There are just so many people here.

 I’m not home yet, but am on my next-to-last leg: I just boarded (barely) the high-speed train, which should deliver me to the Guangzhou metro (the last leg) before the Kiwi sisters on the tour finish their lunch. I should be home with a load of laundry completed by the time their flight leaves this evening.

Shanghai Nanjing St. The humanity!

All in all, I’m glad I came but am ready to go home. Shanghai is a spectacular city and although I was a little disappointed with our tour – we went to a garden and a Buddhist temple, woo-hoo – we had two free nights and I had a ball.

The pedestrian street and the riverfront were incredible and filled with more humanity than many people see in their entire lives. The pedestrian street, in particular, was just crazy insane. Kind of like a Mardi Gras parade every day and night, but with no alcohol. There were people dancing, singing, doing karaoke (obviously, this is different than singing!), playing games, eating, laughing, talking and standing in line for moon cakes.

The bull marks the stock exchange

It’s almost the Mid-Autumn festival and moon cakes are the big thing. They’re little cakes filled with everything from pineapple to pork. If you’re not sure what they are and are expecting a moon PIE, you’re in for a big surprise.

Met up with a friend here and did happy hour with him, where I had a fabulous non-Chinese burger before a little walking tour of the city with him. It’s really a fantastic place.

And teeming with people. Did I mention that?

It seems even the small towns are. We went to a “village” of 1.5 million. That’s where I had a bite of scorpion. It tasted like crunchy spice. Not bad, but I was spitting out little shells for a while afterwards.

A bamboo eating machine

The Terra Cotta Warriors, in Xi’an, were definitely the No. 2 highlight I thought they’d be. Over 600 of life-size guys (complete with infantry, cavalry, archers and command center were commissioned by some dynasty emperor to guard his tomb but subsequently destroyed when the next dynasty’s followers smashed them to pieces.

In the 70s, someone unearthed a head, which led to digging, which led to several football field-sized tracks of tunnel filled with pieces. Archaeologists have been putting them back together and in their original formation, which is pretty incredible.

So that was cool, as were Chengdu’s pandas. I’ve seen the triplets in Guangzhou, but they had more here, including some cubs and little kitten-sized babies. One guy, whom I admired greatly, managed to sleep standing up in a tree.

Catching a nap

Really, everything went fairly great and it was all it was cracked up to be. Had I gone alone, I would have done some different stuff but I went with a tour because I speak no language and didn’t want to deal with it. I think it went well, although when the tour group split – 26 went on a cruise and then 13 went directly to Shanghai – I was ready for that.

Some people just don’t need to be touring in groups, or in Asia. It was surprising to me that some don’t do any research about where they’re going. It’s no secret that Asia – along with much of the world – has squattie potties, but some people were completely shocked by this and a small handful of those refused to use them. Since they are few and far between, a 5-minute bathroom break on the road turned into a 20-minute one because people would stand in line to use the one Western toilet over the 49 squatties.

Terra Cotta Warrior army

Waiting on others is the part that’s frustrating about tour groups, and this one was no different. We had 15 minutes to explore Tiananmen Square on our own, but when 38 out 39 gathered on time and one person was wandering, the lot of us had to stand in one spot for another 15 until she turned up. We could have just had 30 minutes, which would have been ample time. How it was got frustrating.

Terra Cotta Warriors

But it’s give and take with a group, with the usual suspects doing the giving and the taking. Oh well.

And now I am going to settle down for a nap on the train We’re at the moment going 306 km an hour, which would be around 190. It doesn’t seem like it.

Another brick in the Wall

After living here since December 2013, I am finally touring China!

As I write this, I’m on Day Two of a 10-or-so-day tour within China, but nowhere near Guangzhou. I left there on Thursday and headed to Beijing to meet up with a group that’s mostly from America, but there are a couple of Torontonians, Vancouverites, Ozzies and Kiwis.

Today, we climbed a part of the Great Wall of China, which is something I’ve wanted to do since I found out I was being posted to China. I opted for the “harder” side, as opposed to the “hard,” and it was a piece of cake. I think 60 minutes per day on the elliptical has finally paid off.

Forbidden City

These are the steps I climbed today. I went to the one directly on the top center of the photo from the green building. I finished really early and then went up the other side to where this photo was taken from. I wound up pretty much coaching another lady through the end of it. She was having some trouble!

