Presently it's been a week out of 4 for my Spring Festival holiday. So far just been puttering around Beijing. Spent some time trying, and finally succeeding in scoring a train ticket to Chengdu. Not an easy task, as i am but one of 230 MILLION people trying to book a train home for Spring Festival. Spring Festival is like the family holiday equivalent of Christmas, as there's millions of people for whom it's the only time they see their families.
So that being the case, I wasn't trying too hard to get the tickets, usually only waiting in line for 15 minutes to see if there was a ticket around (and was usually told "no"), and was convinced by Q not to bother trying to book until Spring Fest is already underway. True enough, the next time I inquired, there was indeed a ticket available. "But only the most expensive tickets are available" said the lady. No problem: i feel guilty enough taking that ticket when some poor guy/woman is just itching to score any ticket to avoid the momentarily bloated flight tickets.
So anyhow, Feb 2nd, I'm off to Chengdu. Plan to spend a few days meditating on Emei Mountain, which is covered in buddhist temples. And tourists. Will probably pass up on the opportunity to play with pandas unless Q manages to find enough time to come out after visiting with her family.
Note: Last year i met her folks, but this year wasn't quite invited since Q thinks she and her dad will be... discussing things. ie) her relationship with me. Ehm... hope that goes well. i thought i oughta pay a visit, but Q thinks it's best this way. Ah well.
As for the holiday so far, it certainly is nice to, you know, not work. Although i did start reading Pride and Prejudice recently in prep to teach the gr 12s (wow, that first page is pretty damn funny, i'll have you know). And there's some other prep which i haven't touched yet. Hey: it's holiday time. can't i relax for the 1st week at least?
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