e;lisa

One’s form is not one’s essence.

It is the death of what one fears that is one’s life enduring truth.

Here are just some little somethings I have run into here and there — for all of you guys who like that sorta thing, I know I do! :

山中問答

問余何意棲碧山
笑而不答心自閑
桃花流水杳然去
別有天地非人間

You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown,
I have a world apart that is not among men.

Li Bai 李白

One of the most pleasentest things in the world is going on a journey; but I like to go by myself. I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me. I am never less alone than when alone.

- William Hazlitt, On Going a Journey

To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower;
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in a an hour.

- William Blake, from “Auguries of Innocence”

The spring has officially arrived and it has truly swept me off my feet. It has been years since my breath was taken so suddenly and so completely. It seems just the other day the black bark of the tree’s branches staggered before an overcast sky and the cold hands of damp mountain air crept their way past the collar of my jacket across the base of my neck and down my shirt.

Now, vibrant pink,white, purple and yellow flowers too anxious to open petal by petal, are exposing their every fold. They hang off of tree limbs overburdened with new green buds, as if to arouse the curiousity of lonely day-dreamers and passer-bys — all the while just hoping that one might be daring enough to secretly pluck them from their stem. The seeds of tall elm trees pull out their spring dress of white fluff and catch the curtails of light breezes, flutter about, tumble round and spin slowly above my head as I contemplate their final resting place and the journey that takes them there.

Green buds are unfolding into crisp leaflets over night. Each morning they shoot forth into a the sun light that exaggerates their every cell and strand of fiber, their emerald light sweetly caressing the faces of stone steps and soft earth below.

IS THIS TOO MUCH Froo Froo Poetic talk FOR YOU?

It is for me too. I am not too good at prose I think, but I try.

So you get the picture right? It is gorgeous around campus lately. I am thoroughly enjoying it and I think everyone else is too. The light has probably been the best. It lights up everything and it seems that even the flower blossoms are lit up from the inside out. I get this feeling in my feet and I just want to hop and romp all over the place.

I have been especially loud lately and everyone thinks I am out of my gourd.

There is not time to be wasted though. Midterms are next week and missed two days of classes last week due to a bad sinus infection. I also missed Friday’s classes, but for more irresponsible reasons. I went to 17 Miles with Andre, Adam, Bao Bei (a Korean chick, really cool chick) and Sanji (a japanese boy is sweet as all get out). We paid 25 each to go and sing karaoke till 6 in the morning. I only planned on staying till 12 and only because I figured it would be a good chance to break up the monotony of study/sleep/eat/shower/class/study with something that employs my Chinese Skills. Alas, all the subtitles were in traditional Chinese characters rather than simplified…….after a while I started to remember some of the characters (started off studying traditional first) and so it wasn’t all for nothing. Only that I fell asleep on the couch. They didn’t wake me till 6. That was crazy. Needless to say I didn’t go to class. BUT I basically studied all weekend to make up for it. Kinda sucks to spend your entire weekend studying really intensively, you get really tired by Wednesday of the following week. Knowing this, I tried to get out one more night to unwind a bit.

I studied from 11am to 10 at night on Friday! Woo - I felt so diligent for a while, then Lydia and Lilly dragged me out of my room to SanLuTun where Lydia and I did some major dancing, pimpstress-ing and talkin trash. We didn’t drink really and it was more about just enjoying our company and the music than anything else. That night was sorta of a late night, but I made it up by staying in on saturday and studying all day and all night. yuck. Getting to studying on Sunday was a bit harder, but the evening was a bit easier since my roommate made a huge meal for her Malaysian friends and me. It was dam good.

Da, a Laotian boy also came, and so did two girls from Japan. We at huddled on the floor, bowls close to face, chopsticks struggling to get down every bite of home-cooked goodness. Friday was the Laotion New Year. It is custom to throw water on people to bring them good luck for the coming year. So, when we were washing the dishes, I had to start splashing water on my roommate. Da decided he was going to go one step further. At first he was just using a clean bowl to toss a bit of water on the Japanese girls (I assume he was spashing them because they squeal loud and are less likely to splash back). Then he moved onto a sauce pan filled with water which he used to completely drench the smaller of the Japanese girls. It was insane. The janitor came by after hearing the commotion, but we were already back in the safety of our room and all that was left was water a huge puddle of water in the kitchen flowing out into the hallway.

Last night Lydia came to my room and we had a girl-talk session till 12 when I took a shower and went to bed.

Classes today were pretty interesting. I am really enjoying this school semester. Of course it is not as fun as my first semester, but it feels similar and I feel like — I dunno how to explain it. All I can say is that all my experiences thus far: all the new friends I have made, all the old acquaintances who I have become closer to, the progress I have made in Chinese, long distance conversations with friends back home, and all the subtle differences of everyday life in a country other than my own have all coalesced into a peculiar experience that I can only liken to the start of Spring.

Too compound things, in two weeks I am off to Nanjing and Fuzhou with Jason, Sam, Wen, April, Tomas and my dad. We are going to have a ball on the beaches of PingTan (an island off the coast of Fuzhou) tanning and eating all kinds of seafood.

MMM — can’t wait!

The day James left, i was alone with a whole weekend ahead of me. Lydia comes up to me and asks if I wanted to go to a Brazilian Carnival party at Arena. I was thoroughly intrigued. I love Brazilian music and there is always plenty of people dancing to the good music. I agreed. Considering that I was walking vigorously everyday for a week while touring James around Beijing, there was some hesitation after already agreeing.

Lily had invited Lydia and I heard something about it from Nashanta. They all kept saying arena as a spanish person would read it in which case means sand. Eventually I find out that it should read arena as in a sports arena, not sand. AH - it made a lot more sense when I got to the place and it was big like an arena. Really nice place by the way.

But there is more story before I get to the Arena Brazilian Carnival Ball — I went out with Lydia and a friend of hers to China Doll on Friday after enjoying a good make you cry its so spicy dinner at Red Station.

Adam and Andre were the chaperons for dinner. They are a hoot. Adam is taking a course on the evolution of sex — in Chinese — which makes for interesting conversations on how to say all the things they don’t teach you when learning Chinese. Most of them, when you hear them, are like — oh duh! I could have figured that out. I guess I just don’t think about it nor do I have the chance to try self-translating such things. That is, it is slim pickings in China when it comes to boys - foreign and domestic. I would rather just stick to Texans. Getting back to the interesting conversations. So do you know what what g-spot is in Chinese? For you Chinese speakers like Inga and Gio — I bet you can figure it out right? Did you think about it? Got it right? it is g 点. For those of you whose computers can read Chinese or can’t read it even if you could see it, it reads g dian (third tone). Dian 点 means lots of things but one of its many meanings is spot; place. This is the cleaner of the words he has brought to light and I feel that second-learning might be fun this year if the trend continues.

