I hate driving fast and I specially hate it when there’s a car behind me because that means, I must drive to the prescribe speed. This is the very reason why I avoid country roads and express ways. 50km/hr and 30km/hr zones are my best friends but ever since we moved to the suburbs, I have to drive on a stretch of a busy country road to get to my workplace in the city. Every day, before I start my car’s engine, I have to utter a small prayer that goes like…God, please guide me with my driving and please protect other drivers and pedestrians from me.

It would annoy me if I damage my car and I would be sorry if I hurt myself but it would be a terrible terrible feeling if I hurt another person because of my driving. I am not a pessimist and I really do hope that I will never encounter an accident but IF I would get into an accident, I would like that I or the people all around me know who to call and what number to call. I have memorized the police, fire station, and the emergency hotline. Then I also have some of my IDs and also some of my husband’s business cards both in my car and in my wallet.

This is the driving lesson set (6 hours driving) I paid extra right after I failed my first practical exam. I had like 25 hours driving before that… so all in all, I have like 31 hours. To cheer me up a little bit the instructor told me that not a lot of people make it right after the minimum hours (13 hours). But I did 31 hours already! And how many lessons did I pay extra? 3 sets (18 hours extra) and that cost me 756Euro plus the basic course price 968 (13hours driving lessons + theory lessons + exam fee + entrance fee) and yet another plus 205 for doctor’s fee (eye and general doctor) and the book. And because I failed the first practical exam, I have to pay yet another 139 for it (second exam sometime next week).

If my computation is right, I’ve spent exactly 2,067 Euro for this. Hey, that’s about the price of a secondhand Ford KA already (not my dream car but ok). I could have my car for that money!

Driving sucks! And it is sucking me off my money!

It doesn’t help that I got 100% in my theory exam. I still don’t get a license!

I can drive. I know I can drive but the city traffic here in Graz is just too complicated for me. There’s just so many one-way-streets, tramways, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian crossings, etc, etc… sigh*

Maybe I should just accept the fact that when it comes to driving… I am a total moron.

It sucks!

And to cheer myself up, I just think about Einstein and how was also NOT able to drive a car PROPERLY even if he was a genius.

For now, I can only give you the summary of what I’ve been up to the last couple of months because I don’t want to write a novel (hehe).

And so…I think I have mentioned that on the second week of December, I had my exam and I passed it. After that I took a break (from stress). I celebrated my 27th birthday then prepared for our Christmas Holiday in Austria. The holiday in Austria was great and that deserve a separate entry so I won’t elaborate now.

We flew back to Shanghai on the second week of January and stayed here a few days before we went for another holiday in the Philippines.

After two sweet weeks of tropical sunshine, we are again back in Shanghai and that means I should get back to work.

So here I am…blogging.

This is not a big surprise for me because in my country, most people also have no trouble sleeping… anywhere. In PUJs, bus terminals, airports, waiting sheds, etc. You name it. Although this might come off as very unbecoming to some, for me it’s just to show that the person (sleeping) is comfortable with his surroundings (other than he is just plain drunk) and I honestly don’t have a problem with that just as long as the person (sleeping) is not leaning on me.

I am glad that I am going out more often now and that I am developing friendship with people other than the colleagues and friends of my husband. In short, I now have my own circle. I don’t have anything against the colleagues and friends of my husband because most of them are really nice persons too and I am glad that we could spend time with them sometimes but having my own circle of girlfriends with pretty much the same interest as mine is different. I really miss my girlfriends back in Changchun and in the Philippines but I am glad that after 5 months of staying in Shanghai, I am starting to really feel at home here.

So anyway, after having a dinner at the nearby Jin Mao Tower last Monday evening, we impulsively decided to go and see the new skyscraper. It’s just too bad that none of us brought a camera. I suggested that we do it on another time but Marcus and two of his colleagues insisted to see it because the weather was clear and there was no queue anymore (at 9:00pm). The view from the building’s view decks is really spectacular. If you look up at the SFTC building and the nearby Jin Mao Tower  from the street, they look like they have the same height but when you’re on top, you’ll see that there is a huge difference between the two buildings’ heights. It’s really too bad that we didn’t have real cameras so I didn’t have a choice but to use my phone’s not so good camera.

Last Sunday, Marcus and I went back to that electronic market to buy me an iPhone and we tag along Kristoff because we know that Kristoff is also crazy about the place and he knows the market better than us. We went there early and it took me five hours to find the perfect iPhone from the kindest salesperson. I knew already that I’d get an iPhone but that didn’t stop me from trying other mobile phones. I don’t think Sonny Ericson Xperia, the phone I wanted, is already available in China so unfortunately I was not able to try it and even if it were there already, I wouldn’t think that Marcus and I will buy it. It is just too expensive.

Anyway, after the shopping in the Puxi area we went back to Pudong to eat and before that, we decided to walk around a little bit because the weather was great (after like 3 weeks of constant smog) and so I was able to take some photos. It felt a little bit funny because I was acting like a real tourist. We live here since June of this year but until now, we haven’t really explored Shanghai yet. We have this mentally that we have plenty of time so we don’t have to see every place and try out everything here immediately but maybe before we know it, the time’s gone.

This iPhone will be Marcus’ birthday gift and Christmas gift for me. It’s really too bad that both occasions are in the same month. I say that not because I only get one gift for both occasion but because Marcus only go through the difficulty of deciding what to give me once a year!

So anyway, Emily called me and asked if we could have a coffee together sometime because according to her, she really enjoyed my company the last times. That was so nice of her to say but that’s something I didn’t expect. Emily has a managerial position in human resource of some British-Indian company and she is like 54 years old and she often talks about very intellectual things so you can just imagine my surprise when such person display interest in spending time with me.

I am no intellectual. I am just a simple woman who is living a simple life but being married to Marcus also means that sometime, I’ll be going to parties, dinners, and gatherings where I’d be spending time with people who have much wider knowledge and way more eloquent than I am. I always try to talk to these people and not just smile and be pretty (in short, look stupid) but sometimes I can’t help but feel tiny.

It turn out that it was just a prank call!

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