Still sick

A year ago I never would have imagined that I would be spending the next Christmas in a hospital in China. That's right - I've now been sick for 13 days and haven't been able to properly digest regular food. Thankfully we have a four-day weekend for Christmas, so I've been able to rest and relax and catch up on sleep.

The past couple of weeks have been eventful. After taking Tuesday and Wednesday off school, I dragged myself to class on Thursday and Friday, even though it took all my energy to climb the four flights of stairs to my office. I slept through my prep blocks and went to bed as soon as I got home after school. Saturday was our surprise party for Anita. Anjali and I went into KaiFaQu early that morning to buy presents for Justin and Anita on Robson street with Mike. We managed to find a shirt for Justin, but couldn't see anything for Anita. We popped by Watsons to pick up a santa hat and I grabbed some warm tights at Trustmart. It was sooo cold that day that I was still freezing even with three layers on. We headed into Dalian to meet up with Justin and get lunch. I've never spent so much time wandering around Dalian as we did that day. We walked down to Russian street and then jumped into a cab to grab lunch at the Olive Garden. People have been raving about the restaurant, but I thought the spaghetti was just okay. It was just nice to get inside and warm up. After lunch, we still had almost five hours to kill to keep Justin entertained and in Dalian until the surprise party. We walked back downtown and shopped for Anita's present in the underground shopping areas. We found some earrings and grabbed a scarf in the Korean market. By that point it was still only 4 pm and we still had two-and-a-half hours to kill. Justin was suggesting going back to KaiFaQu, so we were getting worried about being able to keep him in Dalian. We were also worried because we were so close to the Qing Gui and knew that other teachers would be arriving soon. We jumped into a taxi to go to a Starbucks and decide what to do next. While we were in the taxi, we saw Peter and Kevin with the birthday cake, but luckily Justin didn't notice. We actually bumped into Anita at Starbucks serindipidously and we all walked over to Brooklyn Bar together. After a whole day of preparations, it was great to see that the surprise was a success! We had about twenty teachers come out to celebrate and we managed to get everyone to sign their birthday cards the week before. The burgers at Brooklyn Bar were incredible and we had the whole third floor of the restaurant to ourselves. Afterwards we went out dancing at a little bar and taxied it all the way back to Jinshitan. Here's a picture of Anita, myself, Anjali and Justin at Brooklyn Bar: On Sunday I woke up exhausted, but took the early qing gui to Dalian for church where we met up with Edgar for the Christmas service. We stayed for the free lunch after church and then did a little shopping at Metro. They're putting up an IKEA right beside Metro and it should be open before February - I'm so excited. I'll be able to get my candles again :) On Sunday evening I wasn't feeling very well, but I still got up for school on Monday. It snowed a little bit on Monday so flag ceremony was cancelled. We usually all meet on the basketball court in front of the school to sing the Chinese, Canadian, and Maple Leaf School anthems. It was just way too cold on Monday, so I was able to rest a bit during the break instead. After school we had a Christmas potluck at our place. We had a lot of great food and I made my broccoli and cheese sauce again, as well as an apple pie, but I mostly ate vegetables. We sang carols together afterwards and it really started to feel like Christmas. Here's Angali, Elaine, me, Anita, Timio, and Yiming enjoying dessert:On Tuesday, I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed, but I still went to school. I cancelled my tutorial after school so that I could come home and go to bed. On Wednesday, Kevin and I mixed up our girls and boys classes to do some Christmas math problems together. I handed out candy canes to my kids and got a lot of cards and chocolates from students. On Wednesday night, Anita, Elaine, Rody and I went to Dalian to sing Christmas carols in Zhongshan square. We went out to our favourite JiaoZi restaurant for dinner took a cab back to Jinshitan. Anita and I were supposed to leave for Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning, on Thursday (Christmas) morning, but I was sooo sick on Tuesday night that I spent the night in the bathroom. I woke up and told Anita that I was so sorry, but I'd have to cancel our trip. Suiki and Anjali came over for a pancake and crepe breakfast and prayed for me. I started feeling better right away and even sat with them for breakfast. I was all packed and ready to go to Shenyang, so I changed my mind and decided to just try to do the trip (I really don't know what I was thinking!) On the way downtown to buy our tickets I realized that it would be foolish for me to try to do a big trip and come back to another week of teaching without any time to recuperate. So instead of going to the train station, Anita and I went to the hospital. The Dalian University hospital was just gorgeous. We got to stay in the VIP lounge where they had a large flat-screen tv and comfy couches. I got to take a blood test, urine sample, and ultrasound. Because I was a VIP, I got to skip the line-ups for the tests and get my results analyzed right away. They didn't find any abnormalities in my tests, which is good, and the doctor gave me about twenty packs of pills to take. I've been taking them regularly and they seem to help a little bit, but I still haven't been able to digest anything except soup and rice. If I'm still sick on Monday I'll go the doctor again. I've been losing a bunch of weight and I just want to be eat regularly again (especially since we have our weekly girl's night potluck on Monday).

