First week (and a half) back!

March 01, 2017

Wow, the first week back in three words has been fun, challenging and productive. I’m going to be completely honest and say that last Monday I broke down. Not completely, but sort of. I was having an OK day back at work, but it was cold, miserable and I had major India blues. To be honest, after being off work for almost three months I guess it’s fair to say I felt the shock of getting back into work and routine.

Travelling, for me, consisted of getting up whenever I wanted (which was weirdly never past 9:30am), relaxing, enduring food, exploring and ultimate paradise I guess. Now don’t get me wrong, I really love my students and job here in Shanghai. But, it was just the shock and contrast of getting back into work that anyone would feel. Anyway, I got through the week and was very proud of myself by the end of it! I decided on a retail therapy and eat out for lunch and dinner sort of weekend! This week, however, I’m trying to slightly budget a bit more (although I’ve been out for dinner every evening this week).

So, when Friday arrived last week I was ecstatic. I’d had a really productive week of teaching and studying Chinese. On Friday morning I had another Chinese lesson at Xujiahui; I’m trying to really focus on Chinese study and speedily get through my HSK 2 book in order to sit the test soon. I’m really grasping the language now, and have been told by many that my pronunciation is amazing. This has really motivated me and I know that one of many things I will take from my experience in China is the language. I won’t stop studying Chinese and I plan to find a Chinese language partner when I get back to England too.

Anyway, before I left for travelling I had two ankle injuries (on the same ankle) which led to me slightly fracturing it. The second injury happened not long before I went travelling, during MMA, so I wasn’t able to rest it after the injury. For that reason, I’ve come back to Shanghai and it’s still swollen! I decided it would be a good idea to go to the hospital again to check up on it. This was my breakdown number two of the week because I found the local doctor to be pretty unhelpful and charge me for any further treatment, strapping etc. In that moment, I really appreciated the NHS we have in England. Anyway, my ankle is gradually recovering so fingers crossed it will be 100% soon. Just be sure to get good travel insurance for anything more severe guys!

So that evening, on Friday, I had dinner planned with my lovely Chinese friend Grace and fellow TEIC friend Lesley. I hadn’t seen them since coming back from my travels so that was lovely. We had dinner at Lotus Eatery, a popular Yunnan food restaurant. It was scrumptious and a great catch up! Since injuring my ankle, I’ve been using DOTTI, my scooter to get around. So, I drove home that evening within twenty minutes I was home. That evening I decided to go to a friend’s house, Andru, who I also hadn’t seen since I’d come back to catch up and chill.

The next morning, I had a bit of a lie in and then got ready to meet a friend and new arrival into Shanghai; Mikaela! We had a wonderful day, with the weather quite warm and sunny (by the way its seventeen degrees today!!), of shopping and more shopping! After shopping we went to meet Mikaela’s friend and Chinese coordinator, Crystal for sushi in Pudong. W O W , it was the best sushi I’ve ever had and all topped off with cheese! So scrumptious.

After eating, there was a market nearby which sold lots of stuff and lovely cute little boutique clothes stalls had a sale on! I got back into retail therapy mode and bought a jumper and a scarf – altogether 130rmb; can’t go wrong! By the end of the day, I was exhausted and headed home to rest and chill out.

The next day was a Sunday and a super productive Sunday it was! In the morning I had a two-hour tutoring lesson at West Nanjing Road. After this I headed to waga’s for lunch (this was another treat as it’s a sort of pricey, Italian/western style food but really nice and tastes like home) and then to a coffeeshop to work. I went to TwoSome Coffee, a really nice, cosy chilled café where I spent my day lesson planning, working and studying Chinese. My friend Grace, who I’d met on Friday, also came to teach me Chinese for an hour. I love my lessons with Grace as I speak Chinese solidly for over an hour, and by the end of it my head is always bursting but it’s great and increases my confidence in speaking Chinese.

As if my Sunday wasn’t productive enough! Around 4:30pm, my friend Furkan came to meet me at the café. From here we headed to Jing'an to meet his boss for dinner. Furkan’s boss’s name is Ban Ban. He is Chinese and wants to improve his English. We have decided to become language partners, so I’ll help with his English and he’ll help with my Chinese. It’s a great arrangement and we had an amazing dinner! It was a vegetarian hot pot, Tibet style restaurant. It was so scrumptious and the perfect end to a great weekend.

So, now its Wednesday. This week has been a great week at work. The weather has been sunny, I’ve enjoyed my teaching and have felt happy all week. I’m excited because this month I intend to keep things quite chilled and stay around Shanghai, potentially meet my friend Em in Xuzhou next weekend. But April is going to be a TRAVEL MONTH. I already have Busan, South Korea booked for the weekend of the 7^th and there is another holiday for Qingming Festival in which I’m still deciding where to go for – potentially the Philippines!