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Tuesday, March 1st, 2005
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7:43 am
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I'm banning myself from msn.. or trying to. I had so much to do after work yesterday, but instead Heather and I chat for a bit ... an hour and a bit.. and then I go on msn for over two hours!!!!
There are more constructive /productive things to be done with my life!
yes.. lets see how long i'll last without msn...
current mood: telling myself off kinda mood
current music: smashing pumpkins earphoria
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| Sunday, February 27th, 2005
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1:19 pm - bitchy
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I finally have the time to update here but I feel I shouldn't. Amanda and Nadine spent another weekend here left yesterday.. and I've spent all the time inbetween partying in beijing.. and also a 'holiday' to guanxi province with Bambi.
FACTORS of late have made me a bit cross.. I think I should distract myself from my inner self.. I'm just going to sound like a silly rich kid whining about them but I don't think I will let them stay again. GRRR so many things about their behaviour (sound like a right teacher) i just didn't think was appropriate for people who are supposedly trying to befriend me. Maybe cultural differences? But from those I met on new year the only one I care about is Salome. :)
current mood:  bitchy
current music: tatu - all the things she said
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| Sunday, January 30th, 2005
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7:37 pm
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Nadine gave me a wake up call.
She has such a handsome boyfriend.. and she was like i'm 23, this can't be it for me! you know, thats the attitude im adopting! now!
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5:02 pm
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5:02 pm
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first time so far in china i bailed early on the party.. only stayed out 2 hrs... susie wongs so packed..
lei didn't really get it that it was supposed to be a kind of girls night out, grr
met Bambi today went to beihai park.. it was cold! nice lunch tho and the bookworm library!
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| Saturday, January 29th, 2005
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7:53 pm
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Last night I went out with almost everyone it seems i've ever met off the internet and the expat community in beijing, it didn't go as well as i would have hoped..Everyone brought more and more friends, ended up being loads of people that didn't know each other, and in the initial stages was a little awkward. lei says the meet up in shanghai everyone came alone, and everyone knows each other already only online. that worked better. its a shite time for beijing now tho everyone has pissed off for spring festival!
Amanda and Nadine (not Nadia oops!) came to Beijing this weekend, their bus came in at 6am and they came to stay at mine at 6.20am!! ouch! we asked the 'authorities' if they could sleep in the laundry room (a regular apartment except the bathroom has a washing machine in it!) and so they stayed at the luxurious longtan apartments!
Still it was a good night! kai bar, bar blu then poachers. I got thru far too much yuan.. yes.. dancing on the podiums again, this time my confidence has obviously increased... coz at some points it was just me up there dancing.. apparently i had my whole body involved in this dancing.. (michael jackson.. its the 80s again!) and Tom and i did the big fish, little fish, cardboard box thing.. no one else knew it! fucking non brits!! No one can beat Salome in the dancing stakes tho..
Tom met another spurs supporter.. the results weren't great..
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5:05 am
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I have nice hair today and a digital camera, but I don't know how to use it. Over 300 RMB on my hair. It does look lovely though. It is a shame everyone I know smokes coz now it smells of cigarettes and the pollution is very bad today.. i can feel the heaviness in my lungs.
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| Thursday, January 27th, 2005
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5:45 pm - I'm so excited!
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ooh im so excited!! Tom, Ben, Salome, Lei, Chris, Anna, Amanda, Nadia are all def coming out kai bar 10pm this friday.
Dee and her cousins too i think.
I've invited Lizza, George, Silvia and a couple of other expats in my phone book so.. who knows!! (don't have Cornell's number.. oops!) wow this could be great!
Altho lei is fucking annoying me......... grrrrrrrrrrr they want rants on Lj, he would be my rant! For fucks sake! I really don't care about free alcohol off him.. im just going to avoid him.. stay as far away as possible.
I wonder if Jun's coming out too?
Has Clinton left China yet?
