One dead computer and one uppset girl

I'm at uni now writing from the computer lab (that costs me money- fucking'ey am I a student here or not???? what the *%#$ is that? aren't students supposed to be poor???) It's cold in here (they only started using the AC for heating the classes- the computer lab apparantly isn't that important) and tomorrow I have an exam in Chinese- as I've told you before- this time the exam is only in Chinese characters... I'm so unprepared- and as you can see - instead of studying I sit here online...
My main teacher is starting to annoy me- she was so sweet in the beginning - at the time it really seemed that she knows exactly where we come from and what are most of our goals in learning Chinese. Lately it feels like she's on a race to finish the book, no matter if we really know how to speak or if we understand Chinese or not- the thing that became most important now in class is to memorize characters- a thing that can be cool if I had remembered them but it really doesn't give me anything if every day there are 20 new ones... I feel like my speaking is stuck- I haven't progressed in a while - in favor of the character learning in class. I really try to make the best out of class- trying to learn how to say as many words as possible- especially the ones I know I'll need outside the walls of uni. But the combination of not being satisfied with the studying in this uni (I guess it's almost the same in all of them- in the end- they are all under the same education system) and the fact that I don't study enough when I'm alone- that puts me in a breaking point - a mid semester breaking point.

***

My computer died last Monday. I got home from uni and couldn't turn it on. I called the IBM numbers in China that Rob looked up online for me, and got the address of a computer lab. I took a taxi there - taking my computer with me- as if he's my little child whom I'm rushing to the hospital... They told me there that the main board is dead- and that I have 2 choices: the first one is to order a new one from the factory- a matter of 2 weeks and about 500$ (!!!). The second choice (and the better one) is to try to fix it - and if they succeed (they don't know if they will) it'll cost me "only" about 200$. In any case I spend a lot of money... The only bright spot is that they say that my hard drive isn't damaged (crossing my fingers they are right) so I can always put the data on it on another computer or an external hard drive.

***

That's it for now - I'll go try to make myself study a bit- I must admit- I HAVE NO MOTIVATION.

It's time to work out!

Yesterday I finally signed up for a GYM. It's been a while that I was looking for a gym close to my place and couldn't find one. I looked online- on several websites in English- but nothing. The problem was that on those websites they only published the gyms in the center of town- or rather in places they know there's a lot of foreigners. I don't live in such a place- so there were no listings of gyms next to my place. I decided to put the search on full gas and asked my new Chinese friend (have I told you guys about her? if not I'll dedicate a whole post for it one day...) about gyms in this area. So she looked online in Chinese websites and then she told me that there is a gym in the mall next door to my building. I felt so stupid for not looking there before- coz I've been there so many times- even on the top floor - where it's located... So after a waste of 2 months- I finally have a subscription for a gym - and it's even not that expensive (well I guess it's about the same prices as in Israel... but that's fine by me). Whats so great is that it's gonna take me about 5 minutes to get there - and its so close to my place- I have no excuses to not go... They also have lots of Yoga classes- which is exactly why I wanted to sign up for a gym. So I'm going to check out today's teacher- hoping I will understand some of what she says..
After that I'm gonna come home- shower and go take the bus to the place where Rob works. We're going to have a dinner with some of the ppl working with him. I hope all will be well- and that I'll have some fun!

Some pictures

This picture I took from our balcony-
showing how here in Shanghai you can find really modern things next to really old ones...
Just behind our really modern complex there's a Chinese cheap old-fashioned neighbourhood (great for eating a noodles dinner for 4 RMB = 0.50$).
On the other side we have one of the most expensive malls around.
That's China - progressing so fast- you can actually see the changes as they happen.

This picture was taken in ZhuJiaJiao-
the small very old Chinese Beautiful town we went to with Rob's family.

It's rainning.... grrr...

