From good to bad and back again.

This afternoon was positively awful, but then I started to feel pretty good about it. Had I written this blog around 6 this evening, it would have been a pretty upset entry. Luckily, the only thing people do fast in China is build stuff. I spent two hours at the bank. It's sort of like the supermarket where they think long and hard before lifting a finger and getting something done. That and as any Chinese person will tell you, there are too many people "Ren tai duo le!" At any rate it was probably a good thing I had the time to mull over the things that were bothering me.

Today was pretty good in general, but this afternoon was a total disappointment. When I was told I would have a homeroom, there was mention of going on the Experience China Week trip with them. I was kind of excited because I thought it would be fun and kind of nice to spend time with the kids outside of school. I know being a chaperone is hard work, but I was actually looking forward to it. When we started talking about it at school, however, I got the impression that I would not be going with my class. This afternoon, the principal confirmed that.

I imagine that at some point I will not care that I am not going (because it is a lot of work), but I can't help but feel like I'm missing out on the only chance I'll have to get to know the kids better. I am a little worried that it will set me up to be the "odd man out" so to speak. I know the school doesn't want to pay for all of the teachers to go, but it really wouldn't cost that much to have all of the homeroom teachers go. I think my disappointment is especially strong because this trip was moved forward in the year to make it a bonding experience, and I feel like I might miss out on a lot in terms of seeing the kids in a different light. Regardless of what I think, however, nothing is going to change at this point, so I suppose it's time to suck it up.

After getting all down about the trip and having that compounded by the heat and long wait at the bank, I had a really pleasant surprise. It may have been a total accident, but Huijia paid me for the last two weeks of school!! I had 2000 and some rmb in my account! I thought I had nothing, so anything would have been nice, but that's a chunk of money.

Maybe the title of this blog would have been more accurate if it was "For every action there's an equal and opposite," but I'm not sure if that's always true. 2000 rmb will certainly help if Dan and I decide to take a trip of our own during October holiday! So, it put a smile back on my face.

On my way home, with my pockets a little fuller, I stopped by the market. It was the first time I had really walked around there and it was absolutely fabulous! There were so many vendors with nice looking fruits and vegetables and all far cheaper than the local carrefour. I was a little hesitant about buying because foreigners almost always pay too much, but I'm getting better at reading and can certainly pretend to speak a few words. So, I went for it. I only bought some grape tomatoes and some grapes (which turned out to be slips kins!!), for a total of two kilos at 12 rmb. That's a dollar fifty for over three pounds of grapes, which are deliciously juicy, and 30 cents for a little over a pound of tomatoes.

It's hard to feel down when life is so cheap!! It is, however, easy to feel exhausted. Good night!