Holes, Holes and More Holes

I woke up earlier than I would have liked to this morning because I was on a mission! To go to the clothing market! Now let me tell you about my pant situation. I knew China was going to be a bit cold and I would be wearing only pants. Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand are all supposed to be warm so I brought capris for those places. I brought two pairs of jeans (light and dark) and a pair of white corduroy pants. The two pairs of jeans I brought were thoughtfully picked out because they are my oldest (and beginning to show it). My thought was to wear them during China and then throw them away..to also gain luggage space as I bought more things. Sadly, my jeans have failed me. Last week I noticed holes in BOTH of them..along the pockets and more importantly..on my inner thighs. At first it was manageable, until a few days ago when my dark jeans, well they had had it. This small hole spread to a massive hole! I could feel a draft! That’s when I knew it was time to say goodbye. But I still have two weeks left in China and need pants! So this morning I went to the clothing market on the hunt for jeans.

After seeing what the selection was yesterday..I realized I am a fat cow, but I am ok with it. The jeans they had on display would be lucky to fit on ONE leg, never mind two! Skinny little Asian women! Sheesh! So I brought the pair of jeans that I was going to throw away so they would know what size I need. Since there are only little stalls there is no changing room. But I did see people yesterday holding sheets around them as they tried on pants. Since today was rainy and cold, I decided trying to change with a sheet around me with wet shoes and pants was too much. I would take my chances.

I went to a jean “store” and showed her the size I needed..and surprisingly, she had some! Although she did have to dig for it, I was impressed they had pants I could fit into. I held them up to compare them to my pants and it looked good! She also said they stretched, YES!

Now, time to bargain. I had said yesterday how you shouldn’t go to the market when you are tired. You also shouldn’t go to the market when you actually NEED something and are pressed for time! I had read online you could get pants at this market for 80RMB ($11.72). Since I NEEDED jeans I really would have paid almost anything..but this was my goal. She started at 290 (which was a special deal..woohoo!) so I came back at 30 (10% of her asking price) and I probably could have gotten it for 40ish? Somewhere around there. But since I knew people had spent 80 and I was willing to spend that..I quickly moved to 50, and then 80 as she was coming down. I did not have the time to waste bargaining, nor the luxury to walk away and start again.

Once you have done some bargaining in the market (like myself) you can tell when you will get something for the price you are willing to pay. I would like to consider myself somewhat of a pro (ha yeah right!) but I could tell she was going to give it to me for 80 but had to stand there for another minute until she did. I walked away with a new pair of jeans, knowing I could have gotten them for cheaper but happy to have a pair of pants with no holes! P.S. – I did try them on after and they fit fine! Yay!

I had also seen a pair or purple flats (I LOVE purple now) so decided I would see if I could get them. But, I soon realized not only am I a fat cow, I have BIG feet! Haha! Well I have always known I have big feet because I also have trouble finding shoes in the U.S.! I tried on a couple of pairs but they didn’t have a size big enough for me, so I figured that was probably a hint I shouldn’t spend the money.

I was also going to look at sunglasses. I love getting cheap sunglasses, usually at Kohl’s or Walmart. But I couldn’t really find them, didn’t have the time and can’t remember the last time I saw the sun in Beijing. So I decided my pair of jeans were enough for the day and headed out to get ready for school!

Helena and I had no problem getting to school, other than the weather. It is 32 degrees, feels like 30 (I think it feels even colder with the wind) and it is raining! Ugh! Of course I decided to wear my white pants (WHAT was I thinking?) that are now ruined and will have to be thrown away shortly.

We arrived at the school and the courtyard was filled with desks and chairs. Chilli explained they got new desks and chairs and were swapping them out. The headmaster told us to wait in the room (we knew this from her hand motions, not from her Chinese). So we waited, and waited, and waited. Helena and I thought it was strange they switch desks during a class period and not during recess.

It was VERY cold and I would have rather been teaching than sitting in a cold room. But after that period Amy got us and brought us to grade 3, both of us together. Grade 3 is VERY hard..they seem to know A LOT more in 4th grade which makes it easier. We were learning animals again and went over the motions and also added spelling this time too! Overall, I do not think the class went great and I have no idea how they learn because it is so cold!

I was confused if Amy wanted us to stay for period 7, the last period of the day, which I have never taught (I didn’t think they had English classes then). But when we got to the courtyard she was SO sweet and told us because it was so cold (and we didn’t have winter jackets) we should go home. She continued to say if we were too cold tomorrow we didn’t have to come to school. Everyone REALLY is so nice. When we got to the school Sophia made sure to pull over chairs next to the heater (which sort of worked, but not really). But they are always making sure we are fed and warm and comfortable. To be honest I did not complain at all that we could leave. If I had been able to bring all my clothes over I would have been dressed in DOUBLE what I was wearing. But I also felt guilty that they all had to stay and try to teach and learn in this weather.

Before I left I made a pit stop..Michael. I had “practiced” what I was going to say to him. I told him that I had talked to my family etc. and we could not afford a projector (I can’t remember if I said this but I asked Melissa..my coordinator..and she said they ran for about $2,000 in Beijing) but I said we could buy a laptop if the school thought that would be beneficial. He was really so sweet and said something about being sorry for embarrassing me. I wanted to tell him I wasn’t embarrassed at all and if we had the money I would buy them a million projectors. But I told him we would still love to buy the laptop if that was good and then he said something about the gift of friendship (Amy was there and agreed too) and as cheesy at it sounds I really knew they meant it. I told Michael that was very nice and I appreciated him saying I didn’t need to give any gifts because friendship was enough, but still told him I would love to get them a laptop. So I just emailed Melissa and am hoping we can figure something out!

I got back to the hostel and was able to quickly blog and email before we headed out for the Olympic stadium. We all wanted to see it lit up at night and it was definitely cool, but maybe a little overrated. It was also FREEZING so nobody wanted to be outside. It was crazy to think EVERYTHING wasn’t there a few years ago and I enjoyed taking pictures but we didn’t stay for long.

We had dinner at the Blue Frog because it was “Monday, Monday”. Last week when Callum and I were looking at menu’s the man told us we should come on Monday because it is 2 for 1 burger night. So we dragged the troops and I had the BEST burger! I don’t even really like burgers but for some reason I love them in Beijing! I got a burger and French fries and I was so tempted to get Boston Cream Pie! I didn’t though. Anyway I was very tired when I got back but we had a great (although cold) night!

Hugs and kisses from my BRAND NEW jeans!