Things not done... yet

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Last night I was supposed to go to a party. I thought my friend (ok, acquaintance) had said she was going to send me the info. Which never happened. So I looked at her page online and apparently there was a listing for the event. Which she had sent out invites for and then invited me after the fact. (No, I'm not offended.) But looking at the list of invitees, and who was attending, and taking into accout that I'd been up until 4 the night before doing the vacation blog.... yeah, I stayed in. And got bored after a while. But it was good to sleep at an early hour. Plus, the party, which had been made to sound like it was at her home, started at her place and then progressed to the bars. Which gets expensive really fast. For example, I can buy a can of Carlsberg for Y4.50 (60 cents) or a bottle of TsingTao for Y4. If I go to the bar, it's more like Y15 and up, depending on what you drink. Or if you do mini kegs, it's Y40 a person and I don't drink as fast as the 23 year olds, so I don't get my money's worth.

And I still have to go shoe shopping. I'm currently still wearing the fake crocs, hating them, and they now have the traction of an ice skating rink. Which is really nice when it rains. Plus, when it gets cooler (oh, how I dream, today it cooled down to 87.) I'll need something I can wear socks with. And I don't think tennis shoes or hiking boots are work appropriate, even though I could possibly get away with them. Back to the main point of this bit: buying quality shoes most likely involves a trip to Hong Kong and the shoes, if they are of the quality I like, will not be cheap. Meaning I can't afford to go drinking at the bars.

Today my big plan was to study for a upcoming test and do my lesson planning. I finally got some sleep, caught up on some very neglected emails, sorted more photos (I got the posted ones from Tyler. They are from the day I fell and the day after). I am the master of procrastination.
Then Stacy called and asked if I wanted to get my hair washed. Ahhh, this is not a simple shampoo any more than a foot wash is its name. Yes, this too involves much massaging. For Y20 I get shampooing, conditioning, some other treatment, plus a head, neck, shoulder, arm, hand, and flip over please for your back massage. Then I get a blow out and style. The entire process takes almost an hour.
After being beautified, Stacy and I decided to spend some of her birthday money and get Papa John's. It was almost as good as the US. I haven't had proper pizza except for once since I got here. And it was soooooo good.

Then I came home, wrote out a card for a friend, cleaned.... it's just like college again. But I haven't washed the floor yet.

I spent some time trying to read up more on the campaigns (even though I've already mailed my ballot) and the market mess in the US. Anthony asked me about it on Friday and I tried to explain it to him with what little info I had. (I'm a bit behind on my emails, dad.) I used the "domino theory" to explain how a foolish mistake by banks had led to this. Lucky for me, Anthony is a smart guy.

Oh, and last night I finally braved my hotplate and wok. I have untensils now, thanks to IKEA. It was tasty, but I can do better. I was surprised how fast it heated up; my electric stove in college took forever.
Roy also brought me a rice cooker. Expats have a tendancy to buy the things we need (woks, rice cookers, etc) and then when leaving, they are given to friends. Roy had 3 of them. We both win on this one!

Tomorrow I head out to conquer the bus stops. Meaning, take a little notebook and pen, track them down, write down their names in characters and pinying, and take note of which buses stop at each one. This is something I should have done ages ago. But getting this figured out will increase my independence and allow me to move more freely and try new things.
I plan to check out the market I got those gift cards for a month ago. I guess they mostly sell food, so I can stock my fridge. I wonder if they sell beer...
I also want to try to find the University. Apparently it's so close it could bite me, but I have no idea where. Carrie tells me I can get a library card there even if I'm not a student. The fees are higher than for the public library in Futian (a lot higher) but it's just the deposit that's higher and I would get that back. The deposit is so that if I lose a book (and foreign books cost a lot) the library isn't at a loss. Here, they don't send you to collections and harass you with phonecalls. And the University library would only be 10-15 mn away, vs the one in Futian, which would be a 20 mn bus ride, plus 15 metro ride, change trains, more metro ride...
Something to look into after I get paid next.

Okay. I need to get work done now. It's almost tomorrow. Just like college.

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Photos

But, but...
Tyler tells me, "Smile and act like you're having fun!"
"But I am having fun," I protest, "I just hurt like hell!"

Ginger taffy puller
As you can tell by the reflection, I did not take this pic, though I did enjoy the taffy we bought!

Me, in all of my scabby glory
don't worry, now you can't even tell--my black eye now looks like fantastic eyeshadow!

The best of the group pics
And he had to turn around at that moment to take a picture...