Well, actually, the promotion I am thinking of checking out tonight is entitled 'We HATE Tuesdays!', and usually that is a sentiment with which I entirely sympathise. Events like this, however, have the potential to convert my attitude. The Kro's Nest, a newish addition (I guess it's been around for 6 months or so now, but I've still been only 3 or 4 times) to the cluster of businesses inside the north gate of the Workers' Stadium complex, is an American sports bar type of place that serves what is, by some margin, the best pizza in town (a tad pricey; but there's a broad selection of toppings that are tasty and generously applied, you get a choice of thin or thick crust, the portions are HUGE..... and they also do a calzone, a great rarity in Beijing). And recently they have started trying to drum up more mid-week business by offering a couple of kegs of beer FREE at 6pm on Tuesdays. When these run out, the domestic draught continues to be 5 kuai a pint for the rest of the night. And I think there may be a few other discounts knocking around as well. This really does seem too good to pass up - particularly at the outset of what is, for us here in this 'Workers' Paradise', a holiday week.
Unfortunately, I have committed myself to working every Tuesday (and Thursday) evening for three months. And I am absolutely hating it. There's something particularly depressing about working in the evenings - I always find it 10 times more draining than working during the day. It is perhaps especially taxing when it is happening at what should be dinner time. From 6pm to 8pm is usually one of my happiest and most relaxed times: planning what and where to eat, having a first beer of the day, strolling around the neighbourhood to soak up the atmosphere. If I miss this 'golden hour', my bio-rhythms go into a nosedive. I am, believe it or not, primarily a 'morning person': I rise at dawn most days, and am most active and productive in the next three or four hours. With a few decent snacks inside me, I can keep going into the early afternoon; but by mid-afternoon I am usually starting to feel tetchy and lacklustre (and sleepy!), and if I don't get a suitably timed meal fix in the early evening...... well, I'm a goner. These early evening classes are hell-on-wheels for me: 5pm is too early for dinner, but 8pm is definitely TOO LATE.
Missing the sunset is such a bummer too. I hate going into a windowless room for the best part of two hours when it is still light, and emerging into pitch dark. I probably should never have agreed to this series of classes. This working regime skews my bi-polarity more towards uni-polarity.
However, I'm one third of the way through the ordeal now (and I can kid myself that I am half-way through, since I was working similar hours in another job in March). And I can enjoy a rest week this week - perhaps that will give me the spiritual recharge I need to see me through the remainder of the long twilight slog.
In fact, I was supposed to have been working tonight, but...... well, it seems daft to me to get my classes (two different groups, but both at the same company and doing substantially the same type of course) out of sync like this (Thursday is 'officially' the first day of the holiday). Moreover, a few of my Tuesday group hinted last week that they might take additional leave (or duvet days??) this week so that they could enjoy a full week off and go travelling somewhere. And I'm quite sure a fair few of the others would have been tempted to cut class just before this holiday, even if they were still present in the office.
So, there you are, a sound teaching rationale for postponing class until next week.
Plus, of course, I just needed a rest, goddammit.
Plus, I do rather fancy getting completely trolleyed at Kro's this evening.
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