Afterwards, we watched a Steven Chow movie till Lydia called me. Watching Steven Chow has to be a good way to practice Chinese. It is funny as hell! I met up with her at some bar down the street from Browns and then we went to China Doll from there. The music was bad but we had fun anyway dancing the night away. And we sure did dance it away. We shook our money makers till 5 o’clock. We both sweat ourselves dry. yikes!

Saturday was spent studying and writing “long distance conversations” via email and snail mail. My roommate made me dinner - hella good Malaysian style chicken wings with rice. All I gotta say is, yum!

At 9:30 I realized that Lydia wasn’t answering her phone. I let it go till ten something, till I try again. Homegirl fell asleep………she did go to work like at eleven and the fact we were out till five. Lily was waiting with a crew of drunk Japanese and I felt bad bailing out. I really only wanted to go if Lydia came because then I could bail if it sucked and go home early. Lily is a late night or should I say early morning partier. I had already stayed out till five on friday….arg.

It was fun though! I absolutely love Brazilian music. Eugenio was there with some Asian Argentinian girl whose name I always forget. Pheebs was there with crew in tow. Kuka and Shirawa made it later on. Laredo was there dancing up a storm. I danced with him mostly. He is a pretty good dance. I love a guy who knows how to carry the dance because I just follow. I actually don’t know how to dance most Latin dances, I only got what my momma gave me one hand and what daddy gave me on the other — flamenco lessons and latin blood. Latin blood goes pretty far surprisingly.

Pheebs took her crew, lily, the Japanese kids (Erika (why she picked an English name with an R when she can’t pronounce it is behind me) , Dotske, and Lotske), and I to the Miss Sixty Fashion show on the plaza one floor up from Arena which is underground. We just walked it — which surprised me. We got some free drinks and harassed the French bar tenders. Pheebs knows everybody since she has been in Beijing for so long and got a free bottle of Grey Goose before they closed the bar. We went back to Arena and danced it up some more.

The night slowly degenerated into Drum n Bass, Jungle, and Dancehall. People left, the place was getting scarce and we ended up in a special box with the producer of the party. This is after Shirawa and I started dancing swing to some crazy mix the Dj had going on. THAT WAS WEIRD.

Since Lily couldn’t dance because her high heels were too high and thus hurting her tiny feet, we flipped. I was getting the touchy-feely treatment from the 90 year old guy who frequents all the Latin clubs in Beijing. He has been here for 19 years and has more energy than I do. I have seen him on the bar dancing it up with three ladies at the same time. He dresses like Heffner and attempts to pimp girls that are too hot for him. Some girls let him get touchy feely though. That is gross let me tell you. No wonder he thinks he can do it all the time. I shouldn’t hate though. I hope I have as much energy as he does when I am 90 or even 80 for that matter.

Today is studying —- I hope I get some done before it is too late. bleh!

feelin’ good today. doesn’t matter what happens, couldn’t get me down.

Although everything is still kinda hectic, I am still chipper and upbeat. I am tired though.

I had quite a busy weekend.

Saturday I participated in a closed door panel discussion on etiquette held by Renda’s 奥运会人文研究中心 (Humanistic Olympic Studies Group). Apparently this Group is the PRC’s eyes on Etiquette in China. They specifically research Beijinger’s notoriously bad habits which tend to put off foreigners such as spitting on the ground and letting children freely urinate in the street. Yet, their research and our discussion was not limited to just these bad habits. We also discussed our views on things like dealing with cab drivers, litter, politeness in interactions with Chinese people, subway experiences, waiting in lines. Things that, here in China, can be a big ordeal that usually leads in disappointment. I really get annoyed at how some Beijingers don’t seem to know how to be considerate of others who have been waiting in line and just directly go to the front. It is pretty crazy sometimes. Especially at XiZhiMen station -

It was a three hour discussion that tended to get sidetracked by things that, in my opinion, weren’t really relevant (I am guilty of participating in some of this). Yet, I feel this was the fault of the organizers who just opened up the discussion with a declaration of its beginning despite their formal well-organized introductions and explanaitions. With a table of opinionated foreigners all of whom were ready to share all of their experiences in Beijing and China (some going 10 plus years back) and their corresponding opinions , you would have thought they would have guided the discussion with some questions. They mainly just sat there, didn’t talk, didn’t ask for elaborations, and scribbled notes. It seemed that they scribbled the most notes when we just sat there and criticized. Conversations on why Chinese people are this way, what are some possible solutions, and so forth were noted, but I think not as much as the simple bashing so to speak. In the end, it was mentioned how it seems the problem rests on people’s consideration and patience levels. It is not that they want to be rude when they don’t hold open the door for someone or cut in line, spit on the floor in a restaurant — they just don’t think about how that may affect other people. It isn’t in the thinking. Some of the ideas the other student’s were suggesting were just intangible solutions or too far off in the future to be relevant to helping China preparing for the Olympics. Some suggestions can not even be applied by developed countries, why are they to succeed in China? There is an ongoing attempt by groups of more conscious people on the state of our planet along the lines of the planet is your home as much as it is the next guy, the world is your children’s future home bla bla — people still aren’t listening or even believing that there is any problem with their current consumption trends. I decided to step in and say that, one of the doctors nodded her head in agreement. Unfortunately, as we, as a global village, keep on developing, we grow out of touch with our own humanity and our respect for our environment steadily decreases. This is a global problem, not just China’s and people should recognize that and start looking at themselves for a solution. The conversation did get back to a more exchange situation when a Swedish boy started talking about his experiences and his parent’s experiences. Then it degenerated into bashing again — I guess they wanted bashing though right? I dunno. How else are you going to improve something if you don’t know it’s weaknesses. However, I think they already know their weaknesses by now.
All in all it was a pleasant experience and I got a dope ass souvenir out of it. Andre, a Russian boy who has lived here since his yearly teens, says that it will be worth something one day. I am doubtful, but then some one else said the same thing and I felt sorta cool to have a piece of history. Good memory.

