It's gonna be another hot day

 I woke up around 7am. Typical Chinese bed. Really really hard.  It’s literally just a box spring. There is no padding at all. Sar would have had a heart attack. Luckily, I liked hard beds so it wasn’t horrible. I wanted to get a pillow top cover, but it felt really good on my aching lower back.  I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast.  HIS put some food in the fridge. I have mangos, apple, oranges, plums, milk, OJ, break, corn flakes, peanut butter, strawberry jelly, 2 jugs of water, and various teas and coffees. I’ve been chugging water since I got here. YAH for my new water bottle, which has so come in handy. That thing has been my BFF.

                I got all my toiletries unpacked and hung up all my pictures. I love the ones in my living room. I turned all of them into a huge heart (courtesy of Pinterest) and it look really nice, if I do say so myself.  Got dressed and then wandered across the street to school. My place has really pretty grounds. There’s a stream that runs through it. They are doing construction on the street by the school so that’s fun. L

                I got into school and immediately met Ember. It was so nice to finally meet her. I got there at the perfect time. Everyone was getting ready to go to Van Guards, which is a department store. I met some of my fellow teachers. K who’s teaching 1^st grade and I’ve talked with before. A couple from Australia and a man from Minnesota. Overall, a nice group.  We loaded into the van and away we went. The store reminded me of the ones in Japan, where it has everything in it, kinda of like a Wal Mart. I bought a mop, hand soap, and a bunch of hangers. It was just interesting to wander around everything and take it all in.

                We went back to school and Ember showed me our rooms. They are pretty good sized.  All the hallways are not air conditioned, but the rooms are.  The school is really confusing, but I’m sure I’ll get the layout soon.

                It is so hot here. Since my phone isn’t hooked up, I can only get messages or text people when I’m at the school. I also can’t get the AQI (air quality index) and weather. It was kinda smoggy today. When I look out my window, the mountain looks hazy. I can feel my asthma coming back. It’s not bad yet, but my coughing has come back. I haven’t taken any of my meds yet, but I’m carrying around my inhalers just in case. I want to get my body adjusted and see how I do without it. The heat is horrible. As soon as you walk outside, you start sweating. It’s not extremely humid, but it’s not dry.  It’s kinda of in-between. I just know all of us are covered in sweat wherever we go.

                T, Charles, and I went to lunch across the street at a little Western place. I had a veggie pizza, which was quite good. From there, Ember and I started working on Common Core Math. We were gathering materials that we were going to need for our first unit. Around 4, Charles and I went back to my apartment, where he brought over 2 cartons of water for my water cooler. It’s nice because it also does hot water for tea in the morning. I don’t know if you all know, but you’re not supposed to drink the tap water in China. It’s got a lot of bad stuff in it. It’s taken some getting used to, not brushing my teeth in the water. It just weird drinking from a cup to washing out my mouth and rinsing my toothbrush off in a cup as well.

                I hung up some of my clothes with the hangers that bought. Charles said fight the jet lag for as long as you can.  I was getting tired so I read on my Kindle for a bit and rested my eyes. Around 6, I walked back over to the school and met the group again. Charles was taking us to another market. We ate some baoza, which is like those bready pork bun you get at Chinese restaurants. It was my first tastes of “street food”. We went to a fruit and veg market. It kinda reminded me of a flea market, where there are a whole bunch of different vendors. I saw meat just chilling in the heat and lots of eels swimming in water.

                We went to another grocery store. Everyone was buying stuff except me. I just didn’t feel like it. I know I need to get some kitchen things (like pots and pans, though I found a wok in my UV drying rack). I did get some vinegar and a pack of mushroom noodles. Charles said to wash all your fruits and veg in vinegar and peel all the fruit that you can.

                We decided to meet back up around 8:30 to go out for drink. I went back home, ate a slice of pizza from lunch and an orange. I also drank some OJ. It definitely can’t compare to Florida OJ. It just tasted weird. I won’t be getting it in the future. I guess OJ will have to wait til I get back to Florida.

                We all met up outside my and Charles’ apt complex. There were bats flying all over. It was neat! We went to an Italian restaurant. I didn’t get anything to drink or eat. I was really beginning to feel the jet lag as I tried to keep my eyes open. We found out the R still wasn’t coming in. We all felt so bad for her. She couldn’t get out of San Fran the day before and now she was stuck in Beijing. Not the best start for the school year but I bet she has some stories to tell.

                Around 11, we called it a night and walked back to school. I came home, took a cold shower (which I think is going to be happening nightly. It’s too hot and disgusting not to) and went to bed. I can see why Hangzhou is called one of the “Hot Oven” cities. It really is disgustingly hot. I thought Florida was bad, but at least we get a sea breeze. This is just got hair blowing constantly.