home sweet China

This will just be a short post. Erin and I are in China, but our internet won't be connected for a few more days. Here is a list of things I've done so far:

1) Been in a police station five times. This was for residency permits. I am going back again on Monday.

2) Taught thirty five-year-olds about the four seasons. I did this today for my job. I drew a really bad picture of stick-figures being carried into the air by their kites for my "Spring" visual aids. The kids loved them. They also like icecream.

3) Learned to live as a mute. I have a small notebook that I ask people from my job, and Erin's brother Sam to write things in for me, like, directions to specific places so that I can show them to taxi drivers. This is working well so far. It is my only means of communication.

4) Eaten the best xioxia (sp?) in the world. These are dumplings. I had "mutton and cillantro" duplings. If I had my way I would eat these for every meal, for the rest of my life.

5) Saw a three or four year old little boy peeing in a field next to a bunch of well-dressed people walking around. I was in a taxi. He waved at me.

6) Looked at three apartments. This was a long process. We rented one and I love our neighborhood. I will take pictures.

There are a million other things I should write. I'll have to write them here later. I miss everyone in the states, but this place is very, very good for me I think. I've written two prose poems already. I've been sticking to my PhD reading-list schedule and I'll post it here soon. Elliott asked me about this before we left. Also, if Joe happens to be reading this, I haven't been able to access the internet since we arrived (we're in an internet cafe right now), but I'll soon be e-mailing you my introduction and lists that Mike looked over. That's a really strange thing to be communicating in a blog. I think I've forgotten how to internet in the last few weeks. We'll see.

Also!!

I registered for the 3-Day novel writing contest again. Anybody else feel like taking part? If so, e-mail me, and we can be "friends" on their message board.