In the mood to write...

Procrastination has hit me rather hard this week, but I think a part of it is just my being fed up with China, or simply my exhaustion.  Lately, I have not been sleeping well, and I'm sure I've been having weird dreams, though of what I am not sure.

For the first time in weeks, I slept relatively well last night, and that was only probably due to the fact that I finally turned my heater on in the winter-like weather of late.  Some may question my choice of programs to watch right before I go to bed, but I am un-phased by the creepy-crawlies that I see on TV (Supernatural).  You would think that it would give me nightmares, but the show typically evokes a "Cool!" from me and then I conk out within minutes.

Maybe it's these naps that I take everyday, but if I don't, I wake up even crankier than the day before.  I do not know why I am so irritable as of late, but I am just grumpy.  I need to be in a coma-like sleep for a day and just rest up enough for a week, but there's too much to do every weekend.  Time is of the essence.

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One thing that just popped into my mind that reminds me of some things I'm irritated with is just the Chinese and their tendency to compare and be illogical.  I don't mean to be negative, but I think I just need to rant what's been boiling inside me lest I pop.

Whenever I go to Kamla's erhu lessons, her teacher always comes up to me to brag and boast about Kamla.  Yes, I personally find Kamla extremely talented, but I don't think it's much of the teacher's doing.  It just simply irks me to no end that he has to step on others to make himself look better, and this is like a trend in China, as evidenced by the Olympics reporting on CCTV.  He always says something along the lines of "I'm such a wonderful teacher aren't I?  I really know how to teach people in a short amount of time and jump where needed."  He keeps bragging about the rapid pace Kamla's learning the erhu (which in all honesty and fairness is amazing), and then turns to me to ask me about how far I am with the Pipa.  The one time my teacher was there, he practically walked all over her, saying stuff like, "What you're not even to that song yet?"  Well, I beg your pardon, but I've honestly had less lessons since I started almost 2-3 weeks later.  What do you expect?!  I think I was annoyed more than anything else, especially since he was kind of rude to my teacher since she was both younger and not as experienced as him.  It didn't help that he says this to me every week.

Another thing, as much as I adore Kamla's family, they have exhibited a common trend among Chinese people when making phone calls: calling excessively until you pick up.  I've had the experience of having someone call me 15 times because I accidentally left my phone at home and didn't pick up.  Since Kamla leaves her phone on silent most of the time, her family often calls me.  I'm cool with that, but what I don't understand is this insistence to pop up or talk to someone if they are asleep.  I think I've had to wake up Kamla twice because of them over something mediocre, something that could have waited until the next morning, but last night I drew the line.  Kamla's uncle called, and he was downstairs (another interesting habit of just showing up without calling in advance, which he really shouldn't considering that Kamla needs to put on her headscarf).  I felt bad, but Kamla was sick, from what I'm not sure yet (diagnosis unsuccessful), and he wanted me to wake her up, I think.  Or that was the tone I was getting, but for sick people, it is crucial that you get more rest, because during these hours, your body is able to better combat the diseases/germs.  As rude as it may have been, I told him I didn't want to wake up Kamla.  I don't know if I apologized enough, but I think I'm just tired of this insensitivity to others' needs.  I know you want to help, and it's very sweet of you, but this is not the way.  Maybe it's just me.  When I'm sick, I stay away from others, making sure that I don't spread my germs to other people.  I am extremely careful, and exert special precautions say if someone is older or pregnant.  I guess not everyone thinks about this, so that is probably why I'm so irritated.  I guess I'm just fed up with the way people act in China sometimes.  I'm sure it's not just China, but it's just so darn frustrating sometimes.