After the hospital, we got our hair cut and met up with Edgar for dinner. Anita and I went to the spa in Dalian after dinner. It was an incredible experience! For a 37 yuan (6 dollar) entrance fee, you get access to all the hot tubs, saunas, and spas. You also get a free late night and breakfast buffet. There's also a room full of huge lazy-boys where you can spend the night. We took the elevator up to the second (girls) floor where we got a locker for our clothes. We stripped down completely naked and put on the paper underpants the staff gave us. We rinsed off in the amazing endless-hot-water showers and then jumped into the hot tubs. I thought it would be awkward to be completely naked, but I got used to it pretty quickly. It was pretty quiet there, since it was a weeknight and there were only about ten other people on our floor. We enjoyed the saunas and then splurged on the services they had to offer. First of all, we got a full body rub-down with an exfoiliating glove. It hurt a bit, but it was good to get rid of the rolls and rolls of dead skin. I was seriously pink afterwards :) Then we got to lie down on a heated pad and they covered us with this saran-wrap stuff to keep us warm and we got an exfoiliating full-body massage. They also gave us a moisturizing face mask. I wish I had photos - the place was simply gorgeous, but understandably, we weren't allowed to take pictures. After we got cleaned up, we went upstairs for the free food (even though I only drank tea and ate rice). We went onto another floor for the lazy-boys, but the only spots that were left were in the smoking room. Each chair had its own tv and there were a ton of masseuses offering to give us massages. The girls were all dressed in shiny little dresses and looked like they were offering a different sort of massage, if you know what I mean. We tried to sleep in that room, but it was pretty noisy and got a little smoky, so we slept on some couches in the lounge instead. I managed to get a spot in the non-smoking room and had a decent night's sleep. In the morning, we enjoyed the hot tubs and saunas again and took advantage of the free breakfast. We got a free entrance ticket for next time because we spent more than 200 yuan. New Year's holiday, here we come!
On the way back home we picked up some paint so we can redo our apartment next weekend. I hope I have my energy back by then. Today I just stayed at home and rested all day, which has done my body good. Best of all, I surfed the net and found a flight home for $640 (directly from Seoul to Vancouver on expedia.com). So for the long break, I'm going to spend a long weekend in Haerbin to see the ice sculptures and then go to Seoul to visit with Joanne. I'll fly to Vancouver from there and spend a good three weeks with the family. Ever since I got sick, I've been a bit homesick and I'm really looking forward to seeing friends and family again.

