Au sprechen zee Cantonese?

I had a very inefficient day today.  No flow.  It was one of those days that I had to turn around and redo almost everything I did.  Left for school, got down the elevator and through the long lobby hallway to the outdoors and realized it was cold and raining, so I had to go back upstairs to get my jacket and boots.  I thought I had enough time for this little diversion, but Macau is getting ready for it's 58th annual Grand Prix, so there's a lot of chaos on the road.  They're setting up grandstands and blockades all over the place and some of the bus lines are affected, so for the next two weeks commuting is going to suck.  Plus it was raining and the buses are always crowded when it rains.  Today I was that person trying to squeeze in so the door can shut behind them and who has to stand on the steps until more people get out.  So between my jacket and the slow, crowded bus, I was a couple minutes late for class.  Gonna have to plan better for tomorrow. 

Went grocery shopping during my lunchbreak, bought the stuff I needed, checked out, walked to another store and couldn't find the final ingredient, went back to the first store and bought a lesser version, etc., etc.  I hate being inefficient.

However, by the time I got home at 6 and started cooking, the evening improved dramatically.  Carol was kind enough to buy me this wine for dinner, even though she doesn't drink it.  It was tasty and I soon stopped caring about my efficiency level and just enjoyed listening to Glenn Gould while I chopped.  (Thanks, Satoru!)  He was playing Bach, which is the only kind of German music I really have - classical.  I made German-themed food for dinner because Carol is going to Berlin over Christmas vacation and I wanted to introduce her to my good friend, sauerkraut.  (I realize I should be drinking beer on German food night, but I don't like beer.  I'm only a little German.)

I bought a mixer tonight too.  (Realized I needed it and made a separate trip back into the same store I'd left 10 minutes prior.  They must have thought I was insane.  I was in rare form today.)  I figured it was worth it for good mashed potatoes, which I'll probably be eating more of now that I know Carol likes them.  (With gravy!)  Plus there are a number of baked things that require a mixer that are now within my realm of possibility.  Whipped cream, meringue, cake mix?  Bring it.

 So on the menu tonight were brats cooked in sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and steamed peas.  I finally found a place to get nice frozen peas.  Hallelujah.  I didn't realize how much I love vegetables until I came here.

For dessert I made bananas flambé, although I know that's French and not German.  (I'm French too, what can I say?)  But Carol told us recently that bananas are her favorite food, so I couldn't resist.  It turned out pretty well, considering my substandard kitchen gear.

In exchange for food, Carol taught me some useful phrases for my classroom.  I told my students I was learning Cantonese and so now they all want a demonstration.  So I'm trying to learn "Please be quiet", "Put away your phone", and "Try harder".  Yes, I'm puttin' the smack down on my class.  The nice teacher of weeks 1-4 is now but a distant memory.  Or at least I like to pretend that.  They know I'm soft.  Gotta work on that for next term.