Oof it's been raining for the last few days and it doesn't look like it's ever gonna stop... grrr... and BRRRRR... every time I go outside with pants that accidentally touch the ground I get home wet to my knees- coz there's puddles everywhere. It's like there's no sewage here- and the water keeps piling up in huge quantities- just for me to get wet... I understand now why Chinese ppl always wear pants that are narrow in the end- not touching the ground. It's really hard to find a Chinese person wearing bell bottoms or anything that is even remotely close to that. Now I know why!

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My dad was here last weekend- it was so much fun! I really enjoyed his stay here... We went to the Tennis Masters Cup Final together- with Rob. It was between Roger Federer and James Blake. Federer won- and it looked like he didn't even try hard- he was just standing there most of the time letting nature do what it's supposed to do- WIN... Blake is a new comer to this contest (it's a tournament between the 8 best players in the world and 8 best couples in the world) and I think he gave a good performance regarding his short past in these kind of contests. Well anyway- it was really nice to spend time like this with my dad- especially coz I know how much he likes watching Tennis.

***

School... hmmm... I really like the classes... I think that a student like me should get more classes everyday- rather than have to work at home. When I get home- all I can think of is doing nothing special. At least once a week I do something after school with my Spanish friend Lia- and then when I get home I really don't feel like studying. Big problemo! Next week I have another exam- and this time the teacher said it's gonna be all in Chinese characters... OOF! Not ready for that at all... I hope I'll sit on my ass and study some more this week. The rain outside should do the job but it just does the opposite- makes me wanna stay under the blanket!

***

Bought the second season of "Veronica Mars"... I know I know- I'm not a teenage girl- but I just love this TV show... it's so unreal but so clever and never ever boring... so of course I saw the whole season in 3 days (22 chapters) - couldn't resist!!!

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Rob's going home for x-mas. I've decided to not join him. He's going for about 10 days- and I know he's going on a family marathon. I love his family- They were all so nice to me, but most don't speak enough English to communicate with me for more than 5 minutes and I figured that it wouldn't be so much fun... Plus- I don't feel comfortable getting in to the family x-mas eve- being Jewish I've never been to one- and I don't think that coming from China for 10 days - having nowhere to go to after that evening - is the good time to start. I guess that when we'll live there and coming for the holidays will be just coming from a few hours away by train- it will feel different. I'll have more freedom then- not like in this case- where I know that I'll be dependant on Rob and what he's doing- like I was in every visit in Germany in the last 18 months. To make things short- I'm gonna stay in Shanghai ALONE!!! for about 10 days... But I made him come back here on the 31st- so I wont be alone on new years eve (not that I care about the evening it self- just here- I don't feel like being alone when everyone is coupling up and going out to parties... I guess that in Israel I really wouldn't have minded...)

***

Can read here again in China- cross your fingers it'll last... Have been reading Dorian's blog so fast- afraid that any moment the connection will fall LOL I'm getting Paranoid...

Getting colder...

Until last week the weather was pretty much alright. There were a lot of sunny days and the temperature was nice at noon. But since this last weekend the temperatures dropped even more, and today I hardly woke up to a very grey rainy day... My dad is arriving tomorrow with a suitcase full with my winter clothes- and my feet can not wait to be in my boots... I hope that the fact the weather is only gonna get worse is not gonna disencourage me from going to uni- coz I really enjoy the classes there and the atmosphere.

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Last weekend we hosted Rob's best friend's girlfriend. She's Chinese and she lives in Chengdu the capital of Sechuan province. She's working now for the same company Rob does (different division) meeting customers all over the country. Here it's very normal to take the train for long coz of the huge size of this country. She takes the train for more than 40 hours (!) to get to Shanghai from Chengdu. These are numbers we usually can't even imagine... She told me a story about a girl who used to be a friend of hers in uni. This girl came to study in Chengdu from a place far away in the north of china, roughly close to Siberia. Her family are all farmers and they obviously do not have a lot of money. She was granted with the tuition by a rich relative of her family's. The university- placed in Chengdu Is located more than 52 hours away, on 2 different trains from her home. Due to her family's situation she could not afford to go home more than once a year- between the semesters in the holiday. When she did go home she used to buy a "hard seat" ticket - meaning she would sit on a hard seat for 52 hours each way to go home. She got this kind of ticket coz it was the cheapest obviously. (The ranking of tickets in China goes like this: Hard seat, Hard sleep = sleeping on a bed in the big train cart, soft sleep = sleeping on a bed in a room with another 3 ppl). Apparently one time this girl had missed her train from Beijing home and the next one was in 24 hours. She had nowhere to go, and no money to stay anywhere- so she just slept in the train station with 2 big bags... As well- she used to send the little money that was left from the allowance she got- to her family... Today this girl has a good job in the municipality of Chengdu - and earns enough money to visit her family a bit more often. This story is probably one of thousands but it still sounded so special to me.
Just wanted to share here some views on normal daily life in China... When I hear about these kind of things- I feel really lucky with what I have.