Then in the night Lydia and I pimped a house warming party in GuoMao. We dined on some pasta, salad, johnny walker in green tea. YEA! That stuff is good. We made our way to NanJie. We were escorted by a bunch of tall guys which kept wierdos at bay. As our guardians got drunker, I got approached by a “velvet pimpin’ nameplate wearing” mafia looking guy who was being escorted by an ACTUAL body guard who looked mean as hell. He must have been very wealthy judging by his clothes and nameplate - the body guard also made em a little suspicious. He was trying pretty hard. Thank god one of the guys pretended to be my guy and scared him away. I would have been interested to know exactly what it is he did. All I know is he was from New York and that his name was Brett. Then I proceeded to get hit on by random guys which was annoying. I just danced with the friendly clean boys we came with. They were all friends of a guy that Lydia is good friends with. Nice guy - from TEXAS. No wonder all his friends were nice. Texans know about that politeness.

Today I met with a new language partner. A girl named something Jian Kuo, she is doing her masters in Juris Prudence Law here at Renda. We really connected and what was meant to be one hour of just getting to know each other turned into two hours of education fun. It was a cool feeling. I am really excited.

Well, that’s it for now.

Today was the first day of the spring semester. Finally it has arrived. The Gao Yi Class is over-flowing. Three of us sat in the aisles. The Listening Comprehension class was better. We have movie style seats in MingDe Lou (the newest additions to RenDa’s hodge-podge of campus buildings). Both of the teachers I had today seem nice — just a tad bit Nazi, but nice nonetheless.

Only three classmates from my Gao San Ban were there not including myself. The guy who teaches Japanese at RenDa and has great Chinese skills, a Japanese girl (Tian Tong) who loves pudding and reminds me of a Manga character with her hyper-exaggerated movements, and OuYangRan the guy from Belgium who is super cool and funny. I was not the best in my class considering I jumped two levels last semester. I could have only jumped one and done super well, but then I would have had only a moderate challenge. I did decent - that is I did well, but not great nor super well. I did get a 93 in my Composition class which was better than most, but other than that it was all B+’s. I like to see A’s.

I am feeling the jump now though. I understand everything that the teachers say, I can participate in class, I can read the text with the vocab lists — it is just that I know the homework will be hard, composition will be much much harder, and the tests, I fear, will be much harder than I have had before. After talking to my classmates in Gao Er Ban (the class below ours), the classes are the same. Gao Er is just a bit less workload and different instruction. I would like to go to Gao Er Ban, but the classes start later and am more of a morning person only because in China - I like to have the rest of the day to handle errands, homework, language exchange meetings, and such.

OuYangRan was saying he was going to switch if he doesn’t like the teachers. I dunno what to do! If only the classes started at 8 and ended at 12…….sigh.

I read some interesting articles that some of you may or may not enjoy:

Can smelly sleeping habits improve your memory performance? Research suggests yes! Read here.

Inference and learning by oneself is better for Children. Been a big fan of this type of learning for a while, now I can feel good about it. Read here.

I miss home. A lot. Especially Erin, but she is in Hawaii — so I would be lonely anyway.

Tonight I go with Stephanie, the crew, and Steph’s visiting Ex to eat all you can eat Sushi. It is a miracle that I actually loose weight every time I am here. You would think I gain it with all the food we eat.

I looked back at some older posts the other day and found that……I have changed a good deal from the first time I came to China. I wonder, did China have any influence? Was it the friends I made? Was it being away from old friends? Was it being away from everything? Was it also loosing loved ones after going back home for a while? Definately all had a hand, but what was the most influential? Probably becoming single again and Inga & Kathi. They really helped me remember things that I always used to preach myself. humph.

Yesterday was an uneventful day of shopping at the PiFa ShiChang 批发市场 across the road from the Beijing Zoo. Today, however, was somewhat eventful.

Zhang Laoshi pushed my brother and I to go to one of the new semester outings offered to any foreign student that wanted to sign up: the Legend of Kungfu Shaolin Monk show at Red Square Theater. Thanks to Tomas going directly to Zhang Laoshi to help with some registration issues, we both are now on his “RADAR”. Being on Zhang Laoshi’s good side is one thing, being on his radar - quite another.

We had no choice but to go, but it worked out in the end for both of us because I was needing to see something cultural and Tomas’ best friend in China ended up going to.

The show was a typical Shaolin Monk demonstration presented with a plot and a couple of ballerina dancers to act out the female roles. It was no Las Vegas Cirque du Soliel mind you. It was good for China though and that means something to a girl who has been living here for longer than is comfortable. I have to say that the music was a bit over the top sometimes: lots of orchestral booming with opera voices going wild in the background to make the big scenes seem all that bigger. Yet, there were moments when they actually used Chinese instruments and Chinese singers which created some more enjoyable moments musically. Visually it was interesting. I think they did a good job.

Didn’t like the ballerinas though — seemed like some parts they were just stuck in with no real need of being there. Really awkward.

The fun parts of the day were hanging out with Zura, Shirawa, Gina, and Eugenio. Instead of waiting thirty minutes till the show started. We made ourselves out to the street through a side door and headed straight for a drink stand. Zura wanted a beer and I was feeling the beer tip surprisingly, but I am detoxing and actually trying to phase out drinking unless totally necessary till I get back to Houston. I opted for the green tea. Shirawa, who was raggin on Zura for wanting to drink beer at 1:30 in the afternoon, ended drinking up drinking a bottle himself.

While we hung out in front of the WuMei, I spotted a woman out of the corner of my eye digging in her purse with one hand while she handled a melon with the other. She fished out a bent up package of “Friendlies” charms (the official 2008 Beijing Olympics mascots). She made a b line to our little group and decided to try and push some merchandise on what she thought were give-a-fuck about souvenirs foreigners. She must have not been that quick because if you see five foreigners standing in front of a WuMei: two drinking beer at 1:30 in the day, four smoking, and one talking in shit in Chinese (me) — they must not be give-a-fuck-about-souvenir tourists……..now would they?

After shooing her away, we went back to the theater to wrestle for seats. Zura made me laugh through out the entire show much to the dismay at some old ladies who sat in front of us and later moved.

As we exited the theater before getting on the bus, Zura took one of the complimentary iron bars that the Shaolin Monks break over their heads and starts to remark on how easy it would be to break it. He insists that the monks did no super feat by breaking it and said he could break it over his head. We all dismiss his boasting and say that although the bars are very soft and relatively flimsy — he probably should avoid trying to break it over his head. We are all standing there, other people are also exiting the theater, Foreign ambassador’s wives were being picked up (they were all there for some sort of special Ambassador’s Wives day in celebration of Women’s Day) — he takes the iron bar and breaks it right across his knee. People stare, I sorta yell out a “jesus”, Shirawa looks away, and my brother lets out a a dude. The bar breaks in three pieces and Zura, wearing his adidas do-rag, seems unphased. He says, you see - I told you.