So far, the tour has been great. The mix of people is good: two Kiwis, two Ozzies, three sets of people from Florida, one group from Michigan, four people here alone and people from Atlanta and other random folks from mostly California and New York.

We do have some older people who are abnormally (in my opinion) focused on tipping. The subject’s been brought up four times. Thing is, there is no tipping in China. It’s an American thing, and other western country natives hate us for it. Let it go.

Tonight, we had a free evening for dinner on our own, and I met up with a former colleague from Guangzhou who’s now posted here. Just got back and boy, it was good. Dumplings are just awesome. Plus, it was nice catching up with the colleague, who really is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

Tinnamen Square gate

There’s an early morning tomorrow – so early that I’m still debating just staying up and finding the game somehow. I figure come wake up time, it’ll be about over. The flight is at 8.

We’re headed to the Terra Cotta Warriors, in X’ian, a 2-hour flight from Beijing. This is my No. 2 highlight-to-be on the trip. The Wall is an absolute No. 1. I was not leaving this country until I saw that, and boy, it was worth it. I mean, I only saw a little part of it, but I’m happy about it.

After that, it’s Chengdu, where the panda research center is, and then to Shanghai. We fly between all those cities and I figured I’d be sick of flying by that time, so I’m taking the high-speed train home. It’s seven hours, and the trains run on  time. The airplanes, not so much.

Anyway, I am thrilled to finally be seeing China. It really is a cool country, and Beijing is just phenomenal. We’ve really only hit highlights; you could spend a week here and not see it all. Or come close to tasting it all.

I’d planned this as a swan song trip when I was targeted to leave in December but now that’s been extended. That means I’ve got more travel coming up, and it’s mind-boggling what I intend to do in the next month: Bon Jovi in Macau, Kathmandu, Taipei.

My passport is raising eyebrows on this trip. I figured Beijing would see enough of the black ones, but the ladies at this hotel were completely confused. I have 27 exit stamps and they’d just never seen that before. It’s really bizarre because there aren’t many entry stamps. I use the personal passport for travel outside of China, so my black one only shows when I left, not where I went to. (I do use it to Hong Kong, but they only give you little pieces of paper instead of stamps, which is good because I’d be out of space by now!)

When I checked in, it was late because the directions I had were bad. (I’d taken them off the hotel site, go figure.) I got in just after midnight and I just wanted to go to bed. The ladies both tried to convey something to me, which they spoke in Mandarin into their iPhones. One then pointed to my visa page and pointed to the translation, which said, “Can you put it here?” Needless to say, I had no idea what that meant.

And I couldn’t figure out why they just didn’t keep my passport – there was a collection of U.S. ones on the desk – and give me a room key. I was so pooped.

After more speaking into iPhones, the other lady (who was maybe 23), showed me the translation. Closing my passport, she pointed to the words on the iPhone screen: “Can you leave it here?” I realized she meant my passport in its entirety. She was trying to convey exactly why I had been wondering about.

The thing is, we’re so reliant on those stupid tech tools we’ve forgotten how to communicate. Honestly, had she just mimed putting my passport with the others and handed me a key, I would have figured it out, but both ladies were just so insistent on speaking into their devices for the “correct” translation that never occurred to them.

All right, I am going to upload this now. The internet is taking forever, so right now there’s no photo to go with the photo reference, but it’ll make more sense later.

Stay calm and keep drifting.

Had a blast today on a rafting trip. A group of 21 of us went to someplace about two hours away to go rafting. It absolutely poured in the morning at the meeting time and during the ride there, it was pretty bad but once we arrived, the weather was fine.

And man, it was so much fun. I’ve only been rafting twice, and this was different – we didn’t have any paddles. They called it “drifting,” too, not rafting. So we were thinking that this might not be the whitewater weekend we’d planned, but it turned out to be really intense!

The rafts only held two people; I teamed up with Joi, who’s a lightweight. She’d bought one of the giant water guns and a little scooper thing we figured we’d use to target our friends in nine other rafts and however many other tourists in the rest of the boats.

And man, to the Chinese, it was a random Monday, but it was crowded. Without any paddles, we really did wind up drifting, and pinballing off each other. Right off the bat, Joi and I got caught in this circular pattern in one tidal pool, going in circles for about 10 minutes before someone liberated us.