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4:06 am
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Just got in. Couldn't get into propaganda as Anna has been in one too many fights there...!! So we tottled along to Lush and had quite a chilled evening, just the three of us, me Anna and Chris. It was good to be around humans again. After all the shopping I made myself do today for tonight and the weekend.. couple of fake louis vuitton bags, fake gucci purse, and 4 or 5 going out tops.. stuff here is so rubbish quality, i'm on my third handbag already! (from a girl that dislikes shopping)those vendors.. they always pressure me to buy more than I want or things I don't want.. I'm good at getting a reasonable price but not saying outright NO! I wonder how much of the stuff I got today I'll be happy to have tommorrow..
This weekend promises to be big.. Tom and Salome obviously, hopefully Jun, Cornell and George
Lei is going to come to Beijing with Amanda and Nadia
Dee is coming out with her cousins (from England!)
Anna wants to know whats happening.. so hopefully her and Chris
Lizza is now my single get pissed friend (ok!) so she'll be out at some point..
maybe Silvia too!
If we can co-ordinate it so that everyone meets up.. what a time! I need to buy a reasonably sized digital camera!!
wow... sleep time now methinks! :)
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| Wednesday, January 26th, 2005
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3:21 pm
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Hahaha!! A country with a history such as China's.. and the club i'm going to tonight is called 'Propaganda!' Meeting Anna and Chris and whoever else they've got at the subway at 10! :)
Since all my work colleagues have buggered off on their holidays i've been so bored.. for the past 3 days my only real social interaction was with the shop assistants.. my whole week just waiting for the weekend, planning it, was going to get my hair and nails done, buy an outfit and a handbag sized digital camera.. i suppose i still could if i wasn't so lazy...
Wow.. with no work the next day I can really go crazy.. so much for the diet tho.. why does alcohol have to be so calorific?
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| Monday, January 24th, 2005
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9:33 pm
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man.. its terrible to be happy about this..
I never wished it to happen tho.. I wish everyone happiness coz I believe in karma, really believe in it.
Clinton is single!! He says he dumped his girlfriend 3 days ago.. the day he texted me! Hmmm... hes single! Woot! But hes thinking of going home, as he puts it, hes had enough of the toilet that is china! when i told Heather we both laughed and then she said, "quite right!"
Still hes upset over it I guess. And he admitted to me he'd cheated on her when we were on a night out in Beijiing, back in october, he said he didn't care, he just needed to tell someone with a conscience (i.e. me) ah man.. I don't think any good will come of it. China's the size of Europe and hes in Guandong, right in the south, hes got no reason to come up north where I am. Still weirdly, can't help being excited about it... its a slim possibility..... :)
current mood:  excited
current music: avril lavigne - miss popular
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3:38 pm - Bleurgh!
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I'm hungry but i feel sick. behind on reading everybodys entries. got up at 3am this morning. to do what i don't know. Salome was online too. think i might have finally caught flu, apparently no one can survive a beijing winter without it. Lost my voice while out partying friday night.. everybody i know smokes!! couldn't avoid it! Lizza turns up, gets to meet Tom, George, Ben and Salome and then spends 30mins begging me to go to hidden tree with her, so eventually Tom and I go leaving the others, coz shes after some french dude.. and then she ditches us! I do feel I owe Lizza loads, not just her subbing me a load of cash last time we were out... well anyway! went home.. stayed in rest of the time. Salome obviously didn't understand my text of "i've lost my voice" coz she rang me to go out saturday night and was like, i can't hear you!!
Went out for dimsum with heather and ian before they left for the phillipines.. it was really nice.
Surprisingly I heard from Clinton the other day;
'Anything new and fantastic up north? I got in an argument with a security guard at the school. A punching argument. I quit and demanded all my salary. I got it with little hassle. 16000 rmb. Homeless. Again. Really hurting for Canada right now.'
'No foreign teacher was allowed to live with his gf (didn't apply to taiwanese teachers) they threatened to fire me and call the police- a load of stupid empty threats. I always had her anyway. The guard would yell and complain, i would ignore, nothing would be done. Two days ago, he tried to shut the gate on her, and when I kicked it open, he grabbed her arm. I just started punching him. Been 8 years but still fight like tiger.'