I am so glad that Zura has come back to RenDa. He makes me smile and his tales of Georgia as a youth are crazy considering how young he is. What is it with me and hanging out with all these young bucks? Am I just a young hooligan at heart or something? Let’s not think about that……

Words of Wisdom: are you ready? GO!

Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum

Too much religion is apt to encourage evil

-Lucretius

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Joshu asked his teacher Nansen, “What is the Tao, The Way?”

Nansen replied, “Your everyday mind is the Tao”

I read a super article today in the New York Times by Robin Marantz Henig. Really enjoyed it. Maybe you will too. Looks at the debate among evolutionary biologists on the why and how we believe in god and religion. Is it all just adaptation or a byproduct, an accident?

Read it all here!

Yesterday night I went with Adam and Andre to the all you can eat 49 yuan Korean BBQ joint near Jeff’s old apartment. That place is wicked.

Not only can you cook up your pulgogi and squid like a regular place, you can also pick you your own live crab to slap on the grill. I opted out of that one, but Adam thought it completely okay to freak me out with it anyway.

On the second run to the food bar for goodies, I tell Adam and Andre to get me some 冷面 Korean Cold Noodles. I love Korean Cold Noodles: sweet, cold, and tangy. That’s got me written all over it even though I am not a sweets person.  He comes back alone with a long concave plate over a flat plate. He says, “Here is your LengMien.” I look at it and think to open it, but I didn’t want to neglect my tender piece of meat which I just finished cooking. Then two minutes later Andre comes by with a bowl of LengMien. I furrow my eyebrows and ask, “I thought this was my lengmien…” pointing at the odd configuration of long plates sitting to my left. Andre smirks and replies that there are two kinds of LengMien. I accept his answer and continue to snack on some cold dishes in front of me. They both come back to their seats and Adam insists that I eat the “special” kind of LengMien.

I quickly take off the concave plate resting on the flat plate and literally jump out of my chair! I squeal which gives Adam the greatest satisfaction for bringing about this meal time mischief: Chinese people look at the crazy LaoWai (Old Foreigner, a pet name for foreigners) who has never cooked their own live crab apparently. The tiny crab reaches his legs for something to grab on but only in vain as he is resting on his back and everything above him is empty sky. His pinchers open and close as I plead with Adam not to cook the crab.

He does anyway. Little water bubbles come out of his mouth and his legs continue to move around in a futile attempt to escape his Korean BBQ sacrificial pit. Poor Crab. I continued to squeal and feel like throwing up till the bubbles stop. I never thought I was a squealer, but I guess the surprise of finding a crab brought it on and it didn’t stop for some reason or another.

We had a good meal, scare, squeals and all. We ate lamb, pulgogi, squid, eggplant, sweet potato, scallops, five colored meat, lots of other fatty types of meat, LengMien, Adam had the crab, lots of Kimichi, cold dishes, the boys had icecream with other deserts, fruit, and TangYuan.

As we ate the entirety of WanLiuZhongLu was setting off all kinds of fireworks. Since I arrived back, I have seen fireworks everyday! Night-time comes and everything is fireworks and firecrackers actually. Turns out that they lifted the ban on fireworks and firecrackers in Beijing! I was so surprised. I remember back in 2004 bringing in the 2005 New Year, Beijing was dead as all get out. Good for Beijing and good for me! I got to see and hear some of the best dining ambiance I have had in a while.

When I got home, I took care of some emails and phone calls to important people. Took a shower, hung up my washed clothes to dry, and then crashed.

Today I have to interview to see where they are going to put me, but I already know I can choose. I will be choosing GaoYi, the highest class and the only class left. I could go into GaoEr if I don’t like the GaoYi teacher. The two classes are essentially the same.

I also plan on buying some clothes and things down at the wholesale market, but I am not sure if I am going to make it. Lets hope I do! I took everything good back with me to the States in Feb. for Erin’s Wedding.

Today I woke up at 9 to the sound of rain drops outside my dorm window. I was sure that the last time I checked my google weather report for Beijing, Sunday had gone from light mist to sunny. Rolling down my desk/bunk bed wanna-be IKEA cube I find that the campus was transformed into a snowy wonderland sometime in the night. Go figure!

I had planned a day full of activities for myself. I wanted to go buy some sketch pads, anatomy books, exchange money, stationary, post-cards, phone cards. This would mean going to more than one place, but with the snow, rain, and cold but not cold enough weather, I knew the snow would turn into slush in no time. I decided to wait till the rain stopped to head out. I didn’t get going anywhere till after lunch as a result. Actually the rain stopped around ten thirty, but because I then had to wait for the hot water to come on at eleven and then eat lunch — I didn’t get going till about 12.

As I walked up the slush drowned steps of the bridge connecting the RenDa side of ZhongGuanCun with the DangDai side, I took in the smell of the wet earth mixed in with the driven snow. Accompanying it were all the usual smells of sidewalk food vendors steaming corn and frying sweet sausages, ZhongNanHai cigarettes smoked by fake ID pushers, exhaust, the strong cheap perfume hanging off a young girl in her pleather trench coat, and the smell of wet paper molding in the gutter nearby.

My ears felt as if I had on headphones, muffled over with sounds of fast talkers cawing out “发票,办证,办证.” (fapiao,banzheng,banzheng), the crackly vocal cords of an old couple discussing what to eat for dinner, and the heavy breathing of a fat little boy hopping his way around the large puddles of melted snow. Hovering above it all was the high waves of the western winds blowing by my chilly cheeks.
I was back in China all right. I shaked off the hollowing feeling of the thought. I didn’t want to be in China right then. I wanted to be in Houston, curling up with cushy comforts and building up spirit with their warmth. But I can’t because life moves on and if I linger too long on long gone’s then life becomes dwelling and dwelling isn’t living — it is just dust and I hate collecting dust.

I walked into the pretentiousness of DangDai Shopping Mall, one of the more expensive shopping malls in Beijing, headed over to the northeast side of the first floor to the Citic Bank Money Exchange desk and changed four bills. The exchange rate for RMB went down making 100 USD something like 758.36 RMB. It used to be something like 8 RMB per 1 USD in 2004. I like that the Chinese are trying to the rest of the world right by correctly appraising the Yuan, but then I also don’t like how I end up getting less for my USD.

