你好, China!

HI IM IN CHINA! And this is a picture of the inside of the Philippine pavilion. That I didn't take because my phone refuses to work with my computer.

I've only been here five days and I still sort of can't believe it.
There are SO many thing that have happened... not all great, not all awful, but mostly tiring.

House:
I live with four other girls in an apartment in the Expo Village. We had it pretty good, given the boys have to deal with living with 8 of them in one place. Plus my housemates are decently clean. Which is godsend.

Work:
Is tiring. Its far different from what I expected-- what any of us expected-- but its not complete torture. We basically came from being guides to being guides/translators/doormen/babysitters/salespeople/cafeteria folk.
Instead of our one hour break, we kind of deal with a how-fast-can-you-finish-your-food break. I have yet to visit another pavilion, but some of my fellow guides (who I'm going to start calling my friends because that's what they are and fellow pavilion guides is just too long to type up) have. I, however, am determined to visit another pavilion tomorrow before work starts, given ours opens at 10 in the am while most open at 9. We basically stand the entire time too, or run around after people, which could explain why we're exhausted as heck. Plus, I have the morning shift, and we usually wait for the night shifters to come home before going to bed. I get the same number of hours of sleep as I do back home, but it just doesn't seem to be enough.

Food:
From brown rice, whole wheat bread, non-fat cereal and skimmed milk, I go to pizza, deep-fried goodness, processed foods and preservatives. I need to munch on a celery stick. My weary, vitamin-depleted, fibre-needing body desperately calls for something healthy. My conscience isn't helping either.

Internet:
FINALLY got access. Have to pay for it though. And can't access facebook or blogger without a VPN. And even with THIS VPN, I can't comment on posts. Which is why this portion is dedicated to Ada and Pedram... YES, durian! Like the gelato flavor that people love in Mondo, according to Ada. And Adar, feel free to take <3

Philippine Pavilion:
So much to say, so little time. Internet time, that is. Its, uhm, pretty. There are lotsa lights and pretty colors and sounds. But I figure for our space, its not really utilized as well as it could be. There are performances every 30 minutes or so, so people stick around to watch them. They're not as popular as the curator would have hoped for though. There's huge turn over after the crowd does a once-over... which takes about 5 minutes. Anyway, the most common response we get at the door when we open the pavilion doors is "its so cold!" The air conditioning is turned up waaaay high. Its effing freezing in there.

The curator left the day after the first day. The organizing committee doesn't like us (its a long story, but it has a lot to do with money and power), but I'm otherwise doing okay. I've met some other guides from other countries and its really fun talking to them and getting to know them! Plus, they can get us into their pavilions without a real wait time :)

So for now, here's to eating more vegetables, getting more sleep and making new friends.

Excited for more adventures,
Nic