Tiger??!!! Good for him! When i told him i had a touch of flu hes like
'The FLU? Are you delirious? Are you still teaching? Do you have the regular flu or avian flu? I read online that avian flu has mutated into some sort of bionic pterodactyl flu and that can be transmitted person to person now killing everybody and destroying buildings and stuff! As if we don't have enough to be worried about. I send my love : ) It's the only known cure.'
Lei on the other hand is seeing if he can come to beijing this weekend ... take me out for hotpot.. a good cure apparently. Man I need some trashy magazines to glance at in a hot bath.. at least i have everything else in the kandy cold survival kit, medicines, fruit juice, tissues.. just no chinese medicine for me! get lost! i don't care if you think it works, you take it! im a westerner thank you very much. toodles.
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| Saturday, January 22nd, 2005
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11:30 pm
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I am rather worried. My exboyfriend Tom has told me that Susie Dent from countdown has now changed her hair and looks a lot like me. Since I didn't know who Susie Dent was, I asked if i should be complimented or insulted. He said complimented. If he was being serious or sarcastic who can tell. I'm googling her image now. but how will i know if this is the old style hair or new style hair? and if i was more techy minded id post a photo..
yes icould do a side by side one of me and one of her (that'd really impress the ex stalkers.. hmmm)
Susie Dent and Anne Diamond
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| Wednesday, January 19th, 2005
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8:31 pm
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Wednesday, January 19th, 2005
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8:05 pm - My personal shopping assistant
It just took me TWO hours to buy a pair of jeans! TWO hours! So I'm in hong qiao market, and my attitude is that I'm never going to find any excellent and flattering clothes in China, so I may as well just go with the first reasonable pair I see. I do this. I'm trying them on with the help of the assistant, as is customary in China. I have enough Chinese to say 'tai xiao le' (too small) and when I'm remarking that the pair that do fit are far too long (the jeans i have on are disgracefully ripped and torn at the bottom) she starts whispering to me in chinese... I'm too intrigued to haggle and before I know it I'm being led by the arm out of hong qiao and into some dodgy hutongs.. then I figure shes telling me to hide so she will get the chinese price, (not the foreigners price) for these jeans... is she leading me to the heart of the triads i ask myself and in half an hour I should return to collect them. So when I try to find my way back (my sense of direction being what it is) Iris, my personal shopping assistant is there to direct me and walk me home. Aww shes quite sweet and I give her my number as I dont mind helping her out with her English, and I was feeling lonely earlier.. its just there were other things I needed to buy, like a compass, a torch and a cantonese phrase book. Goodness! All that lot will take 6 hours. I'd better get up early tommorrow!
current mood: curious
current music: red hot chilli peppers - throw away your television
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2:31 pm
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Just spoken to Tom on msn.. hes going to see if George is serious about Hainan island.. ooh i do hope so! That would be like a proper holiday, with my friends on the beach in the warm, drinking cocktails...
Made a list of stuff to take with me on this 'adventure' its dawned on me I don't want to do this, I'm forcing myself to go do this shite coz ill regret it later, and I would like to see some more of China, just not on my own. I've morphed into a total city chick now, its roughing it enough for me being in beijing! Mind you if I was coming straight from the UK to see the rainforests or something I'd enjoy that..
Man! Hainan Island! Tom, Jun, George, Cornell, Salome, maybe even Anna and Dee... that would be fun! Mind you may not happen. I'm looking in my copy of Thatsbeijing looking at the tours on offer... tours entirely in chinese. ooh i wonder why im not excited. at all.
and this computer! damn! virus protection on it or something has run out wants me to fork out a whole wad of cash.. so im taking a 40 yuan taxi ride to go see Brian who'll fix it for me, bless his heart! he lives right next to the subway, but no way im taking laptop on the underground! Anna wanted me to go out drinking tonight with her and the guy who had to pay me to get his hat back...
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| Tuesday, January 18th, 2005
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4:42 pm
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Right. Finished work. Don't have to turn up again until 20th Feb. Its the first proper holiday I've ever had with 1, money and 2, no worries over exams or coursework or anything! I'm rather at a loss and don't know what to do with myself..
