Week Two

I just finished with my English class for today. I do pretty well in understanding what is being asked, but I am still struggling with replying. This weekend's trip to the frabric market helped my competancy at buying things. I am getting much better at recognizing the numbers, which is helpful when someone wants you to pay for something and you aren't really sure which bill to get out. (Earlier last week sometime, I had an experience with a shop owner whom I needed to pay for three Cokes. I thought that he was saying that it would be 4 kuai but he was really saying 6. This little 10 year old girl translated for me, "It is 6 kuai." and then to her friends and under her breath, "Americans" in an exasperated tone.)

By the way, I learned that kaui is the correct spelling for what you say when you talk about the basic unit of money, but when you are writing it, you write juan. And there are two words for "two"- er and liang; I have not managed to figure out the rules of when to use which. i think that there are these random things just to be confusing, because Chinese isn't confussing enough on it's own.

This weekend was relaxing and we got to spend time with American friends. Last night we went over to hang out with Sonya and Travis. They ordered Pizza Hut and let us call home on their phone that has a US number. (Vonage has done wonders in international calling. You can get a number in your home area code and then you get unlimited in calling. So I called home and gave momma the number. She called back and it was like calling a number in Mississippi for her, free for the Todds.) They also have satellite TV and so we saw the news for the first time since leaving Atlanta. I had no clue about the AL girl who went missing in Aruba or about Michael Jackson's sudden mysterious sickness. Maybe I should start checking news websites when I come to check email. Thank you Lila for introducing me to the Todds while they were in town. They have been extremely generous and kind to us.

Our other big task for the weekend was doing laundry. It wasn't a big task becasue we have so many clothes, but rather, because everything was written in Chinese and I can only assume that the temperatures are in celcius. I am not the best at doing laundry when I understand the buttons I am pushing; now I am taking the clothes out and smelling them to see if they smell like they had a run in with the detergent. And I don't know what we are going wrong, but it is taking like 3 hours to dry one load. (But that could be a humiduty issue. Did I mention that when I get into bed, my sheets feel damp because it is so humid?)

I also got the tread mill working. If my conversions are correct, I ran 3.8 miles yesterday. (Rebecca, I know that I was suppose to do 5, but I was sweating more than I have ever sweated in my life. I am thinking that if I can just maintain at about 4 miles a few times a week, then I can get back on schedule when I come home. Do I need clearance from my trainer to make this decision?)

And for a little LaGrange update: Momma told me last night that LaGrange is going to get a Country's Barbecue. Scheduled to open Labor Day. I know that for many of you, this means little. But for me, it is just one more thing to draw me back home. (Momma, the link worked but the access code and password didn't. I am glad you told me over the phone.)

Finally, this weekend was my 10 year high school reunion. I was not so sad to miss it, but it did make me think about how much has changed in 10 years. If you had asked me then where I would be in 10 years, I probably would have said that I would be doing my pediatric residency. I would be married and probably expecting my first child (or children- I'd like twins). There is no way that I would have guessed that I would be spending a month in China, and certainly I would have argued with you if you had told me that I would be a teacher. Funny how things change.
I actually was asked where I saw myslef in ten years as one of the final Top Ten questions in the Miss & Mr Troup High School Contest. We got a list of possible questions before the evening and momma must have been working because I remember daddy going over the list with me and helping me come up with good answers. This is cheesy and I think that daddy came up with it, but my answer to the 10 years down the road question was that I didn't know what I would be doing, but I wanted to be "happy, healthy, and helping others." (Could I have been anymore of a dork? I might as well have thrown in that I wanted to be instrumental in bringing about world peace.)

Today, Rachel already had plans for lunch and so she went over to the other campus. This means that when I wrap things up here, I will be ordering my first meal on my own. It could prove to be interesting.

I will probably then head over to the other campus and see if I can meet with a few girls. However, I am not feeling all that well today- sore throat, headache, and runny nose- and so I might go home.