泰国

As I write I am enjoying the shade the large trees of Guangxi Arts College are giving me. My search for a wireless signal has brought me here, along with the serenity of the campus. It’s about thirteen degrees outside in the afternoons. I am allowed by the government to be here thirty more days, my extension application went seamlessly, and I’m hoping my second attempt will be so as well, granting me enough time to sort out college entrance paperwork.
People are going nuts all over China. Spring festival is fast approaching, school’s out, work’s nearly out, and the children can hardly contain their excitement. Every sidewalk is flooded, riding certain buses is fun because you don’t have to hang on to the provided handles, go limp and let the surrounding bodies support you.
I bike downtown everyday, it’s about a twenty-minute ride. There are just so many people, I’ve come so close to so many accidents, it’s only a matter of time. Thankfully everybody drives slow, so when the time comes my injuries will be non-existent or minor, I’m more worried about my bike.
I’ve started filming for Wreck 7, all hammers.
I’ve also started cooking Chinese food. Yesterday I tried my hand at eggplant, and today I cooked a bunch of vegetables that I don’t know the English names of, mixed in with some noodles and sauces. Chinese food is surprisingly simple to make, but not surprisingly also delicious!
I’m in the process of trying to get to Xiamen, I have to wait for my visa to be fully processed before I can take a plane, and taking a train is out of the question. There I will be teaching a class of ten adolescents for about four days. I’ve offered to do it for free (because I’ve never taught?) but was told that nobody would sign up, so instead I’m getting three thousand kuai. Pretty sweet! Anyone have any good lesson ideas hah?
Yesterday I had class with the same teacher who taught me my very first Chinese lesson. I’m starting to really pay attention to characters instead of focusing exclusively on the colloquial aspect. It is coming along nicely.
We have also just recently been given the green light to build a ramp on the first floor of James’ house. The landlord has even agreed to pour new cement over the old stuff (which is rubbish) which gives us a lot more ramp options. Initially we were thinking we would have to build the whole skeleton, but now we can just build two quarter pipes (The Edge half-bowl style) and have a spine or other mobile obstacles to fool around with. We are only allowed to build in a certain half of the main floor as the other belongs to some other tenants. They are potentially moving out in six months, so we are really hoping to eventually rent out the entire three stories so we can do what we want with the whole building.
When JP comes back from Thailand (which is I don’t know when) I will steal his camera and post pictures of all the things I’ve been talking about.