Feeling somewhat jipped, I made way to the bus stop outside and jumped on the 105 to ZhongGuanCunYuan 中关村园. From there I went to 第三极 bookstore. I bought some anatomy books but they didn’t have any sketch pads or pencils. I guess I am going to have to ask some of my Chinese Friends to help me out if the RenDa bookstore doesn’t have anything. This is not a good thing. I try to avoid asking my Chinese friends for these type of things because then they want to go with me when I would just rather go alone. It feels rude to tell them that I would rather go alone and even if I do they just take it as me being polite and not wanting to impose. Same ol’ story every time.

I walked the way back since the buses were packed and actually enjoyed the chance to stretch my legs some. Bought a calling card on the way back through DongMen and got back to the room sometime around 3:45. I am hungry.

The rest of the night will probably be dominated by random tasks since it is too nasty outside to go to another bookstore and I do have things to do: review some Chinese, prepare for some illustration work I have to do (storyboards, character studies, ect.), wash clothes, contact James about his trip, and so forth.

I miss Houston even more because of this. Not sure why, but there is something that just keeps pulling at my pockets and gives me a tickling feeling all over — I can’t stand it. I hate missing things. I know that I will soon find something to distract me or else I will be forced to forget completely. I usually end up doing the latter, but if I go for forgetting then…….

Who needs Atmosphere when you have good friends?

After a day of running small errands including getting tweezers, running to offices, and getting earphones, Myself and the three stooges (Lydia, Tomas, and Adam) went to Bed to meet up with Chris, his sis and a shit load of Ivy Leaguers. Ryan and Wen were also there doing their lovebird thing.

Bed is a club hiding in a small hutong down the way from 鼓楼 GuLou (the Drum Tower). It is owned by three people one of them being the drummer in 万晓利 WanXiaoLi’s band. Small world eh? They also own a restaurant that serves Chinese haute cuisine and a place directly behind GuLou that has live shows ranging from rock to folk. I love that place. If you are ever in DongCheng, go to 疆进酒 JiangJinJiu behind GuLou — one of the chillest hangouts in Beijing.

Bed on the other hand is too druggy oriented. It used to be a Opium Den back in the day. It is a dark labyrinth of rooms decorated in neutral achromatic colors giving it an industrial, herion/crack house feel. Many areas have tables with chairs, but the highlight of this place are long two feet high platforms with sitting mats and low long tables. You are required to take off shoes and pay way too much for drinks. Even though I am acquaintances with one of the owners — I have to say, I don’t like that place. Oh, and the music sucks.

We get there and Chris is dying from all the pretentiousness of the Ivy Leaguers. Cats from Princeton, Yale, and Harvard were playing the pissing game with their experiences and trying to impress themselves with their oh-so deep knowledge of being an expat in Beijing only after six months. I love these people. I have been here a total of 16 months and I would never try to pretend I know it all. I know people who have been here like 12 years and they still hit bumps here and there. How could this be? Well, if one knew anything about Beijing, you would know this place is full of surprises.

Chris wants to leave, but we suggest staying. After one round of drinks, Chris wants to leave because he is too sick. I suggest going down the street to HouHai (the Back Lakes) since Lydia wasn’t drinking and wanted to dance.

Adam and I decided that walking would be way cooler than take a Taxi, but the rest of the crew isn’t feeling it. They take a taxi and Adam and I begin our journey. We don’t make it far at all.

We end up deciding to take a pit stop at a small 24-hour 小吃店 XiaoChiDian (snack shop), we order 肉炒饼 Stir-Fried Pancake with Meat and 老虎菜 Tiger Vegetable (julienned cucumber, onion & bell pepper with chopped cilantro in a vinaigrette like mixture that can be quite spicy). We also get a bottle of 雪花啤酒 Snow Flower Beer.

The place was dirty, the chairs were falling apart, the food was good, and the company was wonderful. Adam is a 19 kid from Canada, Chinese, short as all get out, heart of gold, and smart as hell. He is a good little brother to me. awww! Adam!
He starts to tell me how he appreciates and rather likes my style of hanging out. I value personal interaction and adventure and he likes that. I start telling him about my partying days and how I have slowly come to this place in my life where I could care less how “cool” a place is or how many people are there, I just like that I am there with good company, good beer or food. One thing I do require though is non-irritating music at sound levels where I can hear what the person next to me is saying. When you have good company, who needs atmosphere?
We continue the conversation and completely kill our plates.

The phone rings and it is the others. They tell us HouHai is dead and that we should go to SanLiTun. I tell them to come to the Snack Shop and enjoy some company. Confused, they do what they are requested to do anyway and arrive. In the end we stayed there till three, drank five bottles of beer (beer bottles in China are usually big bottles shared versus the typical individual bottle found elsewhere) and ate more food. We laughed the entire time and I would say that we had more fun spending all together what one person alone would have spent in SanLiTun than if we had gone somewhere else.

Just goes to show that things are what you make of them.

Brings me back to the idea that: with our minds we make our world. happiness is in your hands.

Another conversation Adam and I had before the others arrived was concerning health. Both of us are going to go on a health kick and he wants me to do wushu with him. I hate WuShu. It is all show with no practical use. I said we could Yoga together and he was totally up for it.

I also decided that I will completely stop drinking for at least two months in order to do a thorough detox.

I bought a cleansing detox system from Whole Foods before I left which I intend on starting tomorrow. I will cut down even more on meats and processed foods (hard to do in China). I will also abuse my ten boxes of detox teas daily.

Hopefully, I my cleansing will be successful and I will clean out whatever toxins I have accumulated in the last year which I know are plenty. A month in Europe, 8 months in China, and Erin’s three week Wedding Bonanza have with out a doubt done damage to my body. POOR BODY….

Today will be boring. I decided to study a bit and go to the super market. I wonder what else I can fit in my fridge with half of a Malaysian Supermarket taking up all the space.

So last night was fun.

Chris Peng is certainly one of the more entertaining individuals in my life. Like Giovanna, he has a high energy nature that brings the life to any scene. I enjoy his company and last night going out with him, my bro, Lydia, and Adam proved itself to be just want I needed to feel good about being back in Beijing. I was feeling extremely homesick even before I left!