If my friends get time off I think we'll all meet in Hainan island or something... other than that its me on my own!
current mood:  thoughtful
current music: footballers wives is on in the background
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| Monday, January 17th, 2005
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7:00 pm - Calorific!!!!
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Upon my word... last nights party.. a very quiet affair. Anna's brother's birthday do. On a Sunday evening coz he had to work that morning. Theres something about free alcohol that well, I had so much to drink.. far too much! I remember stealing this guys hat and I wouldnt let him have it back unless he gave me 10 kuai! I thought this was perfectly reasonable at the time!! Anna was backing me, saying just give it to her! Feel a bit guilty now.. oops! Salome came out, everyone was bilingual except me! Anyway, Chris's girlfriend MingMing and her best friend Athena (I swear Im not making that up!) are your typical if a little open to staying up late and drinking chinese girls.. now theres a bit of debate about chinese ladies in foreign circles and dating foreigners... I'd always dismissed this as jealousy or plain vindictiveness. Until Salome, a Shanghai girl, told me she didn't like these two girls and that they were slagging off Anna while she wasn't listening! (Anna and Chris are white and have German passports but have been born and raised in China) They all went out clubbing after (no way I was going to do that on a school night!) Anyway Im sure Anna can handle herself much better than those two shallow girls! Im so surprised! But people seemingly do have different personalities in different languages. Cornell's ex chinese teacher is all sweetness when speaking English but in Chinese shes an angry girl..! (I may not be able to speak chinese but I can certainly tell if someone is upset!)
Im not sure I even made it to Chris's birthday at midnight.. I remember being in bed for 1am, like a good girl that I am! And for today I go into work and my goodness! I vomited at work 6 times... felt absolute sh**! and we have to mark all these exams, my colleagues and boss didn't notice tho! I told Heather for a bit of girly support... man am glad that feelings over.. hungover at work.. not nice!
To be fair tho this weekend has totally partied me out.. which is great considering I only have one more day of work left before spring festival when I leave the alcohol, the parties and the city life for wherever I end up!
its so cool now tho, beijing community forum has basically become MY playground, and life is sweet!
check out http://www.beijingcommunity.com go to the forum, then the lounge, and see the thread i started entitled "I feel like DEATH!!!!" We were all strangers and now these dudes are my pals! :)
I used the word calorific the other day at work and no one had heard of it before! i had to explain its usage (adjective) well, we are tefl teachers and our grammar is hot! whatever! Anyway today my collague, soon to be my boss Darcy was like is calorific in the dictionary? He wants to use it for some test, evil man! Turns out it is in the OED, Advanced Learners Edition.
And today we signed report cards.. got to see what grades our kids had achieved,,, finding out was like they were my own grades! Poor Zebra only got 91%, I'm well disappointed! So is Roy, he says he would rather have given him the twenty pounds!
Anyway my work colleagues are all out for a meal tonight! But 4 nights in a row would kill me.... I have a hot date with a pizza hut pizza and a good book I think, got to face being the only whitey in the place (and being alone) Eating alone in china, even getting a takeaway is almost taboo! Luckily my local aubergine place know me thats fine. but pizza's expensive.. can't afford that too often.. and its calorific!!!
toodles!
current mood: Recovered
current music: S.H.E. superstar!
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| Sunday, January 16th, 2005
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4:39 pm
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oh.. and Anna told me later she had a bet on (300 yuan!) with this Nigerian guy.. that he wouldn't be able to sleep with me! She was like, so don't OK? As if! I think she should share her winnings with me..! :)
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12:19 pm - Hungover :) but happy!
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I feel like DEATH. Last night was f***ing amazing though! One of the best nights out I've had in BJ. Proper hangover and everything... gone are the days when I used to stop drinking at 12 so I wouldnt get a hangover... last night 4am we're in another bar and I'm drinking... a cocktail!
