My Coffee Shop

I am currently at work. It is my 3rd day in AV and things are going great. I come in at about 8:45am get the place up and running and then relax until about 4:30pm when I head home. I have about 8 students working all of which speak enough English to make the job very easy.

When I get in I walk to the main office to pick up the keys and golf cart. I drive to the coffee shop and let the kids in. We set up everything and then one of the students and I go pick up the sandwiches from the kitchen. We have runners in the coffee shop and they are the ones who drive the golf cart back and forth and pick up food all day...by all day I mean the one time in the morning.

Today I went to drive and in broken English the runner goes, "no i drive car." I let him take the wheel. We had to make a 3 point turn in this somewhat small alley way. For us in the states it is a huge space for locals the space is very tiny. The kid puts the car into drive and then as he reverses he slams into the side of the building putting a huge dent in the siding. My natural reaction is, "what the fuck." The kid looks at me and goes, " i no drive well...so sorry." I figure what the hell, I will let the kid drive the rest of the way and see what happens. There is this one stretch to the kitchen where nobody is and you can hit this little red button that allows the cart to go faster. I showed him the button and he hits it---the car goes from 5mph to probably 8mph and he starts flipping out. He screams, "sir, make stop--it goes so fast." I can't stop laughing and the kid slams on the breaks. We finally make it to the kitchen and I tell him to leave the car out front and I will grab the stuff. He decides to follow me and forget to put the parking break on. The cart rolls back like 20 feet and just missed nailing another car. Long story short...a 5 minute trip to pick up sandwiches took about 25 minutes. I drove on the way back and he was gripping onto the side of the cart because we were going 8mph. We are going to practice driving later if I have enough patience. I felt like my father when he was teaching me how to drive.

Back to the coffee shop. I do not drink any coffee. I will have the occasional latte from Dunkin Donuts but I would not call myself a coffee drinker. Working in a coffee shop where it is really slow there are only so many things I can do. I can be on my computer...walk around...talk to the students in English and watch them laugh at me or I can drink coffee. Well---I now drink all types of coffee. When I get in I have a double espresso. Then I will have a bagel or muffin while talking to the kids. A little later on I will have a cappucino and on the way out I will grab a latte. The stuff is pretty good. Being a novice coffee drinker it is probably crap considering it comes out of a machine but I am enjoying it.

I am still finalizing plans for my trip to see the warriors this weekend as well as trying to figure out plans for the end of the month. I really would like to go to Thailand or Vietnam but at the same time there is still so much I have to see in China. I would love to do everything but time does not allow it. I may do Shanghai and some other small provinces instead of going to another country. Airfare is out of this world and a train can only take me so far.