We met up with Lydia at the Tree in SanLiTun who had gotten off of work at 7:45 somewhere nearby. We had the worst seats in the house, but that didn’t matter because we ate so well. Everyone else had drinks, but I opted for a water that never ever came. I didn’t care though, that is some hella good pizza. Just thinking about it is giving me a watery mouth.

Chris made all of us laugh and was able to break the tension for the others when my brother and I do that bicker thing that we do. As Peng put it, “They have done this forever! Its just what they do. They aren’t really fighting you know?”

We have. My brother and I actually like the fake bickering. I can’t do that with anyone else nor do I want to do it with anyone else actually. I hate pseudo-bickering with other people unless it is completely absurd! I want to stress the absurd. Yet, with Tomas it can be about real life things and it is real bickering. Sometimes we end up laughing at each other and then other times we go into real fighting and it no longer is enjoyable. That is what makes people nervous I guess — that play bickering can easily lead into feelings getting hurt or ego’s stepped on which means — fight fight fight (this must be chanted for proper effect — go ahead chant if you want)

Chris Peng was able to hold it down.

Afterwards we went to Bar Blu where I did end up getting one drink with no alcohol and everyone else had some random drinks. We cheered to Chris Peng being in Beijing and afterwards my brother, Chris, and I had a little moment of realization. We are here and we were there - we were friends in Houston going back years ago and now we are all here together going to school without any real intentions of doing so. We just sorta grew in the same direction. It was a nice little moment.

Today, this morning, I am feeling lost. Not only because I have no clue what to do today since my trip to Shanghai was canceled, but also because no one is here! Chris Peng is at BeiDa, Lydia is half asleep, Tomas is most definately asleep, Adam is most definately asleep, and everyone else is either out of town or is never coming back!

I guess I was really depending on the business trip to Shanghai to be that filler till school starts and I meet new people. This is going to be a wierd weekend.

Once the semester starts there will be the party to kick off the semester and give a chance for new students to mix in, but that is still some time away.

I can be relieved by the fact that James will be coming in some two odd weeks and that I will yet again be able to give someone a tour. I love touring people and James will be especially enjoyable because he is such a cool guy.

My roommate came home today and brought with her a small portion of Malaysia. She is kind enough to share some of that Malaysia with me and I worry I may have to postpone my detox. I guess I can start in a couple of days……..I really want to be healthy darnit.

可是我很想回去美国！

The flight back home was long, but I dunno if that is why I am so tired. I usually don’t ever get jet lagged when I go overseas. I tend to just fall into the routine with maybe, just maybe a nap in the middle of the afternoon second day into it. This time I am tired as all get out. I have a notion that it has something to do with my nocturnal activities my last days in Houston, but I don’t want to admit it. And boy was that the longest departure out of town. I missed my first plane on Saturday, re-booked for Sunday, that was canceled, re-booked (for free might I add) for Tuesday — finally get on the plane Tuesday and we sit on the plane for a whole hour before actually taxi-ing for a good while, then taking off. I just had to laugh to myself about the whole thing. I guess something was agreeing with me on staying in Houston. That something out there didn’t have to give me the worst seat on the plane though ~

I sat next to the stereo-typical Southern Chinese conservative old lady.

She was all: 你多大？你为什么还没结婚？你应该快结婚要不然你找不到丈夫吧。你父亲是做什么工作？他肯定有钱，是吗？你的飞机票多少钱买的？唉哟！那么贵，你也有那么多钱吗？(How old are you? Why aren’t you married? You better get married soon or else you won’t find a husband. What does your father do? He must have money eh? How much did you get your plane ticket for? AIYO! So expensive, you must also have lots of money?)
She did not only continue to annoy the fuck out of me the entirety of the flight, but she also did some things that were so - stereo-typical that it drove me right up the wall. Of course, I had to be her translator as I was on the aisle and her Southern accent was so thick I couldn’t understand what the hell she was saying sometimes. Southern Chinese don’t pronounce h & ng sounds - some don’t pronounce t sounds. So when she said, 果汁 - pronounced guozhi, she was saying guozi — and I was like — are you asking for guazi or something? GuoZhi means fruit juice. I didn’t get it till the second service and felt completely inadequate. She turns to me and says - ah now you get it. Your chinese is good, but needs work. Inadequacy quickly turned into a moment of failure and then looped to “I don’t really like this woman, it is not me, it is her”. Other Chinese people were having trouble understanding her and let me tell you — she was talking to everyone. Didn’t matter if they had headphones on and were enjoying the horrible movie playing, or even sleeping, or if they could understand Chinese or not. Oh yea, she was speaking Chinese with the flight attendants and then being baffled when they didn’t speak Chinese.
In addition to not stopping to think whether her accent was the reason my Chinese listening skills were not so hot, she also tried to rob the service carts. She stuck all her meals in her enormous purse which I became familiar with as it bumped into my head every time she got up. She got up a lot too and it always seemed she was getting up or coming back to her seat right as I had found a comfortable position. She was a elbow-er to boot.
I did manage to sleep though. It was my only way of escaping her endless chatter.

Somehow I managed to get to the shuttle bus with my extremely heavy bags full of good ol’ American food products and a whole shelf of Dandelion and Detox Tea. However, I forgot that the Friendship Hotel stop is off the side of the freeway with no feeder. There is only a bridge to another road where Taxi’s are located. This means I had to drag two overloaded bags up a really tall flight of stairs to get to the other side. Thank god there was a ramp on the other side of the bridge.

I arrived at RenDa, worn down.

The dorm was dead. Nothing, no one, just the Front Desk Aunties.

When I walked into my room I found two dead hamsters. I thought to myself : dam this place really is all dead.

Apparently two of my roommates five hamsters escaped their cages, couldn’t be found by the small Malaysian boy in charge of taking care of them while my roommate and I were out of Town. Too bad hefailed rescue my fish from my brother’s negligence. I found my fish in three inches of brown water, one was missing, and one of my snails was also dead. Yea -
I was planning on going out with Tomas, Adam, Lydia and such but everyone except Adam backed out. We looked at each other and decided to leave going out for another time. It is my fault though because I had to meet with the dude I used to see to settle some business. He cried and I was such a jerk. Some of the things he was saying were so terribly cliche and cute that I had to laugh. He got really upset. In the end he was chill and I was able to get him to think positively about the fact I am just not interested in him. I hope we can still be friends, but most people aren’t cool enough to just be friends sometimes. I don’t like these people usually and it is no wonder that we break up in the end.
Later on I decided to drop off a bag of Milky Way bars Shirawa had requested from the States. When I get the seventh floor, I heard some music bouncing off the paint cracked walls. Sure enough it was a regular RenDa gathering. Aside from the regular characters like Lili, Jack, Shirawa, Erik, Mario, Danny and the newer regulars like Eugenio, ZURA was there. That fool had left, come back, gone to GuangZhou, and then came back. This time for good. Dam he makes being Georgian hot.

