One Bathtub Please

Today i met up with a fellow Canadian, from my hometown actually. Nice to reminisce about the Gatineau Hills, Sparks Street and yes even lame Monsieur Martin. However we did conclude that all Ottawa is (at least for the majority of it) is middle-aged government workers, looking back at the good old days and yet still yearning for their days of retirement which seem still relatively far away.

And so we we like it here, even giggle at the slightest weirdest things (like how he got bochulism??? sp?? from something he ate and had to be hospitalized for a night). We both met people here whom we love and adore and are in a serious relationship with. As for future plans, our options are endless. It's just nice to have a friend from home in this new home of mine.

Have been in a sort of 'uck' phase lately. Not sure why, maybe it's the passing of my quarter century mark that has brought about all these thoughts and emotions to the surface. Felt like hibernating. Culture shock? yeah, i've reached the 6 month mark of being here. It's time that i had a breakdown, no? ;)

I've been blaming China, the people who regard me as one of their own (which can work for or against me, depending on the situation and most importantly, my mood). It's like a love-hate relationship, intense all the time.

Have been playing piano, found some sheet music at the local boostore and stocked up on Chopin Etudes and Nocturnes. Bliss.

Matt gave me a traditional Chinese instrument, the ErHu, for my birthday. It's a 2-string wooden beauty that is played with a bow. Lessons are on the agenda.

Had a musical gathering here on my birthday, trumpets, guitars, piano, jazz music.

I have to honest with myself though: i do enjoy this city and province, the mountains especially. This could be my 6-month itch where i feel that i should be relocating elsewhere. In fact for the past 7 years i have moved house/city/country every 4-8 months. In any case, today is a brighty sun-shiney day, and the snow from yesterday's day-long blizzard is melting quickly. Yes, we had a snowstorm in April! Just like in Ottawa. Very appropriate.

Today i also went bathtub shopping. I kid you not. I have never even went bathtub windowshopping in my life! What a hoot. The one we have now has a crack in it and it'll probably just get bigger if we don't get a new one. Anyway, what really surprised me most was every shop i went into to ask if they had a tub with my dimensions, they would then immediately ask me how many i wanted. "How many bathtubs?" I ask, making sure i understood them correctly.

Good lord, only one is enough. I dunno, it happened several times. I'm still rather puzzled by the question, but when in China some things you just gotta let slide...