My Motel

Yeah, it's a motel - note the classy wall decoration above the bed, in case you weren't sure what kind of accomodation you were in... It has a bed and a shower (actually the bathroom is just more like a wetroom), a toilet (western style too!) and an internet connection, as well as a tv that is kinda useless to me since I don't speak Chinese, but it's comfortable enough. Most of the people are really friendly (except for one of the lazy, lazy, LAZY cleaning ladies), but I just wish they understood what 'DO NOT DISTURB' hanging on the door meant. I have been sick since I got here, and trying to get as much sleep as I can, which doesn't work when they start pounding on your door at 7:30 in the morning :( My job operates mostly outside of business hours... thus wanting to sleep in the morning.

Last weekend my internet crashed for 2 days until they could get someone here to fix it. I was on my way out when they knocked on my door, then suddenly I had the internet repairman, the man who bring me breakfast in the morning (who apparently just wanted to talk), and the cleaning lady in my hotel room all at once! They were just interested in who I was and where I was from, but all speaking Chinese (which of course I don't understand), all over the top of each other, with hand movements going and acting things out... it was like a skit out of Monty Python.

The man who brings me breakfast is very nice. He was wearing shoes with tiny little silver kangaroos on them the other day, so I gave him one of those little koalas you can buy in a pack of 12 from a $2 shop. Now he insists on giving me two helpings of breakfast every day. I always try and hand one back, so now he has started putting them both in the one little bag, so I can't try to give one back... very sneaky. In case you are wondering, breakfast everyday is supposed to be one boiled egg, one bag of a disgusting yogurt drink, and two little slightly sweet breadrolls or muffins. I get given double this, but take the yogurt drinks to work, because the girls there love them, eat one egg, one or two breadrolls, and end up having left overs for dinner or throwing them out.

The motel is owned by a relative of my new boss, which is why they put everyone there, but it is about a 25 minute cab ride to the school everyday and then back again. The cab ride costs 14-17RMB, which is about $2.50, so it's not the cost that's the problem, it's the time.