There were also some random African dudes there: some from a different University and some that I had met before but always forget their names because they are either long or just too outside of my language boundaries.

I tried to mix up their regular play list of Bob Marley, Dance Hall, and random rap club anthems with some good music. I brought up the labtop. They were really diggin’ on this music Mark had given me. They were like - this is some straight up Angola. Oh yea.

Nashanta and Genevieve came by and some random Koreans were not shabby also appeared and disappeared as quickly as they came.

I think that some of the Dance Hall they were playing though - was off the hook. We danced and drank beer till early hours of the morning in true RenDa fashion.

In the morning, I woke up with a bit of a dry mouth but since I didn’t drink that much - I was ok to finish putting my room back together.

Unfortunately, I forgot that my labtop has the wrong time so I didn’t find out till 5 pm that it wasn’t 2:56. That means I woke up a lot later than I thought and that dinner was coming sooner than planned.

Going out with CHRIS PENG! who just got in from the Houston a couple of weeks ago, Adam thug-master, T-MO muh bro, and the lovely Lydia. We are going to SanLiTun to get something to eat, then perhaps we are going to get some drinks. I can’t stay out late though because I have to go to Shanghai tomorrow. OR at least I am going to try to because Tomas’ passport is still at the GongAnJu getting his visa re-newed. AH! I hope we get tickets if not we are going Saturday and that means we only have one day in Shanghai. I know it is only Business, but it would be nice to be there for two days so that we can do some sight-seeing. I hate Shanghai though and at least I have seen it, so ehh ~ his loss.

|| The Path of Karma ||

Said the Supreme Lord:

“O Sinless one(Arjuna), I declared two kinds of worship in the world before. One is the path of knowledge pursued by the Sankhyas and the other, the path of action meant for men of action.”
[Chapter 3 Verse 3]

“But O Arjuna, he is better who, regulating his senses by his mind, unattached, begins karma yoga with his organs of action.”
[Chapter 3 Verse 7]

“Therefore do your prescribed work, for doing some work is better than doing no work at all. Without work it is not possible to even maintain the physical body.”
[Chapter 3 Verse 8]

“Works in this world can cause bondage unless done with a sense of sacrifice. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your actions for the sake of sacrifice only, free from attachment.”
[Chapter 3 Verse 9]

“In the beginning, at the time of creation, Brahma created people along with sacrifice and declared that by performing sacrifices they would become more prosperous and also that sacrifice would be their wish fulfilling Kamadhenu”
[Chapter 3 Verse 10]

The Renda Foriegn Student Building stands tall like a forgotten pagoda temple, reflecting the sun off its white enamel bricks like the gilded gables of the buddhas’ refuge, the heat waves rising from its edifice curling in the air like the incense offerings left by ardent devotees. Everyone is gone, gone home for the summer - some to return, others will leave Renda forever.

I am reminded of when I first arrived here with a group only to part with them and wander the Renda campus alone for a month. Seeing my old professor from the States at the Summer Palace with the 2006 group really brought back some memories. How romantic it all was back then :: new discoveries everywhere, new smells, new friends.

I think that for the most part, I am somewhat saddened by the fact that I no longer have those romanticized experiences. I liked experiencing China from rose colored glasses: but there is no going back. Perhaps in a couple of months I will hit a new level of ability in which I will be able to experience China in another way: new discovery based on knowledge rather than that of naivete.

I am bound to make a whole new batch of friends in the fall. Because these people, at least a handful of them, will have also been in Beijing for a year or so, then unlike Kathi, Inga, Markus, and I’s arduous efforts to acclimate to Beijing life, specifically Renda life, my new friends and I will hopefully discover new things too.

The search for an apartment is still on as my brother refuses to live with a roommate unless it be in another room. We saw a gorgeous on the west side of Renda - european in style, fully furnished with modern furniture, high security, swimming center not just pool, lavish landscaping for under 500 dollars a month. It is a bit of a walk and for less money we could get a bigger one albeit not as fancy and with more modest furnishings.

Inga leaves on Thursday along with Biljana and Sooin. I wonder how I am going to find an apartment when I am trying to spend time with her before she leaves. Little brother will have to help me stay on track if he wants to move out before thursday.

Ciao Inga! Ciao Renda Dormitory! poo

Some words of Wisdom from Janine Pommy Vega:

She said this during an interview with a zen radio station I listen to now and then.
not exact words:

This eye for an eye is not working out, everyone is going to go blind.

My all time favorite roommate, Giovanna from Italy, has returned to Beijing albeit for a short time. She has to be one of the coolest people I have had the chance to meet in my life. Yes, she is that unique. She is bubbly, dynamic, generous, intelligent, determined, and quirky. There is something in her erratic busy body way of living that captures my imagination. Sometimes if I think of what it would be like to have as many things going on in my life as she has, I imagine myself just throwing it all up in the air. Gio, however, can handle it all with a near zen like ease - though, 9 times out of 10, she serves it up with a side of Italian curse words and explosive hand movements. She runs down the rapid river of life without ever capsizing: clear intention in the random chaos of events.

I wonder if I could keep up and it is exactly this wondering that makes me, in my own life, work harder and more diligently to make every moment of my day more meaningful. Wasting time, shooting the shit, chit chatting with no purpose, getting wrapped up in the dramas of the ego — perhaps she is no different from I, I know we are all essentially the same. But I can’t stop but think she knows something or has something, some small but important key to life hidden in her Italian hand mannerisms and pink & purple socks.

Today we are going to what we call the Ghetto Mart, a small market in the bottom floor of a ice skating rink across the street from the National Library of China. I can’t remember who called it that, maybe it was Inga and I. Sounds like something I would say and she would use, but moving on. Then this evening Tomas, Lotte (a new friend from Holland, and Ed (an American friend) are going to go out to dinner. At first it was just going to be Ed, Tomas, and I because Ed is leaving tomorrow, but Lotte is new and I think she would enjoy, after her first week in China and only eating in our cafeteria, going out and eating something with substance.

Happy 4th to all my American Readers! Especially Mom and Dad - hope you eat some hotdogs for us.

