Walking down the motorway, a job interview with a difference and a very angry masseuse

What a busy week. Its been hectic; early mornings, late nights, Paddy's day, Police stations, job interviews. There's a lot of ground to cover about the past few days. Teaching-wise, however, it's been pretty quiet. Only one lesson on Saturday morning, which went okay. Starting to remember the kid's names as well which is a bonus. At my weekend course the tutor said the best way to learn names is to mentally connect every name to a picture, so luckily with students named "house", "apple" and "moon" it doesn't prove too difficult. 

Monday morning we had our weekly Mandarin lesson and then in the afternoon had a ramble around one of the markets and picked up a few bits. In the evening a few of us went out to a Korean restaurant on the orders of one of Angus' friends Marsha. It turned out she knew the owner or something (still not really sure) so after paying for our food the beer was free. Which meant we took full advantage - very good night. 

Tuesday morning was another early start. Catching the bus at 7 0'clock in the morning in the freezing cold took all my efforts. So when we were stuck in a 30 minute traffic jam, and the bus decided to leak green fluid and we had to walk two miles down the motorway I thought I might pass out. There we were in minus temperatures, walking down a motorway, scrambling up the icy bank playing dodgems with the passing traffic. I thought I was going to die. But in the distance, through bleary eyes and thick smog, there stood the university (yes UNIVERSITY when everyone thought we were going to the police station - don't even ask) and we had arrived at our destination. 

Wednesday was the third early start in a row. Angus rang me the night before telling me to prepare a lesson for kinder-garden ages, so I compiled a list of games and activities together. I turned up, all ready for an hour or so of teaching and got bustled in to the classroom where I began. Right in the middle of my rendition of head, shoulders, knees and toes a women (didn't know who she was at the time, I insisted I should carry on but she insisted otherwise) came in and bustled me out of the room and into another. I was thrown into a room with 15 or so 6 year old's all looking up at me wide eyed. A piece of advice; "when in doubt teach food" came into my head and I spent the next 15 minutes or so teaching fruit. Then the woman came in again, took me out and bustled me into a smaller room, which I later realised was the first aid room. And then I had some sort of interview with her about hours and schedules and the school. And ONLY THEN did I realise it was for a job, and I had done some trial lessons. The first job interview I have attended without actually knowing it was a job interview. I'll keep you posted about how successful I was...

After the interview we had to wait for about FOUR HUNDRED hours in another police station to register ourselves for a second time. And then finally, we were released and able to celebrate St Paddy's day properly, as it should be celebrated; in a Korean restaurant with a substantial amount of Harbin beer and rice wine - and a hoola hoop competition (we found it in the restaurant! Videos to be uploaded).

Last night we had a Chinese massage arranged for us by our Mandarin teacher (she didn't massage us, just arranged it - that might have stepped over the teacher-student mark). We were directed into a room with seven huge reclining chairs all laid out facing each other, and were told to change into the shorts and t-shirts which were provided. Whilst my feet were laid in a bucket of warm water and I was offered prunes and Jasmine tea all I was thinking was "I could get used to this" and was happy soaking up the first bit of luxury we had been exposed to in China, looking forward to the next hour or so of pure blissful relaxation. And then my thoughts were interrupted with the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. It began on my shoulders; a bone crunching, muscle spasm-ing clench that then went all the way down my back, then to my feet and up each leg. My face must have been an absolute picture and the more I seemed to squirm and cuss, the tighter her grip became. And then she started punching me, actually physically punching me! Either she didn't like me or she was a horrible horrible person, as everyone else was laying back, eyes closed obviously in some sort of relaxed state. It was absolute torture for me but apparently it's good for you or something, so I've booked my monthly appointments. No pain no gain, right?

So there we are, coming to the end of my third week in Harbin and my fourth week in China. Already I've been almost run over about 300 times, been pick pocketed, survived the effects of rice wine and been punched by some sort of angry Chinese masseuse. And survived! Its been brilliant though - who knows what the next 4 months will bring!

That's all folks xxx