. The good news is each class has a student monitor that has everyone's phone number. I've got a few giving out bad news this weekend.

Next week will be interesting. I might threaten to fail a few students. I started to give out homework last week for not participating in the activities, that will certainly continue. This week's class was interesting. For the first part i had them talk about their dream jobs. After, I told them they all had their jobs, but were in a hot air baloon that was sinking, and they had to push someone in their group out. They had to defend the importance of their job in English. After that, I rounded up all the people who got pushed out and put them on stage, and gave them one last chance.

You know, for English Majors, some of these people speak English about on par with my Chinese. Hell, some of them speak English about on par with my French. I'm here to work on their spoken, and some of them refuse to speak. Ah well. I'm pretty sure a little time will help. Time or threats.

OK just threats.

Anyways, I look forward to next semester. A new batch of students and I can get off on the right foot. Start off facist and THEN start having fun.

What an exciting day for an adventure!