where_is_gregmilne

where_is_gregmilne
2003-03-05 07:42:01 (UTC)

My day off

Each Tuesday for the next 2 months I am lucky enough to
have a day off. I came down with a cold over the weekend
so it was sleep in time yesterday morning. After suffering
many mornings of rancid instant coffee I decided to try my
luck and memory(sometimes not so good) and make my way to
Starbucks on the south side of the city. After dodging the
craziest and worst drivers in the world, I squished my way
onto to busy subway system and somehow made it to the right
stop. My mouth watering with the thought of fresh brewed
coffee soon to enter my stomach as I approached the
entrance. After a fun game of sureaids(not sure about that
one) with the coffee guy I have myself a steaming cup of
Starbucks coffee. I sat down at the window of the second
floor and delighted myself with chucks watching to bicycles
and cars nearly missing the thousands of passerby's. I was
plesently surprised to hear a familiar sound of 'Dirty ol'
Town' a song that I thought I would never hear on the other
side of the world. I also treated myself to some McDonald's
(sorry couldn't help it) I also have managed to only use
chopsticks so far. I made my way back to my hotel, dodging
the many gobs of spit the chinese so vigorously like to
leave everywhere. I met some young teachers from my school
for dinner that night. I tried shrimp, carpe(fish) and
eel, all a first for me. The Chinese like to try and stuff
you full at every meal and always comment how I don't eat
enough. After dinner we were off to bowling in the biggest
bowling alley I have ever seen, there were at least 2
floors of lanes along with a floor of pool tables, video
games and a floor for internet. This was a different type
of bowling then I am used to, the kind of balls with three
holes. I tried my first string but failed miserable with a
score of 35. I slowly got the hang of it and ended up
winning the last string. I'm sure this sounds like nothing
exciting, but I still can't get over the number of people
here and the size of everything. Shopping centres have 15
floors, each floor a department in itself with a worker
every 5 feet(4 steps apart) and the markets are a maze,
some stretching 2 city blocks. Anyway, that was my day
off. I can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow.




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