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Came home Friday night to find a small cake sitting on top of the TV and no one is sight. A few minutes later, Hyun Zhong and Janus appeared with three candles and a lighter for a small goodbye party. The cake said "happy birthday" in Chinese on it (I took a picture) and featured a cute cartoon mouse, for me, because I'm American and appear to have an affinity for things Disney. (You've seen my watch?) We each blew out a candle and dug in.
The taste? Made in China.
A new restaurant opened on "the strip" last week. I watched it grow from a mass of [the Internet folks have discovered movies on the Internet and this room is very, very crowded tonight as everyone gathers around and watches--noisy. I may have to shout for you to hear me.] rubble to a small restaurant (with an indoor kitchen, yes) in less than three weeks. What we can't figure out is how a brand new restaurant can already have torn, soiled menus...?
You can buy imported toilet paper in China. I recommend doing so.
My tai ji teacher has misremembered my name. She's been calling me something like Huang De Feng--"yellow" instead of "gold." Maybe she's decided I'm not so golden after all.
A friend recommended the local photo processing establishment for good, cheap processing, so I tried one roll there. As luck would have it, it was the first roll I put in the camera--the one I used to try out a few shots on Mark and the cats before I left for China. Consequently, I now have new pictures of the old homestead. The pictures came out good. Thanks, Dad, for the camera. It's just perfect.
And this despite the fact that the photo processing store just three days ago gutted itself down to the beams and, during construction, moved all work space out onto the sidewalk and into two makeshift kiosks--one for drop-off and one for pick-up.
In the lobby of our dorm is a row of clocks with city names below, indicating he time in foreign cities. I'm pleased to say that in class last week we learned the Chinese names for several major cities, so now I know the approximate time in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and, most importantly, New York. I say approximate because none of the clocks show the minute hands in the same place. And, of course, there's no changes made for Daylight Savings Time. At any rate, this makes my time math a little easier.
The Chinese say that the number 8 is lucky. My phone number has two 8s in it and my room is #408 (yes, 4 is an unlucky number, but let's put that aside). And I have been lucky. It rained the day Robert lent me his bicycle and he felt bad for me so he lent it to me again this weekend while he's in Xi'an. It grew cold a few days before our trip to the Great Wall and I thought that would ruin our trip, but we went to a very steep part of the wall and the cold air was a true stroke of good luck. And, after three weeks of a lovely roommate, I have my own oversized single--luxury, privacy, and comfort.
Tomorrow--Tuesday--at 1 pm: the Oscar party.
See you.
Debra
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