Monday and Tuesday were a mixture of really frustrating moments mixed in with the odd really fun one. Here's why…

Monday was mainly spent trying to help Helena, who was having problems with withdrawing enough cash to pay her landlady. She's been asked to pay a whole year's rent up front before moving in, which isn't unusual in China, but is a pain in the ass when you're from abroad, due to daily withdrawal limits/banks cancelling your cards etc. This was far more stressful for Helena than it was for me, but still I found it frustrating - we went to several hotels in the area hoping we could call international numbers using their phones but they were all either incapable of dialling internationally or just unwilling to help. Then when we finally got through to the banking line in the UK on my phone, reception kept getting cut off. When things were looking desperate I decided to transfer a fairly large chunk of money from my bank account onto my currency card so I could withdraw it and lend it to her - but then my transactions got blocked by the fraud protection scheme. URGH. It all worked out in the end when we realised we could use Skype to call the UK fairly cheaply, which worked perfectly and we both got our cards unblocked and our transactions authorised etc.

Tuesday was pretty stressful too - I got up early to take Saul to the hospital again as he hadn't improved at all since Saturday. They were worried about how slow his heart was beating, so he was put in a wheelchair, and I spent the morning wheeling him around to have various tests taken. Fun fun fun. They then decided they wanted to hospitalise him properly, which required a 5000 RMB deposit (roughly £520). This is a lot of money, and taking into account the money issues mentioned above, we weren't best pleased. In the end Saul emptied his wallet out and we called Helena, who quickly came to the hospital clutching several thousand RMB to lend. We weren't allowed to stay with him all day, so I went back twice - once to drop off some things to keep him entertained and once more to collect him in the evening, despite the doctors wanting to keep him overnight. Again, this was far more horrendous for Saul than it was for me, but it still wasn't pleasant. Being in hospitals is tiring and depressing, and seeing one of your friends who is normally so fit and healthy seeming so weak and tired is pretty s*** too.

Also my estate agent came round on Tuesday so set up Wifi and couldn't due to various problems. It's not urgent… I don't really NEED it until I start class next week, but still, not having Internet in the flat is a bit of a pain.

Thankfully there were also up-sides to the past two days. After Helena sorted out her money issues, we treated ourselves to a pizza, which was fun and comforting. Then I returned to my flat where my roommate, her boyfriend and sister were hanging out. We drank tea together and chatted for a while, then my roommate (I should tell you her name! She's called Chengyuan) and her boyfriend went out to the shops. For some reason Chengyuan felt the need to change her clothes before doing this - she went into her bedroom and emerged a few minutes later dressed in a sailor-like outfit consisting of a white top with a blue collar and little blue shorts. But here's the best bit: a few minutes after that, her boyfriend (who is around 6ft 3 and has a rather large belly) emerged in a MATCHING OUTFIT. Now, I'd seen this in China before, but this case was particularly amusing. The shorts were inappropriately tiny on him, and his belly was bulging out the T-shirt. I couldn't help but almost choke on my tea, I was laughing so much.

I also joined a gym, which is exciting - it's just around the corner, it's pretty cheap and there are SO many classes that look really fun. Can't wait to try them all out and hopefully make some more Chinese friends through them. Dance-fitness, Yoga, Hot Yoga, Pilates, Belly Dancing, BodyPump and Kickboxing are all on the list. There's also Fit Dbs (?!), Pole Dancing (hah) and the mysteriously named "Shape" class, which I might have to try just so I can find out what it is. There's also a gym (obviously) and a pool (not that I'd go, it's indoors and I'm assuming you'd have to wear swimming costumes pftttt).

Finally, on Tuesday after we got back from the hospital, Helena, Saul and I snuggled up on the sofa and watched "Little Miss Sunshine", a film that cannot help but make you smile. This, combined with a weird dinner of Chinese milk tea, a tea flavoured boiled egg and a Snickers Bar, made for a lovely evening in the end.

So yeah, there have been frustrating moments in the past two days, but I guess that's what living in a foreign country is going to be like. But I reckon those frustrating moments will get less frequent the longer we're here and the more settled we become, and the fun times will (hopefully) outweigh them! xxx