One hundred and ninety-two hours.

Or 11520 seconds.

Or eight days.

That is how long before my next weekend. Our band of merry teachers must work eight days straight this week. May 1 thru 7 is the national holiday for international labour day (May 1). As is the case with most holidays in China, employees are required to work extra days to make up for the time incurred by the holiday.

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i need sleep

It’s painful, but there are seven, unmolested days of rest at the end of the eight day stretch. More than my co-workers that had six weeks off for the winter break (I had 4 days) I really need a holiday. My lao po and I had planned on going to Thailand for a few days on the beach. Fate, that quirky bitch that makes it her lot to create misery in my existence, has dictated Thailand is out of the question.

Why?

My lao po’s application to be part of the school’s American summer camp was accepted. This means a US visa application. Part of said application is providing a letter from the bank to document available funds. After I place all my money in my wife’s account and am granted a letter from the bank, the money will be frozen until the application is finished (the end of May, I’m told).

That mean we will be living on the spare change we have amassed in our apartment. While enough for a few days in Guangzhou it is certainly not enough for a trip to Thailand.

Damn Fate and her punishing ways. I really needed to get away, to get out of China for even seven days. Instead, I will screen my phone calls and fight with my wife over the remote control (not to change the channel, but to turn down the volume of the Korean soaps, she and many other Chinese women, are fond of.)

It’s 4 am Monday morning and I am in front of the computer, in an attempt to have everything cleaned up in the next eight days.

This week, eight days, will be painful.