墨西哥

Bound to our leather couch by a caked on layer of dirty salty dry sweat is the large of my back. Nearby nappers are preventing me from getting up for the same reason I never adjusted my velcro shoes during library time. Our apartment's clothing optional rule coupled with a nearby fan and Tsingtao in hand are still not sufficiently suppressing the heat. Dawn and dusk have shifted from sleep to play time. I'm sorry to readers in Winnipeg; you may not have the sun, but you have something much wickeder that I don't, yourselves! I miss YOU.

Anyway, here's the difference between Chinese and Canadian mosquitos. Chinese mosquitos are more cunning, and slightly smaller. Their reaction time is much faster, they are quieter, and their bites stay itchy for up to three days. Come to think of it, the difference in mosquitos doesn't differ much from the difference in humans!

Privateers

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One day every tongue will confess;
The legs of those unable to kneel will be broken,
Noble Beasts
Noble Beasts!
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One lovely Miss said it nicely, and not out of pride I believe. Not being a complete rookie anymore is awesome.
;;;虽然我还有很多地方需要学习，但是我觉得那个山越来越小;;;
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Andrew Bird, Radiolab, Bob Dylan, ChinesePod, Animal Collective, Dad.
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Get your noodles.
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I've now finished reading all of the books I brought from home, I desperately wish I had more.
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I never bring back souvenirs, or send postcards or old-fashioned hand-written letters, or take pictures. This makes me an inconsiderate traveler.
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Things That I Miss

My Family
Manshun boiiz
Pizza Hotline
Winter biking (only a little bit)
Avocados
Dance parties
My friends' humour
Friends
Lucky (Tsingtao's not bad though)
Bike Racks!!

Little Miss Sunshine

While I was studying under the shady tree at GuangXi's Arts University today some strange things happened. First, I noticed a young lady four meters in front of where I was studying watching the nearby basketball courts where some students were playing. She didn't look at me, or at least I thought, and shortly thereafter left the way she came. Nothing strange yet, but about five minutes later, I was still studying just as I had been, she placed next to me a creamy pastry and said in Chinese "Here, I give this to you". When she said this she didn't look at me, or stop walking, and she seemed very upset. I asked "...how come?", but she didn't turn around, just kept walking as if we'd had an argument.
After about half a minute of trying to figure out what just happened, I disregarded the event entirely, too confused and in depth with my Chinese book to care.
About ten minutes later she came back and we had a conversation in Chinese. She spoke very angrily to me and was nearly crying.

Strange Lady - "You haven't eaten the pastry yet"
James - "Uhh...I'm just....I'm just in the middle of studying, I'll eat it later"
SL - "Do you want it or not?"
J - "Umm, sure? I want it, I'm just going to eat it later, are you OK??"
SL - "Are you sure you want it?"
J - "Yeah yeah, I want it, are you sure you are OK?"
SL - "If you don't want it give it back to me..."

At this point I didn't know what to say because I was too bewildered (she also said one or two things I didn't fully understand), so I just kind of sat there for a second smiling, not knowing what I had done, or was going to do. Then she said...

SL - "Give me a rock"
J - "I'm sorry, what did you say (because I didn't understand the first time)"
SL - "Give me a rock"
J - "Umm, OK"

I was scared that she was going to throw the rock at my face, but I knew she couldn't really inflict a lot of damage with a small rock. She was also too upset for me to say no to her, so I felt the soil behind me for one. I picked one up to give to her, but when I squeezed it to make sure it was a rock it crumbled because it was only a chunk of soil. At this she got impatient.

SL - "Whatever! Doesn't matter! Just give me any rock!"

So I found another clump of soil and gave it to her. She turned and threw it against the ground, and then walked away.


Figure that one out?

Let's Get Digital

Hey Cats; I think I finally have regular internet access now. I would love to make skype with lots of you. I'm usually on around 10am-1pm Canada time. Or e-mail me and we can set up a time to commune. Yeahhhhhh.

Oops...I Did It Again!

I went to karaoke for my Chinese friend named Alex's birthday. The teens go wild for karaoke here. While I was taking a break from tearing the mic apart I went to the bathroom where there were a bunch of teenage boys primping and applying cologne. It was like youth group all over again. The English song selection is pretty minimal unless you are down for doing Britney. The 'jians love Britney, and Backstreet Boys, it's mental.

Oops I did this again.

Riding fix in China is significantly more hectic than it is in Canada, so I've decided to use some brakes. The bike looks retarded because the people I ordered it from didn't have black tires or a normal chain (????) so it's yellow, for now. Bike thievery is almost more of an epidemic here than it is in Canada so I must be very ginger with where I park. There are soo many bikes, and approximately zero bike racks. People just park on the street and slap a lock around one of the wheels so you can't ride it away, you can very easily pick-up it away though. Hmm. It's a trip! China is still blowing my mind. Come and hang out with me here.

321...O

-I got my visa extendified even though I was a day late (sketchy), which is often grounds for mega surcharges. Thanks Pops!
-Today it rained, and within the time it took for one green light to cycle to the next at an intersection, I saw two cyclists fully garage sale themselves, and one motorcyclist follow suit. After a brief moral consultation I decided laughing was appropriate. Watch out kids!
-I found out only now after being alive twenty one years that my blood type is "O". Wow!

Happy 牛 Year

"Happy 牛 Year" can be seen on signs all around China right now, and unless you have a primitive knowledge of both English and Chinese it's not clever. The character "牛" is pronounced similarly to the English 'new' as you could have guessed, making the above sound like 'Happy New Year'. That's not really clever, what's clever is that the Chinese assign a different animal for every lunar year with a cycle of twelve, and this year is the year of the cow. The character 牛 also happens to mean 'cow'. So there you have it, Gooooo China!

Dates

Update only blog:
-Back in Nanning, it's been 30 degrees everyday since I've been back
-New ladyfriend
-My visa expires in two days, I'm going to the office to sort it out this afternoon
-I have to start my college application paperwork as soon as possible
-In preparation for the aforementioned I needed to get a health check, turns out I have an irregular heartbeat and was told to get an ECG, but have decided to wait until I come home to do that becuase it's free and not a pressing matter
-Very soon I'll have many pictures and time to be on Skype
-I'm still having the time of my life
-I need to decide if I want to study at UofW next year faster than I would like
-Miss Home(ys)

Achterhuis

Since I've come to China I've read some books. This isn't a book review blog as I feel I'm in no position to give an intelligent opinion about literary works, but I will give an opinion. The first book I read was Chuck Palahniuk's 'Survivor'. Ironically I started and likely finished this book on an airplane. This fictional autobiography is taken from the black box of an imminently doomed airplane. It is written in a way that all of Chuck P's books are; brilliantly. The protagonist belonged to a radically exclusive religous group who's members grow up brainwashed and eventually suicidal. Really interesting despite all of the blasphemous parallels with my own beliefs.
Speaking of, the second book I read was C.S. Lewis' 'Mere'. C.S. Lewis also has a really engaging prose. He writes philosophically, but also metaphorically, which keeps things thought provoking and interesting. I believe his approach to the popular belief is very honest; nothing is sugar-coated or stuffed down your throat. Two elements which turn so many people off of religious readings (including myself).
Lastly, I snooped through Anne Frank's Diary. I had these preconceived notions that it was a tale of dangers, toil, Nazi chases and explosions. Instead it's rather slow going, with the story itself lacking content. However, if read from a historical or child development standpoint very fascinating! In my opinion the best part was the abrupt ending (not because it was boring) and the 1940's vocabulary.