This is our lunch at the Taiwanese shop across the road from our house. It's open 24 hours and it's awesome!
So! Paul has covered most of the last week...that's for all of you who have requested that Paul make some of my stories interesting!! But I've got some more anyway...so you still have to read them!! :)
I now have a chinese bank account! But still need to work out how to transfer cash via the internet as it's an international transaction. If I can do that...it will cut out the $20AUD worth of fees each time I get cash out of an ATM!! My card also has a cute mouse on it too!!
I have met the other aussie girls from UQ, Liz and Tegan - we are the only aussies on campus. They are in the same class at UQ and have both been to Taiwan too. Liz also has a friend, Arne, who she studied with in Taiwan, he's Belgian and it's pronounced Arna.
It was Liz's 25th last tues, so we went out on the town. I met them at the dorms and we went downstairs and sat out the front and waited for others. The dorm experience is amazing! (Although this part is the only part I'm sad I'm missing out on!) As we sat downstairs, there were 5 or 6 middle-eastern boys listening to traditional sounding music and smoking shisha (no mum, they weren't 'drugging' hehehe, it's just flavoured tobacco) The shisha pipe looks pretty cool though, they use hot coals at the top and 2 or 3 people can smoke from them at once. It smelled a little nicer than stinky cigarettes too!
While we were waiting I met lots of people from Germany, England, France, Iran, Tanzania, Congo...the list goes on! Most of the Germans and English are on this 3 week intense study thing. They haven't learnt any chinese before and have to classes every day and then go on tours and get taken out to lunch and banquets etc. It sounds awesome, and everyone is really lovely...but they're leaving soon!!! That sucks...most of the people I met this night are all on this trip.
(((((HEY! THIS IS PAUL! Just to let you know I am silently interjecting into Caitlin's blog and correcting some suff...but more importantly, let it be known that I am drinking rum with coke and ice and it's awesome....as am I))))))
I now have a chinese bank account! But still need to work out how to transfer cash via the internet as it's an international transaction. If I can do that...it will cut out the $20AUD worth of fees each time I get cash out of an ATM!! My card also has a cute mouse on it too!!
I have met the other aussie girls from UQ, Liz and Tegan - we are the only aussies on campus. They are in the same class at UQ and have both been to Taiwan too. Liz also has a friend, Arne, who she studied with in Taiwan, he's Belgian and it's pronounced Arna.
It was Liz's 25th last tues, so we went out on the town. I met them at the dorms and we went downstairs and sat out the front and waited for others. The dorm experience is amazing! (Although this part is the only part I'm sad I'm missing out on!) As we sat downstairs, there were 5 or 6 middle-eastern boys listening to traditional sounding music and smoking shisha (no mum, they weren't 'drugging' hehehe, it's just flavoured tobacco) The shisha pipe looks pretty cool though, they use hot coals at the top and 2 or 3 people can smoke from them at once. It smelled a little nicer than stinky cigarettes too!
While we were waiting I met lots of people from Germany, England, France, Iran, Tanzania, Congo...the list goes on! Most of the Germans and English are on this 3 week intense study thing. They haven't learnt any chinese before and have to classes every day and then go on tours and get taken out to lunch and banquets etc. It sounds awesome, and everyone is really lovely...but they're leaving soon!!! That sucks...most of the people I met this night are all on this trip.
(((((HEY! THIS IS PAUL! Just to let you know I am silently interjecting into Caitlin's blog and correcting some suff...but more importantly, let it be known that I am drinking rum with coke and ice and it's awesome....as am I))))))
I did learn some German though, on the drunken taxi ride home (German accent: "Oh, I have had too much party!") OK, that wasn't what I learnt!! It's (please accent awful spelling) "Liber marken" and this is the explanation I got from Michael (the German guy) "Liber Marken: to make love. Hmm...Love. I do not like it in relationships. Making...yes, this is very good." hehehe He could also speak Bavarian and so taught me something that he said is very popular at Oktoberfest: "Eine bier, Schnakseln" which means something along the lines of "a beer and then sex" lol.
There is also a shop on the lower floor of the dorms that sells everything a corner shop does, as well as burgers, noodles, dumplings, french fries etc. Every night there is someone out the front having a drink. You can buy tallies (no one else knows what we mean when we say this!!) of TsingTao for 4RMB each, I think they run out of cold ones every night! Although the Germans complain when their beer is cold!! Crazy. A whole tallie of hot beer is a little hard to drink!
As there are people sitting drinking there every night, there is a bottle man (probably homeless) who sits near them and collects the bottles to redeem them for cash. He must do pretty well compared to the others that look through bins etc round town! He gets to sit there and we all give him the bottles! He really tries to blend into the background though! He doesn't speak to anyone and keeps disappearing behind the building if there are too many people.
That's China. As I type, there are heaps of students on the oval (well patch of dirt and concrete) that are doing their 2 weeks of military training. They are all lined up and I can hear them all yelling "left, right, 1,2,3" etc. They are all the first year uni and college students. We live at the arts college part of Paul's uni. It sounds pretty cool. I'll try and get some photo's...don't know if I'll get arrested or something though!
This is one of the many ways I can get to school. It's a little motorbike-car! It only has 3 wheels! This is my mate, driver. He was lovely and tried to talk to me in my bad chinese! He did charge me a lot though!! A whole 10RMB, I usually pay 7.50 in the taxi! I think I'm supposed to work out a price with him before I get in...
It has handle bars!! It was soo slow though! And every bump (and there are many!) I hit my head on the low roof!! It kept backfiring too. It was great!!
Hey!! I also got a bike!! It's fun. Although everyone laughs at me - literally! ((((Paul again....thats normal though kt...bike or no bike HAHAHAHAH)))))) Usually they stare, and some have pointed....but this time, full buses of people were laughing at me!! It's fun though! But my bum hurts soo much!! I haven't ridden a bike for soo long! (maybe that's while they were laughing...I was a little tiny bit wobbly hehe)
Ok, I've typed a lot, and it's stream-of-conscience...
but! I'm really excited about this one...I am having complete conversations in Chinese. I am listening, speaking, reading, understanding..and even sms'ing in Chinese!!!!!!!!!!!! I bought a hairdryer yesterday and we even made jokes and I understood every single word the lady said. Even stuff like, heat settings, wattage, 'wind' settings. It's awesome! It's good that somethings happening in my brain now, I'm looking forward to class! It's all going to be in Chinese.
OK, that's all from me for now.
If you've read this far, you deserve a little present!!
(((((((THIS IS PAUL AGAIN.....ok now caitlins post is the newest but don't forget that I had two new post below this so comment on mine and not hers! She always steals the glory by typing a massive post after mine and making everyone forget what I blogged about...bitch. lol just joking. P.s its our 6 year anniversary today :), KT's Dad messaged us to remind us....we forgot again....oh well...bu bye))))))))) (RUM)
ok, I think you'll have to click on this image to make it bigger. Read the english writing at the top. This is bathroom cleaner that I bought the other day...It's hilarious. Paul refuses to use it!!!!!!
2 comments:
Paul, I like that you have returned to your interjecting, drunken, hilarious best! You can really nail 'em (them). You should teach your kids about the Canberra Raiders, explain to them that to really fit into Australian culture they have to buy and display all sorts of Canberra merchandise. Caitlin, congratulations on becoming fluent in Mongolian or whatever language you speak there in the Middle East.
hey travis, i see the raiders choked on the weekend. campeses should stick to the good game. ohkay. pity about the bronco shenanigans though pauly... pity. although i hear k did give her one for you.
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