Whoops missed my blogger,recovering from my losing at the melbourne cup 'blues'.........

You know I couldn't understand about experiencing culture shock in my own country though now I do!I feel like an outsider looking in.Yep,I'm an alien.Where the hell do I belong.Such crazy thoughts and I'm sure I'm not alone.Only the other day my best Chinese girlfriend e-mailed me.Of course she wanted to lay a guilt trip on me.It went something like this,"Oh,Lina I've missed u your my best friend.Why haven't u contacted me?"Anny is a very astute young Chinese woman.She was my personal assistant all round.Mainly she skillfully organised my lesson plans and buttered up the various students and watched my back if any of her own people would undeniably cheat me.I wouldn't have known what to do without my loyal and true friend like Anny.The first Chinese Spring Festival, I spent at her hometown An qu.I was introduced to her101 relatives who all approved of this funny and strange Foreigner(a term I won't get used to because it sounds like I come from another planet).Anyhow, I'm pretty certain some of the relly's saw me and Anny's father married.Apparently,most of the family despised the step mother.As the story went,she was like a snake in the grass after Anny's real mum died of cancer.Consequently,all Anny's sibling's withdrew from both of them especially Anny.In fact,I think  perhaps I became Anny's surrogate mum.So,we're not so different west and east.One thing I nearly forgot to mention is that I was accepted by the father since I was willing to sit amongst his drunken friends toasting endless glasses of a devilish drink called Ba jiu.We'd shout out 'gum bai' and skull this fiery clear spirit down our throats.Believe me this drink out matches vodka,snapps,tequila,whiskey etc.Two small glasses and I plonked myself  into bed and woke up crying.What an experience-go figure.Chinese people, according to Anny, equate inner strength with how much Ba jiu a person can consume.Here I was the honoured guest reduced to tears.So that was my first initiation into a Chinese clan.Oh just an after thought!Anny's dad made his income as the hometown psychic and feng shui consultant.Signing off Lina:)xoxoxoxo