Sicker than a dog

Today and yesterday were my first two sick days of the year. My friends tell me I've been overworking myself, which is partly true, but it's surprising I got sick now, because I really did take it easy on the weekend.
On Friday night, we had our last game of bowling. We stopped by Eddie's for dinner and I picked up an advent calendar for old time's sakes. I was on fire during bowling, for some reason. Even though I bowled zero in the first and last frames, I managed to score 136. I've never scored above 100 before. I lucked out with a bunch of strikes and spares - I just wish I'd had that luck earlier in the season. I hung out with some friends at Starbucks afterwards and took an early taxi back to Jinshitan. Once I got home, I buckled down and finished all my weekend marking. I was ecstatic at the first opportunity to really enjoy a weekend.
On Saturday morning, Anita and I headed into Dalian to run some errands before the Christmas party. First we went to the post office to mail some Christmas cards. We had them all ready to go, but we were told that we needed special envelopes, so we had to readdress every letter. Maybe that's why my letters from September took so long to send. I don't even know if they've made it to Canada yet. Anita and I were planning to go to a spa (where many Chinese people go to bathe - it's segregated into men and women and essentially you're taking a bath with a bunch of other naked people. It sounds more awkward than relaxing, but I still want to try the experience). Unfortunately, the mail took so long that we were out of time for the spa, so we did a little shopping instead. We went down to Er Chi square so that Anita could pick up her tailor-made dress for the night (I decided against getting a special outfit made, since I couldn't decide on a cut, colour, or fabric (too many choices!), but I wore a skirt instead). I did a little browsing and saw some beautiful coats at one of the booths. I've been wanting to get a long coat tailored, so I talked to the ladies in broken Chinese and managed to describe the coat I was looking for. The offered me a price of 450 yuan, but I thought it was a little much and suggested 300 yuan. They shook their heads, and I still wasn't sure I wanted it, so I told them I'd think about it. Then they said ok for 300, so I couldn't refuse (that's about 55 bucks for a knee-length peacoat). I can't wait to pick it up next week. I was so proud of being able to describe exactly what I wanted and negotiate a price without having Anita around to translate!
We went down to the hairdressers after Er Chi and got a dry hair wash, massage, and style. We did our makeup in the salon and jumped into a taxi to get to the party. The party at the Imperial Hotel was incredible! There was so much good food catered by Eddie's and at least 100 teachers came out to celebrate. We danced the night away until about 11:30 and then Anita and I went to Elaine's grandparents' apartment to crash in Dalian.
We got up early the next morning and ran a bunch of errands at Metro (my favourite store for groceries and imports, even though it's crazy-expensive), Decathalon (a great sportsware store), and B+Q (a furniture store). We picked up some cute lamps for $2 and a great shelf for our kitchen. The only trouble was that we were lugging heavy bags around Dalian to get to church. We finally made it a little on the late side and were glad to take a load off our shoulders for a while. After church we came straight home and Anita and I went for a bike ride since it was so nice outside. It's been so clear lately and hardly cold at all. I treated myself to a massage after the ride and went all out with a full-body and back oil massage. My masseuse didn't want me walking home alone at night, so he walked me back to my apartment, even though I assured him I'd stay safe. I went to bed early, completely relaxed.
Monday was Anita's birthday, so I planned to bake her a cake and have a potluck at our place in the evening. I didn't get a chance to back during my morning prep, since one of my students wanted to get some tutouring, so I rushed home after school. I baked a cake, some shake-and-bake chicken, potatoes, broccoli and cheese sauce. Anita, Rodi, Anjali, Elaine, Suiki, and I had such a feast together - thai curry, indian potatoes and chick peas, chinese soup, and all my dutch food (it makes my stomach queasy just thinking about it). I ate until I was stuffed and then we surprised Anita by inviting a bunch of other teachers over for cake. Anita and I went out for a bike ride afterwards to get a massage, but they were already closed, so we just headed back home. I was feeling a little sick to my stomach, but had no idea how sick I really was. When I started puking, it just wouldn't stop. I don't think I slept a wink that night and I lost track of the number of times I threw up after 10. I vomited more times that night than I have in the past 15 years put together. There were times when I didn't know whether to sit down or lean over the toilet. By the end of the night, I was puking up tea and medication. I called in a sub, but still had to go to school in the morning to make sub plans. Sometimes it's easier just to teach than to call in sick! I slept all day and all through the night, without hardly waking up. When I got up this morning, I was feeling a little better, but still really weak and unable to hold down food, so I called in a sub again. I still went in to school to make plans and practice for our New Year's musical performance tomorrow. I hope I'm fully better by then. I'm playing pachabel's canon with three violins. I'm grateful for all the wonderful friends I have here. Anita made me tea and prayed with me for the past few days. Rodi gave me some medication and Suiki called to see how I was. Anjali stopped by to give me a hug and get me something to drink. I'm so well cared for!

