So, the weekend was fantastic! Mark and I headed out around 10:30am on Saturday (after we both hit the gym!). We went out on the new subway. The first stop attempt was a bit off. We went a bit too far and ended up past old town/ downtown. That was Mark's pick for the stop. We headed back onto the subway and I picked the next stop. SCORE! It's the right one! We walked over to Walking Street and decide to just amble around. We see a new Costa coffee that has opened, and decide to stop and have a coffee.
We walked around a bit, and headed over to PingJiangLu Street. I just love that street. It's old, and real China; with some hokey tourist things thrown in! Okay...here is where I tried to insert photos...can you say EPIC FAIL? I don't know how to get photos to post. I will have to play around and see how I can do it. Sorry, at this point, Facebook will have to suffice for photos right now. We walked the whole day...in fact I logged almost 9 miles according to my Fitbit. It was a great day and the weather was awesome too! It was actually sunny with a blue sky. That does not happen often here so when it does, I like to get out and bask in it! :) We were back at the apartment by late afternoon and dinner was at Jack's Home a restaurant about a mile or so from the apartment.
Sunday was a rest and relax day. Mark made me pancake for breakfast. YUMMY! It was weird not having homework, reading, or a paper to write for school! I would usually spend the first half of a Sunday finishing up school work. Not anymore! WOOT! My time is mine! We watched Mad Men season 5. We had left over Indian for dinner (I
had ordered in earlier in the week when Mark was away). There was plenty left over for our ritual Sunday night dinner! :) It was yummy. After dinner, we walked over to Mark's music teacher's apartment to give him a book of sheet music he wanted to borrow. We then stopped off at Starbucks for a coffee and sat outside and people watched and relaxed. It was a very enjoyable weekend.
Monday is here and Mark has to fly to Beijing this AM. He has to leave about a half an hour earlier than usual. He is leaving at 6:45am instead of 7:15am. I am walking over to the gym because I will get dropped off before the gym opens if I go with Mark and Mr. Shen. So I bid him goodbye, and off he goes. I head to the gym around 7:00. I get back and do a few chores. Mark then calls to inform me the administrative assistant booked him on the wrong flight! She had booked him to go somewhere in the opposite direction! So, no Beijing trip for him. By the time he can get on another flight, the meeting he is supposed to attend will be over. So, he is swinging by the apartment to pick up his computer/attache bag for work, he is going to head into the office. Perfect...I can hop a ride to the coffee meet up at Starbucks! I have to meet up with M.K. to go to the Renaissance Hotel to put my name on the Treasurer books for the EAS funds. I forgot to mention, at the Meet and Greet coffee the Tuesday after I arrived, I told a few folks that I would be willing to help with the EAS (Expatriates Association of Suzhou) now that I have completed school. Well, that's all it took! There has been an opening for a while for a co-treasurer and I was voted in by the board the very next day! So, I now am on the board as a co-treasurer. I like the other co-treasurer so i think we will work very well together.
I made dinner at home, and we just relaxed the rest of the evening. Mark has conference calls and I finish up some laundry.
Tuesday is mahjong day and poker night! I went to the gym in the am. I weighed myself this AM and I have lost 6.5 lbs. the last two weeks! YEAH!!! My clothes are feeling looser as well. Continuing my quest for health and fitness is paying off! :) I came home from the gym, did a few chores around the apartment, made lunch, and then it's off to mahjong. I had a good time at mahjong and walked home from there. These are the times I really miss my good friend Val. We used to walk together there and back, and usually played mahjong together. I am looking forward to seeing her in December when we are in England for Christmas.
In the evening, Mark is coming home later than usual because of a team conference call being held at the office. He got home around 7:20PM and we head over to Ollie's for burger night and so I can stay and play poker. My poker game has been sucky to say the least since I got back. Not my poker league, my playing! I think I am in a bit of a poker slump! It's not been good. I hope it turns around soon.
The real crazy thing that happened on the way home. I always get a taxi home. It's not a problem because they are lined up outside the Li Gong Di area on the street waiting for customers. I only live about 2.0-2.5 miles away from Ollie's so it takes all of 5 minutes to get home for 10Yuan (about $1.50). What I didn't expect was my taxi driver to get into a screaming match with another driver on the road!! I must first say, the driver I had was in need of lessons! We drove like a crazy man, too fast, on the wrong side of the road, and hit the brakes WAY TOO HARD! So...I was just hoping and praying to get home in one piece. Thank goodness it was after 11:00PM when the streets of Suzhou are pretty much deserted...except around the corner from the entrance to my apartment where the taxi driver precedes to cut-off and nearly side swipe another vehicle! Well the traffic light was red at the intersection, and the driver of the other vehicle started yelling out his window at my taxi driver. So I am directly in the line of fire of the screaming match, Oh...and I am in the front seat! I sit in the front a lot, because it is easier to hand them the card with an address on it and to pay. Then, the driver of the other vehicle gets out of his car! OH NO....so I start saying "stop, just go, stop yelling, etc..." but of course they are both yelling and screaming extremely loud, like I am not even there! Finally I decide I will end this; so, I roll up the window of the taxi and yell at the taxi driver ZHI ZOU (Straight ahead!) and off we went. Oh my, road rage is a universal condition I have unfortunately discovered! It's extremely uncommon here...because if it wasn't, people would be having screamimg matches in the middle of the streets and intersections all the time! Drivers don't follow the lines on the road, let alone traffic laws! Traffic is just plain NUTS here! I am utterly amazed that there are not more traffic accidents then what I have seen. Oh, the wonders of living in China. That was enough excitement for a Tuesday night! I arrived back at the apartment to tell my tale to my husband, who just smirked and said " You obviously have acclimated to living here if you didn't freak out or get out of the taxi and walk the rest of the way!" The funny thing is....he's right! :)
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