The rapids were pretty intense, and some of the drops were pretty steep. Most of them were, really, and Joi and I just hung on for dear life. We’d emerge from the whitewater and start bailing water out, throwing it at other rafts. Joi was shooting left and right, and we kept getting caught in others’ crossfire. It was just so much fun.

At another point, I managed to scoop up a helmet that someone had lost, which worked out well since at a previous point I’d lost our own little scooper thing. Eventually, I found someone else’s scooper thing and bailed and bailed.

Joi was a hoot. I really thought I was going to lose her. We were facing each other, and usually going down the rapids, one of us was facing the front and the other was facing the back. When it was me going down backwards I just got a kick out of Joi’s face because she was just in hysterics. I just laughed and laughed. She told me I was just so calm the whole time and she was freaking out. Yeah, who’s calming the Marine?

I swear she was going airborne at one point and I felt like I was going to accidentally kick her because my legs kept flying up. The rocks were really shallow and when we went down some we’d feel them scraping our butts as we went down, and then we’d bounce off a big rock somewhere. At one point, we just hit rapid after rapid and smashed into some rock and I felt my entire neck jolt and crack, like you get at the chiropractor’s. I figure I have a good shot at waking up tomorrow with whiplash, but what a way to go.

It topped off a wonderful holiday weekend. I’d gone to Hong Kong and visited a friend there. She’d recently gotten a bunny and we went and splurged on him. It was cool to see a pet again, and he was fun to watch hop all over the apartment (which had a great view).

We also watched another colleague in a jujitsu competition, ate at a Michelin-star restaurant (It’s a famous one that they have in Taipei, too, and I’d know the name if you said it but I can never remember.) I did not go to a movie or get a haircut, which were two possibilities for the weekend, but I did opt to get a pedicure after eating one of the best three burgers I’ve ever had in my life.

Earlier this week, I got to play “hysterical woman” in a Marine drill. Weirdly, though, even though I played the victim, I got yelled at. “Get down on the floor!” Quite honestly, I could see how innocent people sometimes get mixed up with police. Even though this was just a drill, it was kind of confusing. The “bad guy” dude in my scenario had the (big plastic) “gun” and but it was me getting my shoes taken off. I found out later that one of the other “victims” in a different scenario had grabbed a (little plastic) “gun” and started shooting marines, which contributed to my treatment, but it was a confusing thing in the moment. I was thinking, shouldn’t someone be trying to console me? My colleague just a (big plastic) “gun” pointed at me and now you’re yelling at me to show me my hands? (And worse, you called me “m’am!) I needed a hug.

We were the last ones to do it and had no idea how long it would take to get to us. Our cue was something like “When you hear the radio,” so every time we heard something we’d start arguing and he'd wave the (big plastic) “gun” at me. It was supposed to be an argument over money, but we were adlibbing about every grievance about work we could think of. “Standing desk! Get me a standing desk!”  Early on, a guy working late came running down to the office, not realizing it was a drill. That was funny.  I thanked him for coming to my rescue.

Special someone

On the hunt for my Netflix, I checked my mail the other day and discovered that not only did “The Imitation Game” arrive, but I had a card from a special little girl.

Riley’s my favorite 5-year-old, hands down. She’s started full-time school now and has smitten her teachers with her smarts already. (I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case.) She’s also a cutie, so this Hula Girl is the whole package.

Riley also gives me a reason to fight my way through Chinese stores, because I like to send her little stuff that I find here. We’re talking really random stuff, like plastic hamburgers filled with some kind of Play-doh stuff, a map of Hong Kind Disneyland or Kinder Eggs.

For those who are not familiar with Kinder Eggs, they are these German chocolates shaped like an egg and the size of a regular chicken egg. They’re hollow and have little toys inside them. They’re in many, many countries, but not the U.S., mostly, as I understand it, because we’re way too litigious. In other countries, they’re smart enough to watch small children eat the eggs and make sure the kids don’t choke, but in the U.S., we don’t pay attention and let them choke, so then we sue. Therefore, the kind folks at Kinder figure we’re not responsible enough for their eggs. Which is a shame.

Anyway, Riley’s mom is more responsible than most American moms and Riley is good with the eggs. I sent one with a Disney something-or-another inside and got a request for some more. I don’t usually get requests, but was happy for this one as Kinder Eggs are sold on grocery store shelves here; it’s not like I go through a treasure hunt to find them.

