What the hell?  There's snow on the ground!!  It's freakin' March!  It snowed all day yesterday, and now it's all ice.  I went back to school today, and the whole campus was ice.  They're asking for a lawsuit!!  Oh wait, I'm in China...

 

Anyway, I had to go up to Beijing on Friday night after teaching, to take exams at the Canadian embassy (as part of my application to the foreign service which I probably won't pass but what the hey I'll try anyway).  There were a total of eight English-speaking applicants and two French speaking ones.  Of the English-speaking applicants, I was the only one who wasn't already working for the embassy!  (Well, there was antoher girl but she doesn't count as an outsider cuz her husband works there.)

 

Finished the exams finally at 3:30, made it to the train station just after 4pm, only to find that the next train to Tianjin wasn't until 6:30.  Since I was in no mood to wait at rainy Beijing station for two hours, I purchased a standing ticket to Tianjin North station.  Argh.  1.5 hours of standing on a very crowded train - as you can see from the many many people in the hall waiting to boarding the train.  Unfortunately, it was one of those situations that having money nor being a foreigner could help.  Oh, and I stepped in a puddle.

 

But hey, check out my hotel room in Beijing, right around 三里屯 (Sanlitun) and not far from the Canadian embassy.  OK, it's small, but check out the glass-walled bathroom!  It was kind of weird to be able to see the toilet from the bed.  And the sink, and the shower.  Picture taken using the special panorama feature on my Sony Ericsson K750i phone.  (Not bad, I think.)  The room was Y188 (C$28).

 

Finally...  It was the day of the Lantern Festival yesterday, the last day of Spring Festival celebrations.  It was another CRAZY day of fire crackers!  But at least we know it's all over.  For now.

 

Now if I can only figure out how to arrange the photos in this blog...  Let me know if you know how!