Ahh, yes. Coming home after a long day of visiting the tailor, class, and eating, followed by bubble tea and people watching while being gawked at, there's nothing more refreshing sounding than a nice cold one. It is Friday night afterall. I have 2 days of work (yep, Sat and Sun are being treated like Mon and Tues so students don't fall behind) before I leave for a week's vacation. A week free of phones, email, traffic... Ahhhh... (Don't worry, you will survive without me to entertain you, my sole reader.) So I grab a Carlsberg out of the fridge, savoring its chilled green can in my hand, my anticipation building. I pull the tab, savoring that sweet release of carbonation sound. My beer doesn't open. I swear. I panic. No, no, no, no NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, not ... read more

Hello! I am dry and safe. The storm was windy, kind of rainy, and loud. I slept horribly. But they did cancel classes today! The hallways (all outside, if you will recall) and stairs were all covered in water and flowers/leaves. It was like a cross between a waterfall and a wedding hit our school. I got paid, too. First paycheck in almost 2 months. I've now paid up for my trip next week. Less than 1000 Yuan ($140) will get you round-trip transportation and lodging for all nights! Nice! I'd like to see you try that in the US. And staying with friends is not allowed in this comparisson game. And I did get my multiple entry visa, too. Not everyone in our group is so lucky. So I get to travel while some may ... read more

So not much has happened in the past few days, so no entries. Saturday consisted of shopping at a sporting goods store next to IKEA where I was able to purchase REAL (vs knock off) sneakers. So I am now the proud owner of Asics, same colors as my New Balance shoes that some lucky United employee is sporting somewhere. And, AHA! I did get them on sale! Instead of 800 Yuan I paid 500. Then we went to IKEA for lunch and black forest cake. To offset the use of the free IKEA shuttle. A bunch of us went out for pizza Sat night. All the ex-pats in Shenzhen go to this place once a month for all you can eat and drink. Ladies pay 100 Yuan, and men pay 150 (under the notion that ... read more

Do you remember in college how when you were avoiding a term paper or studying for a test, lots of other things got done instead? I always knew when that was because our kitchen would be cleaned, including washing the floor. I don't even know where we kept the mop! Right now, I should be studying for class tomorrow.... so you get a blog! I have decided that this job is like college, but better. I go to class 12 times a week, 45 mn each. I prepare lessons; some weeks this takes more time than others. I go to 2 other classes that move slowly and make me want to doodle even though I am interested in the subject. And then the rest of the time is mine to do what I want. I can ... read more

Hello again! I have been asked by more than one person 2 questions that, admittedly, I cannot answer. 1. What are mooncakes? 2. What is the Mid-Autumn Festival? If I knew, I would have probably explained earlier, so instead, I'm providing links to Wikipedia. Granted, I don't always trust them for anything I'm writing a paper on, but in this case, they're perfect and even have pictures. For an answer to Q1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake For an answer to Q2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival I love technology. My tailor experience took all afternoon. But, and you'll love this, I got 3 skirts, 2 short sleeved shirts, 1 long sleeved men's style shirt, one carnigan, one pair capris, and one pair of pants all for 770 Yuan. Yep, about $100. All of which will fit perfectly. And the fabric on the pants, ... read more