And Riley appreciated the eggs! In the mail that day, I got not only my Netflix but also an envelope completely filled with stickers and addressed to me.

Inside was a sweet card with, “Dear Linley, I loved Elsa and the Kinder Eggs, love Riley.”

Not only had Riley scored some Kinder Eggs, but also some Disney (questionable licensing) figurines at a cool toy market I found on the way to the glasses market.

So what a sweet letter by a special kid! It’s going up in my cubicle next to the ones James and Ashley sent me.

She also thought of my prior to my trip to Florida last September and sharpened her art skills in my honor. On my visit, she presented me with a wonderful bag man and moose-ish clothespin figure. I’ve kept them on my nightstand since.

I am very tall. And very white.

These are two facts I knew about myself, but they seem to be new thing for many people.

Asia is a fantastic place to visit long-term. I honestly can’t imagine living here forever any more than I could envision myself in Morocco forever. Today, Sunday, I went to the all-denominational church here and was stunned at the number of ex-pats who have relocated here for the long term.

I just couldn’t do that. I have a friend who’s traveling now, scouting locations for her retirement community. She’s in Thailand this weekend. That’s not for me. I’ll wind up in Florida again at some point and not stay abroad for the rest of my life.

But in the meantime, I don’t mind being a two-years-at-a-time nomad, and Asia is a really good place to be stationed for awhile. It’s cheap (well, the parts I frequent are, anyway, the food is good and there are massages to be found everywhere.

Guangzhou has quite a few massage places. Since I mucked up my shoulder at Christmas during an all-body massage after hiking those mountains in Hangzhou, I’ve shied away from those a bit and have instead opted for the foot massage.

To most Americans, feet are those things on the end of your legs that house Nikes, but somehow here a foot massage goes all the way to your scalp. It’s pretty cool but can definitely be painful.

As I’ve been training for this 10k, my legs are absolutely killing me, especially the right calf. A foot massage to rectify that is absolutely the way to go.

I went with a colleague to a place that was new to me. Technically, I think it was new to him, too; it was a place he’d seen on his way to an acupuncturist a couple of weeks before. It said “Amazing Foot Massage,” and no one ever lies in advertising, right?

Since I speak not a word of Mandarin, I tend to just point to things like menus and hope for the best. This particular colleague had some Mandarin but we still had some issues but fortunately found ourselves directed to these big comfy chairs that reclined completely.

Massages here involve tea and fruit, in this case, watermelon. We’d finished the first round with our feet soaking in more tea when the masseuses returned to the room. My colleague, an extrovert, was chatting them up. Completely oblivious to the content of the conversation, I was just trying to relax as my masseuse was working on my feet and legs.

He translated some for me, telling me they’d asked him where he was from originally and then who I was. He’s maybe 5-3 and is a Vietnamese-American. I told him to tell them I was his daughter and mess with their heads.

I don’t know if he did that or not, but my masseuse just kept looking up at me, kicked back in the chair. She finally asked my buddy something and he laughed.

She’d wanted to know about my ancestry because I was so “very tall and very white.”

Whirlwind weeks

Yeah, I missed a week posting. The way things are going, I can barely keep up.

We’re getting lots of new people. Between this past week and the end of the month, we’re getting 10 people in my department. One of the newbies in the other department came from a post where there were only 12 Americans TOTAL. We were talking about some stuff and the contrast in perspectives was rather jarring, not in a bad way; just in a “wow, I forgot that kind of thing was possible” kind of way.

So Thursday evening I was at the airport, waiting on one of the newbies to arrive. We had three people coming in on that flight and four in that night. Of those, only one was not in my department. (He is one who is in the same position I am, though, in another department, and is on his third tour, so I am looking forward to meeting him.)

Looked bizarre so I thought I'd try it. "New feeling of soda beverage"? .

Essentially, it seems that this many new people is just some kind of record. Last year, IIRC, they were more spread out. The way the foreign service works is when you start, you come in and go through training with a “class,” then you get put into the first of two “directed tours.” You get a list and then “bid” on positions. Most posts have one, maybe two, positions available. Well, we’re getting a total of 10 from one class. It’s just insane.

