Just another day

It was rainy again today and a little chilly. I brought a good waterproof raincoat but I didn't reason that my legs would get really wet when I ride my bike. Yesterday I got very soaked on the way to work so today I bought some proper raingear. I don't know what you would call it, it's just a big raincoat but it covers up my legs and it has a good hood and even things that come down to cover up the top part of your hands- it leaves the bottom part open so you can control a bike or scooter. They really have rain gear down to a science.

My roommates & I went out for sushi today. We all thought there would be sushi everywhere here but there isn't- they sell rice wrapped in seaweed that has weird stuff like fried chicken in it at 7-11s, but it's hard to find proper raw fish. We finally found a Sushi Express which is a chain. It has a conveyer belt that goes around the whole restaurant with little plates on it, so we thought we could just take off the plates of stuff we wanted and not have to speak Chinese, but it turned out there was a waiter who made us talk to him. It was a little bit of a struggle- he didn't speak English and everything I said, he would laugh and repeat it. But the food was really good, and not too expensive.

At work tonight I had oral tests which are absolutely the best- instead of jumping around and shouting for 2 hours you call out the kids one by one and ask them ten questions. I guess they are always scared, even when they get to know you well. It's kind of frustrating because you go over the questions in class, and they can all shout the answers in unision, but can't speak one-on-one. There is always one kid who does really well, though. I always give them credit if they answer quickly and comprehensibly, even if it's not totally correct. A lot of the kids who get the best grades could never make it in the US because they only learn by memorizing, but there are always kids who have like an 81 average but can really converse. Today, for example, the oral test was about these ladies at a coffee shop (there is a picture) and I asked "How much is the total" and "Do they have enough money?" And they are supposed to say, "Yes, they have enough" but this one kid looked at the picture and said "I hope so!" Extra credit for making the teacher laugh. :)