So I meet up with Anna and this guy shes brought in tow.. a self confessed yellow fever man (who has a girlfriend but got friendly with i dont know how many chinese girls last night) and Salome shows up too, and we're having a fairly subdued but pleasant quiet drink in this bar before we hit poachers! to start off with Im bored thinking of my nice warm apartment and soft bed... my bath tub.. but I don't know... I just kept drinking and eventually I got in the mood, the music improved.. and by the end of the night (Tom showed up at 1.40am after watching footie all evening) we're all up on stage dancing on a podium!! Even me, I'm famous for saying no no no no not bloody likely! Anna's a regular at poachers so she knew all these peeps, including a girl who was ridiculously drunk... man it was so funny! Anna says shes always like this and thats why she loves her! She was falling all over the place.. and her dancing.. that was to die for! I didn't take the piss at all. No. Imitation is a version of flattery now... (fuzz club!)
And I had my first snog in 5 months... some French dude, well i say dude more like a total nerd. But thats cool.. i think! :) poachers starts winding down at about 4ish so us hardcore go to another bar and get another drink.. and after that I jumped into a taxi, told the driver (in drunken chinese) i wanted to go to longtan apartments near the temple of heaven. I thought.. ill just rest my eyes for a minute... fell fast asleep! When he woke me up I was outside my apartment building... amazing! Drivers never know where longtan apartments is... I usually get woken up by them shouting at me for directions, and they usually think im trying to say longtan park (gong yuan) instead of apartments (gong yu) and the guy didn't overcharge me either! For once you can get service in this city!!
Just had a Chinese lesson as my hangover started to kick in.. man I need hangover food, and I don't mean aubergines!! Massive cravings for scrambled eggs on toast and baked beans... yum.. might jump in a taxi and take the 30min ride that it is to the nearest western food supermarket/restaurant. Too ill to be doing with buses and the underground today...
Man, and I've agreed to go to Anna's brother's birthday party tonight! A school night! I will be marking exams all day monday (took us 6 hours to them last time) might be a tough two days at work before Spring FEstival!!!
current mood: DEATH
current music: Im too hungover for music
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| Saturday, January 15th, 2005
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9:56 am - taxi, hair, alcohol ramblings
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Beijing is infamous for being a dry city.. dry summers dry winters. We all keep soaking wet towels in our apartments to try and improve the humidity, I'm sure you can imagine what this climate does to already dry hair.. im losing so much its scaring me! So on my last trip to Toni and Guy (there is just NO way i'm risking a local cheapie place considering i am still trying to grow it) they were like you need monthly conditioning treatments! I'm like, OK Ok i'm roped into this. Last night I decided it would be good to go before I went out then I'd have really nice hair for friday ;)
What chaos! The first taxi driver.. it turns out that he actually can't read and just dropped me by a random posh hotel. So I'm out flipping my nut over this (rambling away to myself!) and a fairly good looking chinese man with good English comes to help me out.. he stops a few taxis.. each have no idea, until finally I get through to them (id been trying to ring them throughout this whole thing) and it turns out the map they gave me last time is 5 or 6 years out of date. So the guy ends up coming along with me.. I get to this newly vamped toni and guy.. the conditioning treatment is now like 100 yuan more expensive and I whine about this (so she gives me 20% discount.. I text Tom to check how much that will be!) and my goodness I didn't bring a pic of the style I like, I figure Im not having it cut, should be safe... 80s reject hair HERE WE COME! And then it took about 2 hours to have done (my friends were all meeting up early that night 9.15 ish) and coz i have to swing by home and get ready I don't make it out until about 11! Lot of catching up to do.. think I tried to drink cocktails too quickly... bad idea.
Still Tom and George were out, Troy the no phone guy and his friend Denise came out (Denise's English is interesting... she was ringing me going where are you? im white coat... I was like, I'm not even there yet!) Denise and Troy decided they didn't like the place and went off... and I'd almost forgotten about another guy off the forum, Ben who turns out to be another republican american!
Bumped into Salome in blu, we'd been trying to ring each other... I was like , I'm not going to get any sleep now shes here.. but actually I went home at about 3am.. just didnt catch the party mood, hope I will tonight! For once I won't be the only whitey girl as Anna is a whiter than whitey white snow too! but she doesn't like chinese girls... and I did tell Salome I was going to poachers tonight... awww how can she not like Salome?!
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