My department has one big boss, two “deputies” who double as “unit chiefs” and then two more unit chiefs. Of these, I have a new big boss, one new deputy and one new unit chief. It’s been a lot of turnover at the top, and the entire atmosphere of the department has shifted. And it’s shifted in a good way.

This is not to say it was in a bad way before. I do not mean that whatsoever. But the new combination of people seems to mix differently than the previous combination of people. So far, the results have been overwhelmingly positive.

When you do teamwork workshops and all that, they say that there are four stages of a team: storming, forming, norming and performing, and you go start over at each personnel change. With a total of over 60 Americans in the department who are on two-year tours, that’s an average of one team member coming and one team member going every two weeks, that’s a lot of time spent in the “storming” phase, just because you can’t get out of it.

But so far, it’s been nice. Of course I say that with the top redone but the first-tour turnover just starting. A bunch of people already left and their replacements are the ones who are starting on Monday.

And the new boss. … I love him. It’s just a very different managing style than before, and I have been included in it. One of the first things he noticed is that I’m it in my position. Everyone knows that somewhere in their brain, but the realization of me having no backup struck him, and he’s already made queries to rectify it. If I am on leave, there are two people (local staffers) who sit at my desk, but my work goes largely undone. Someone who could jump in if I wanted, say, a three-week vacation, would be welcome.

New Boss also was shocked to learn that I am not included in managers’ meetings. I’m not a manager, so no automatic invite makes sense, but since I am “the closest thing to omniscient” that we have (this is what the other new unit chief told me; he’s a fast learner), it makes more sense that I am clued in on what is happening now and what is being considered. I was also given a chance to speak about some administrative issues and encouraged, as well as empowered, to do something about it.

It’s a definite change of pace. I’ve had several people walk up to me and congratulate me for getting this new boss, although I had zero to do with it. (He did say, however, that in his two decades or whatever, I was the most informative and thorough in reaching out to him as a new employee. All three of the higher-up newbies were utterly shocked that I said hi, then handed them their business cards, which I’d ordered months ago.)

It’s been so good this first full week that the old “deputy” told me she was a little concerned that it just could not possibly be this good, so there had to be some inevitable doom headed our way.

Until then, though, I am going to enjoy it.

I have, however, been incredibly busy trying to get people settled in and close out the old regime while starting on the new. Several times over the last two weeks, I have franticly working on something and realized that people were walking past my desk in droves. (I sit near a door.) I looked down at the clock on my screen each time and realized it’s past 5 p.m. I’m just that busy right now.

That’s a little funny because it reiterates every post is different. I was communicating with a friend in Astana and she asked me what “my consular officers” were doing. Taken aback because we’re so busy, I asked for clarification. Apparently they have one person in that department there and that person has gone on vacation because there’s nothing to do. My folks, on the other hand, are examining applications for 150k visas each month, and they have had up to 20 temporary workers to help them out. This might be a slow time for some, but it’s not for us.

Another friend who just left here worked in a different section. There are only maybe nine people in it, but all but three changed over. She’s just arrived back to the U.S. (and is eating well, I hear) and asked how it was going, saying the transition was almost over, right? Uh … for your department, maybe. We’re just getting starting.

But so far, it’s looking good, even if it is going to be super busy for awhile. I don’t mind busy.

Today, I took the couple I sponsored to the glasses market and to see a couple of things around the city. We went to this place where you can buy all kinds of Chinese chintz and I found a little dresser things that I like. I’d seen a similar – but way higher priced – one in Hong Kong earlier and I got the guy’s card. I’ve been to that place one time before and was overwhelmed but did better this time. It’s something like seven floors of crap – very intimidating. But if you think you need it, it’s there. You just have to find it. Zippy would love it.

No great plans for the rest of the weekend. I’m just basking in the happy work environment.

My new boss brought me Junior Mints. How awesome is that?

Pixar planning

Back from the weekend, where my sole goal was to see “Inside Out.” We just don’t get that many pictures here, but Hong Kong usually has better odds. A couple of weeks ago, I decided I was due again and made plans to go.

Originally, I tried to go last weekend, but the first three trains were full, so I postponed it. Sadly, I’d forgotten how quickly movies come and go here. The week before I made plans, “Mad Max” was also showing and I thought I’d do a twofer, but by the time the weekend rolled around, that one was gone. And it looked like the odds of seeing “Inside Out” were dwindling, too!

