Wow. Mid-October. It's quickly becoming autumn here, but no changing of colors. My students "ooh" and "aah" over pictures of fall leaves from home. I do miss them. This weekend, though, I went with other department teachers to a pretty valley called Puzhagou and got to do some good hikes on trails, play with little girls who speak pretty good English, eat lamb and wild chicken roasted on a spit over a fire, get to know (well, figuratively, because of the language gap) some of my colleagues, and try to sleep through the din of an all-night mah jong marathon right outside my door.
Students and fellow teachers (Americans Eunice and Hugh and also fellow Chinese teachers) are becoming my friends. I'm learning to live my life here, buying eggs at the corner, using smelly squat toilets, shopping at the supermarket, adapting American foods to what's available here, learning Chinese, adjusting to things been announced at the last minute, trying to graciously accept everyone's sometimes suffocating concern for my well-being and trying to prevent me from doing "dangerous" things (like going to the supermarket on the bus by myself in broad daylight) or "being lonely" (like watching a movie by myself in my apartment in the evening), drying my clothes on bamboo rods on my balcony, and changing my outfits every two or three days instead of every day (this I particularly like--less hassle).
I had a pretty wonderful conversation with Josh the other day. He calls me weekly, with a phone card that costs less than 5 cents per minute. We talked about life and future and how cool it would be to take six months off of life and just see the world--go to Russia and Greece and India and some African countries together. It'll definitely be nice to see him when he comes for about 10 days after Christmas. I like being in love with him.
I miss you, friends--Houghton people going through another semester, Tommy getting ready to do his art show, my brother starting a new major and doing various musical things, Lara and the IHOPers with your wittiness, college friends with your humor and memories.
I've been reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and Telling Secrets by Frederick Buechner. They're both good, the first in a spare sort of way and the second in a non-chronological, beautifully written sort of way. I love Buechner, especially his memoirs.
Well. Read my China blog if you want more. I will whet your appetite:
Firsts of the past six weeks:
1) Eaten cow foot, pig intestine, pig ear, and the guts of something. (Ew.) Eaten red bean ice cream, steamed buns, and sweet & salty dried fruit peel. (Okay.) Eaten sweet glutinous rice ball soup, dry-fried green beans, water spinach, stir-fried cabbage, lotus root, Sichuan barbeque, fish-flavored eggplant, chrysanthemum tea, Chinese breads, and scads of other things. (Wonderful.)
2) Ridden a horse on a foot-wide path up about a 45 or 50 degree incline with a several thousand-foot drop right beside me.
3) Learned to use chopsticks (called "kuaizi") well.
4) Took buses by myself in China.
5) Bought eggs, fruit, and veggies on the street.
6) Taught six classes full of 30-55 Chinese college students.
7) Worshiped in a church that speaks another language.
8) Learned how to read about 150 VERY EASY Chinese characters.
9) Learned how to speak and understand short sentences.
10) Gone seven weeks without being really homesick.
11) Had a dry hair wash, scalp massage, and a good straightening job.
12) Eaten red bean ice cream (okay but not that good).
13) Gone on a eight-day-long vacation for less than U.S. $125.
14) Made a friend who spoke less than 10 words of English and hung out with her for two days at a national park.
15) Stayed in the guesthouse of a Tibetan Buddhist monk/lama and a family. Ate dinner with them.
16) Signed autographs unknowingly for very excited middle-schoolers. | 
