Excuses, excuses...

I planned to post a minimum of once per week.  I'm below my quota, I apologize.  Excuses, excuses, excuses (3 to be exact)...

1) Cantonese Language Classes

I'm still working my way through some intensive language lessons.  The true reason I haven't posted more is because I STRUGGLE with the language and crazy-fast speed of instruction.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that I spend only two hours in class each day, but a minimum of 3-4 hours doing homework each day/night.  It's tough.

By the third lesson, my classmate from Spain got a job (what's that??) so he had to switch to the evening classes.  Net result: I am by now unquestionably the worst student in my class.  The teacher actually has to stop regularly because my face is all twisted up in confusion. "Foley sui-je, mihng-mh-mihng baahk?" [Literal translation: Ms. Foley, do you understand?]

Tom, Wolfie, Me

I also just realized that I am one of only two native English speakers in the class.  That means that I should have some advantage, as the instruction is in English.  Nope.  The German guys (Tom and Wolfie), for example, rock the class despite having to learn Cantonese via English instruction and then translating in their minds into German.  I'm thoroughly impressed by this.

Mimi, Chi

It has been two weeks since our lessons began and I somehow managed to pass my 'exam' today!  It was quite shocking when I realized that I could now have a very simple conversation in [broken] Cantonese.  My classmates and I went out to celebrate.  I have really enjoyed taking class with them and I'm happy that the American (Mimi) and Vietnamese girl (Chi) are also continuing on to beginner level two, which we are starting tomorrow.  

2) Making Friends

In the past, I have always met my friends 'organically', meaning, it just happens (school, work, university, etc).  I have never really had to 'try' to make new friends, save for one embarrassing story that my mom reminded me of a few weeks ago.

At age 8, my family moved from New Liskeard (in Northern Ontario) to Kitchener-Waterloo.  I had to leave best friend, Shauna, who was my next door neighbour and also as much a part of me as any limb I had.  As devastated as I was to leave her, I clearly assumed that all houses had next door neighbours like Shauna.  So, on our first day in Waterloo, my mom woke up at 7am (it was a Saturday) and I was sitting cross-legged at the end of our drive way.  When walked down the driveway to ask me what I was doing, I replied "I'm waiting for my new fwend".  

Mom wrote me three weeks ago to ask if I was waiting outside my apartment building for a fwend yet.  She's a riot.

It was only last weekend, when we were out for an amazing night with one of Foley's old high-school buddies, Rich (Pardy) and his girlfriend Aline, that this theme came up again.  It was a good joke at the pub table when I openly admitted to having no friends.  There were several people around the table, all ex-pats and one 'visitor', who had a good chuckle at this, since they've all 'been there'.  I pulled out my cell phone and showed my list of contacts (I had owned the phone for about 2 weeks at this point).

Cough... crickets... yep, just my husband. My only fwend.

I'm happy to report that since this night I have acquired a few new 'contacts' I'd like to call my friends. 

 Two of the many escalators (to left in photo)

3) Moving House

We have now moved from our temporary apartment, into our 'permanent' apartment in the 'mid-levels'.  Our new area is referred to as the mid-levels because it is mid-way up the mountain.  Foley has several options to get to work, one of which is to take the escalator.  The escalator is exactly as it sounds.  Streets are so steep up the mountain side that at some point the government installed a public escalator.  It only goes one way.  Down the mountain in the morning, until 10am, then up from 11am to late.  Foley counted the other day, about 17 escalators in total, some are fairly short, while others stretch 2-3 stories high.  Amazing... unless you are going against the flow, in which case you are taking all those steps.  Getting to my gym is about 1/2 down the hill.  That means, give or take, 10 stories worth of stairs getting down there.  Arthritis beware.

Crush, crush, crush.

The apartment is great.  Aside from the fact that our furniture is still to arrive.  I have spent many afternoons here, before there was anything here, waiting for the internet and TV guy, the gas guy, the Ikea delivery guys, etc.  To amuse myself, I started crushing cars below.  

(If you are unaware of this amusing activity, educate yourself via youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkQ8cpPsoWU&feature=related)

Despite head crushing breaks, moving has kept us very busy.  We only officially started living here on Sunday night.  With minimal furniture (only what we've bought here) we are currently 'camping' on a futon in the living room which is why there aren't any updated photos yet.  We had a flood yesterday (on Valentines Day, no less), which I came home to with arms full of groceries, after a long day.  I had put a load of laundry in before I left, and although everything appeared fine, I got home to find water from the kitchen (where the laundry machine is, naturally) out into the dining room/living room, and all the way to our hallway.  Sheesh.  We had a plumber out who didn't speak a word of English while we had our Valentines dinner of Special K with berries.  Very romantic.  The plumber called his office, would explain stuff to a person over the phone, then handed us the phone to hear the translation.  Hilarious, but it worked.  We are now just trying to dry everything out... it's so humid here that clothes take 3-4 days to dry IF you have a sunny window to hang stuff in.  It's hazy and rainy and humid right now, so who knows how long it will take?

Excuses aside, and with a promise to try harder, more updates to come soon...

View from our bedroom window at night.