Sick...

Staying at home today... Since yesterday I don't feel great, and this morning I didn't feel fit enough to go to uni... Rob told me that I should stay at home and try to study a bit here... Then kissed me on the forehead and went to work... It feels so nice to have him with me everyday... Especially on days like this one- when I feel a bit sick...

Yesterday I had an oral exam with my nutty professor. It was so funny... I love this teacher- he's so interesting and nice. He always likes to say Shalom to me and Lehitra'ot and Toda- trying to show me that the knows some words in Hebrew... LOL... Yesterday on the exam (the whole thing took 5 minutes) he said something about Sharon (but obviously he pronounced it more like the word Shalom) and made a "coma like" face... He said: "Sharon, leader of Yi Se Lie (=Israel in Chinese) and then made the face... Meaning- Ariel Sharon is in a coma... LOL that was so funny!!! And then he said: "Sharon same as Shalom" (he pronounced the words exactly the same- being unable to pronounce "R") so I told him in Chinese that it's not the same- and tried to teach him how to say each word correctly - obviously not very successfully...
In the end he said that I speak not bad at all (after telling me to read something in Chinese from my own book- that has my own notes in it LOL) and the whole experience was just so hilarious...
I hate missing today's lessons- they're both lessons with our main teacher- and she teaches really well- I really learn in every lesson of hers... I'll try to make it up from Liya- today for a change she's actually at school... (I really like her- she's a real fun person and we really get along and always have something to talk about...)
I'll go on now and continue being sick at home...
By the way- I still can't see my blog meaning- Dorian - I can't read your blog... :-( (keep me posted???)

Back to normal life at last

Rob's family left on Saturday morning. His dad left here on Tuesday already. I spent almost everyday with them- wondering the streets of Shanghai- was really nice walking in places I've seen so many times- but this time listening to his mom tell us all about the buildings and history(reading from her book- I made her leave it here so Rob and I can actually be tourists too). When you live in a place- you usually don't really look at it like a tourist does- you usually don't see things that for someone new are really interesting. Of course I've seen Shanghai in these eyes the first time I've arrived here almost 2 years ago- but I haven't spent so much time touring it then- and after a while I got so used to the scenery that it never looked so interesting and strange to me anymore. This time I could really see it and learn. Rob and I have seen more of and walked more in the streets and spots of Shanghai than we ever did and it actually felt really really nice. On Friday we both spent the day with them- he took a day off- and I just skipped school (bad girl!)- and we went to ZhuJiaJiao- a little Chinese town almost an hour to the west (an hour with traffic). It's very touristic but it was really nice to see how a real old Chinese town looked like. The fact that they actually charge you for the entrance to the town might seem weird at first- but then you see how rather clean it is (compared to Chinese standards) so you forget about it and just enjoy. Rob's mom and sis spent most of their time shopping - buying all kinds of Chinese souvenirs - nice stuff- but the stopping at every store was exhausting. In the end I think they left with a nice collection of Chinese stuff. I have these kind of things since I'm a little girl, and obviously I have a lot of these things from my last stay here- so it's not so easy to excite me with them...
I promise I'll put some pictures soon- as soon as I collect them all from everybody's cameras...
Starting a normal week now... Wish me luck