My brother, Sarah, and I did best thing we could get since GOOD hot dogs and hamburgers are not easy to get around these parts - We went to the Subway behind DangDai for a little slice of America slathered up with condiments like Mayo and mustard and served with coke. Subway, known to the Chinese as Sai Bai Wei, is actually rather popular. We had trouble finding a place to sit and had it not been for Sarah’s gym bag, we would have not had a place to sit. The line was nearly out the door.

Sai Bai Wei essentially means “Surpasses a hundred flavors”. I love how Foriegn brands can really get creative when coming up with their phonetic Chinese equivalent. For instance, KeKou-Kele is the phonetic conversion of Coca-Cola meaning, given here in crude terms of course and coming from my former non-English speaking Chinese teacher, fitting your mouth for happiness. Ke is commonly put in front of other adjectives thus enhancing their meaning. For example, kegui combines ke which means (may, can, about, yet, however) and gui (expensive, honorable, ect.) to produce precious, valuable. If my memory is correct, my teacher explained that ke in ancient times was like he from heshi which means suitable, fitting. To say kekou is similar to saying hekou which is commonly used by someone when they want to say that something fits their taste(buds). Then Kele comes from that same ke as above and the le of huanle which is happiness, basically meaning happiness. My teacher said that the message sent to consumers is: drink this and your mouth will be happy. Lucky for Coca-Cola eh?

Apparently they hold contests sometimes for the best chinese phonetic equivalent of  foriegn brand names. I wonder what the prize money is like? What if it is a life-time supply of whatever they sell?

Anywho -

Although I am unable to celebrate the 4th with a BBQ, I did sing the Star Spangled Banner all morning long in the shower, in the hallway, and in the lobby. I did so annoyingly, well, and loudly. At times I toned it down, it is final time here, but I did it nonetheless. I love to scare the Korean and Laotion girls with my singing. The other day I sang Chappelle’s ” I want to pee on you” parody of one of R. Kelly’s songs. Although, I think they actually listen to R. Kelly and thought I was singing the actual song seeing as their English is not good.

At the moment I am planning a trip for my brother, Shannon and I to the South of China. We only have a week and half considering my brother’s request to plan a week and a half itinerary exclusively for Beijing so that Shannon can really get the most out of Beijing. I know that a week and a half in the south is not enough, for me at least. So, I am planning to go back to the south or even part with my brother there and continue on for about two weeks if I can afterwards. That is, I could drop my brother and Shannon off at the airport in some place like Kunming or Dali, see them off to Beijing, then go somewhere else. Maybe Macau? What about going to Tibet? mmm -

I am considering it greatly although I am terribly afraid of traveling alone. Although I am old enough, Chinese people think I am much younger than I actually am. I have been asked if I am 19 before? Feeling flattered and happy that I appear so young to Chinese people, there is also the thought that they may think I am easy to take advantage of. This is something I want to avoid. So, what to do?

I talked to Sarah today about it and I asked her if she wanted to do some traveling with me. She said she would love to, but it wouldn’t be until the Oct. holidays. I am so lonely! Why doesn’t anyone want to go traveling with me? I will do some more research, specifically on whether or not it is safe for me to be traveling alone in the south. Hopefully Bootsnall.com will have some resources to help me out. I do know that Kathi, when she was 19 or so, traveled through China a bit on her own after parting with a traveling buddy - not being able to speak Chinese, young, skinny, blonde and pale as snow, and if I can emphasize - alone.

Does anyone out there, preferably a girl, who likes mountain hiking, spicy food, and temples? I speak Chinese! eh - back to research.

My brother confides in me yesterday over a plate of Gong Pao Ji Ding (kung pao chicken), Stir-fried cabbage, and tomatos n eggs over rice - that he is tired of the roommate situation. Why? He feels he has no privacy and would like some. At first I thought it might be because of the A/C dilema: his roommate does not turn it on and it is right over his bed, unplugged. My bro feels uncomfortable asking him to turn it on, but then he also feels uncomfortable not asking him because it has hot as all get out lately. If it were not for the cooling evening showers and windy conditions, I think we would be worse off.

This apparently is not the reason. He just feels like he needs more privacy.

For just a little bit more than we are paying now for seperate rooms, we can have an apartment on campus (all utilities paid). The flats are one room, one bathroom, kitchen, usually furnished, and with a washing machine for clothes. The room is just about as big as the living room area and most people living in these apartments just take either one or the other. If need be, people partion off the living area with enough for a small dining area on the way to the kitchen. We argued a bit about who would get the room and decided on splitting usage of the room: that is, he gets it for six months and then I get it for six months. This came at after great tension as to whom would get the room. Initially, I wanted the room because I know his sleepiing habits or the lack of them. I didnt want to be disturbed by his walking about at night. BUT then I realized the best way is just to split the usage.

Anywho- Today I go running with Inga. She is actually waiting for me downstairs at the moment and I have to get going. Will write more tomorrow.

It has been a long time –

I would have written what has been going on in my life for the past few weeks, but I my computer was killed by the Chinese Hacker 2. I only know because the hacker was kind enough to let me know his title name with a simple pop up window when I was checking my mail. How considerate. The name reminds me of how most Chinese restaraunts back home have similar names and the only thing distinguishing them from the next is a number. How many Lucky Gardens does Houston have? About 4 or 7, not sure. They are numbered though.

Too much has passed inbetween the time I became computerless and now. It shouldnt matter though: nothing worth writing about.

Actually, yes - my brother and I started cooking food and everyone has started some sort of health kick. Including my brother! I woke up at 11 today because yesterday I went to Ladies Night at a bar called The World of Suzy Wong’s Touch. Two hours of just ladies drinking, no men except for paid male dancers, complimentary roses, and Lychee Martinis — mmmm. So, I wake up at 11 to a phone call from Didi when he informed me that he just got back from a jog around campus - jiayou!

I stopped drinking beer. I will leave my beer drinking to Germany and other parts of Europe where the beer is worth it. Not to mention - cold. The Chinese have no concept of  cold beer.

Um - what else……

not much. My nose has begun its daily bleeding routine. ooo - not fun. It started bleeding the other day at Brown’s.

Today I am going to go running with Inga, Nashanta, and possibly my brother. We will see if he is ready for a second run.

Oh - and I have found the wonders of Chinese dubbed Korean movies. I am able to study Chinese and break the monotony of self-study at the same time. Yahoo.

It is hot as all get out and everyone is sweating - oh well. At least it gives us a chance to sweat out the pollution we soak up.