Fortunately, I did wind up seeing it and completely loved it. First, it’s Pixar, and for the most part, the movies are awesome. I really can’t pick my favorite. It’s like trying to name your favorite Coen Brothers film. I know what’s not my favorite, but that really narrow it down.

Second, I had no idea the main character was named Riley and loved hockey. Sold! Just a fantastic movie.

Anyway, backing up to the planning stage again, I had my ticket in hand and some hostel reserved when I started to verify where the movie was playing and discovered that show times had really been cut drastically.

It was no longer showing in the theater next to where I was staying (and had planned to stay for that reason) and the theaters where it was staying had dropped it to once daily. So long as the timing’s good, that’s not a problem, but logistically, I was scheduled to arrive around 10:30 Saturday morning and leave at 2:30 on Sunday. An 11:30 showtime doesn’t mesh well with either one of those, and that’s what was turning up.

I finally found one theater fairly near the train station (like maybe a total of metro stops on two different lines) at 11:20 and figured if the stars aligned, that would work. My back-up was an 11:30 p.m. showing in what would have been a long way from where I was staying, but that was the only other option.

And the stars aligned, but then fell out of the sky. I got in, breezed past customs (thank you, dip line), got on the train and found the right metro station with no problem. And then the problem. The theater’s ad had said there was a shuttle bus from the metro station to the theater, but it neglected to mention where it left from. There were lots of bus stops, but they were city busses, not shuttles, and everything else was written in Chinese.

At the very least, I figured if I walked really fast, I could get there in time for the thing to start. And I probably could have – if there had been a road. Instead, both exits on the metro put me on the opposite side of where I needed to be, and it was a solid building walking for 5-7 minutes in either direction. It had to have been the longest city block in the world. I didn’t have the address written in Chinese, either, so I couldn’t just flag a cab.

So … no 11:30 showing. Dejected, I went out exploring at that metro stop, which I hadn’t done before. (Hong Kong is a lot like New York – there are just all kinds of places to visit each time you go.) And, upon exiting through a shopping mall of some type, I surfaced outside with a completely different theater in front of me. I went in and discovered that they were showing “Inside Out” as well, but only once a day. Fortunately for me, the English showing was at 8 p.m., so I bought the ticket really early. As it was, there were only about 6-8 seats left.

Deliriously happy that I was going to see the movie, I ran across a Ruby Tuesday’s (American food!) and paid way, way too much for a meal of chicken, broccoli and pasta. I never should have done it, but it was good.

Upon finding my hotel, I went to my fallback Saturday plan, the one where I would still have something to do if I couldn’t see the movie. I went up to a beach and had a great time a wandering around.

The coolest things I discovered (while looking for rocks for me and Riley) were glass rocks. I’ve never seen them before, but the rocks appeared to have been beer bottles in former lives. I found bluish, brown, white and green. They were really awesome and I got a handful. I really don’t know how they got broken and churned up, but they were smooth on the edges and wouldn’t cut you no matter what. I ran into a mom and a little girl collecting them, too. They were going to put them into a bottle to display. I didn’t get that many but maybe I should have! Anyway, I really liked how God used the ocean to return trash to something useful. 

 

While searching the beach for some brown rocks – they were harder to spot – I found a TINY sea urchin shell! It was amazing, but it didn’t survive the trip home. It was not a full inch high. Completely intact until my bad packing job. I opened the little box I put it in and it disintegrated. But trust me, it was beautiful.

My trip was so successful that I decided to quit while I was ahead and head home early. It was only an overnight trip and my ticket was for the 2 p.m. train but I was able to change it and get back by 1:30 p.m.

The train is just phenomenal. I got off the train at 12:45 or something and by 1 p.m. I was solidly on the metro. The train station is only three stops away, so by 1:30 p.m. I was not only home but had stopped at the grocery store.

My roommate, who departs for good on Tuesday, is also out of town so I have the house to myself. I took advantage and cooked, then went back to the grocery store to get the drinks, cups and plates for my boss’ going-away party (still having nightmares over that one) and then baked the world’s ugliest cookies for it. I have no idea what is up with that sugar cookie recipe, but it does not work for me.

So I’m pretty much done for the evening, which is good because I am exhausted. The hostel was fine, but the walls were thin and the bed really hard. I did not get much sleep at all.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day – my new boss starts. So for a week I have two. Not sure how I feel about that part of the deal.