Thanksgiving

This weekend was just what I needed. On Saturday I went into Kai Fa Qu to have lunch at The Real Eddie's. They have the best western food around. I love their pizza and especially the roasted vegetable sandwich. They also just stocked up on new imports like taco seasoning, salsa, mozarella cheese, pasta sauce, and spices. Mmmm :) We met up with Steve from Shanghai (the guy who used to teach physics here last year. Both Anita and I discovered his blogs before we came to DMLIS and that's how we met eachother). I did a little shopping at Trustmart after lunch and then finished all my marking at Starbucks. I picked up a tiny fake Christmas tree and some garlands to decorate our place. When I got back to Manjitan I treated myself to a massage and then hung out with Anjali. On Sunday, Anita and I came right home after church, but we still didn't get back until 4 pm! We did some shopping at the local markets in Manjitan. There's a wonderful spot to buy fresh chicken breasts and all the fruits and vegetables are sooo cheap. We had a potluck dinner and listened to Christmas music.
But the best part of the weekend was the discovery of most of my lost items. My cell phone was at the bottom of my purse (I swear I emptied my purse twice and didn't see it - I don't know how it got there), my USB was in one of my sweater pockets (I took all the clothes out of my closest this weekend and checked all the pockets), my attendance sheets were in the vice-principal's office, and my favourite mug was in the fifth floor office. My laptop is still MIA, but I have faith that it will pop up somewhere this week.

Rant

It's hard for me to imagine a more challenging week than this one. Let me explain...
First of all, on Monday we teach from 7:40 to 4:40, but this week was even longer because we had a meeting afterschool to welcome the ministry of education representatives here to inspect the school. I came home simply exhausted and then cooked up some spaghetti for a potluck with Anita and Yiming. After dinner, Anita and I went out to Manjitan for a foot massage, which took away some of my stress, but meant that I wasn't as planned and prepared as I wanted to be for Tuesday.

On Tuesday, I was scrambling in the morning to prepare all my materials and get my binders ready for the ministry inspections. The vice principal was supposed to come into my class during F-block, but got sidetracked and couldn't make it, so now he's going to surprise me sometime. It was such a hectic day, but thankfully I got a package from my parents in the mail which gave me the energy to make it through the day. I stayed late after school on Tuesday to plan and get organized and didn't get home until late in the evening.

Wednesday was crazier than I was expecting. I was called to TOC for another Math 10 class, so I lost one of my prep blocks. Then I had a meeting at lunch time and was running around in the afternoon. After school, there was a staff meeting for pro-d for new teachers and at 5 I ran my tutorial. There were tons of kids there, trying to get caught up on old assignments and ask questions about their tests. I felt like I needed a couple of clones to get everything done. I rushed home at 6:45 for our potluck and just crashed. I felt so bad that I didn't have time to contribute food to the potluck and I barely had the energy to eat. Right after dinner was over, I headed back up to the office to get ready for Thursday, and as soon as I got home, I fell asleep.

Yesterday, we had the Maple Leaf Angels club meeting at lunch and again I was running around beforehand and couldn't even get to the meeting on time. After school I ran my tutorial and again it was packed. I was so exhausted afterwards that I left a bunch of stuff in my classroom and just came home for dinner. Somewhere in the craziness of this week, I lost a ton of stuff. When I get stressed out, my brain can't hold all the information it needs to and I start to forget things. Early this week, I lost my USB, which contains all my teaching materials, my students' grades, and pretty much everything that was on my computer. Last week I tripped over my computer's power cord and pulled it face down onto the floor. The monitor cracked, but I managed to snap it back together and it seemed to be working reasonably well. Also early this week, our shower floor cracked and we couldn't use the shower for a couple days. I also can't find my attendance sheets for this week. I have no idea when I lost them or where I might have left them (I think I lost them on Wednesday because I remember writing down the attendance for that day). Even worse, last night I lost my cell phone. I've been trying to call myself, but I can't find it anywhere. And to make matters worst, yesterday I lost my laptop computer. So I didn't have any of my lesson plans or materials for teaching today. I had to scramble this morning to put everything together. We had another meeting at lunch today, so I didn't have time to eat until just now. I am so thankful that it's the weekend.

During lunch today, our Maple Leaf Angel club sold newspapers to raise money to buy winter shoes for children at an orphanage in Dalian. It was a good reminder for me that I am so blessed just to have things like a cell phone and laptop in the first place. I really have nothing to complain about - I have my health, a great job, wonderful family, and such good friends. Some days like today it's harder to keep a positive attitude and count my blessings, but I have to, or else I'd go crazy.