The first 3 days

No pictures so far. Forgot my camera back at my apartment every day my tongshi ("colleagues" or "comrades") have gone out.

3 awesome things that have happened so far...

1. Earlier today, I went to a workout gym off the school grounds.  It was so humid, I was sweating buckets.  The gym itself was dark, dirty and old.  I think the weights on the dumbbells were rusted because people sweat on them too much.  It totally was a place for hardcore gym rats.  There was an Eastern European guy with boxer-t on that seriously looked like the guy in Rocky IV.  It totally would be the place Arnold would go workout back in the 1970s.

2. Walked down a road with some of my new colleagues. It looked like a bomb had hit it. It was broken, and dirty and had its share of "city farts," as my friend Jeremy would put it.  We had street food for lunch.  I ordered a vegetarian noodle stir fry cooked with sesame oil on a searing-hot iron wok.  It was so good!

3. My occasional affinity for whiskey and UBC Mandarin courses really paid off 2 days ago.  Had a night of eating and drinking with my colleagues, principal, and vice principal.  Most of the new teachers left the party early, but a few stayed.  Those that did stay (I myself included) polished off 2 bottles of bourbon whiskey. No baijiu just yet.

I decided to try and catch up with the next group of teachers that left, but got lost (the party was at an apartment about 40 min away by foot from the school).  I hopped into a cab and gave the driver the school card, but he gave it to the security guard at the gate of the apartment complex.  He tried to take me across the Yangzi River, which would be the wrong, and long way.  I guess it was his attempt to up the cab fare.  I yelled out "bu nali! Bu bu bu yao! Wo men qu zai nali?!  Minzu lu Zai Wuchang qu!!" (Not here!! No, no, no I don't want this!  Where are we going?!  Minzu Road in Wuchang District!).  The driver turned around and went straight to my destination within 5 min. I would've been lost without directions in a foreign city. Scary thought.  Next time I won't be so stupid to leave the school without 3 or 4 cards.  I'll never let them go either.

Lesson learned.