Random notes...

So it’s been awhile but I’ve gotten back to updating the old blog. Today’s installment will cover some of the following:

1. My socks have found religion
1.5 My computer learned Chinese
2. Getting Lost and close to the end.
3. Other things that are not long enough to warrent their own post

My computer knows more Chinese than I do…

Thanks to some help on Dan’s part, I have been able to type in Chinese. This definitely helps with my lists of vocabulary that I have learned. Now I don’t have to write them all out by hand. I have also added Russian, but it’s much harder to type in Russian because the keys do not correspond with Roman letters at all.

My socks have found religion…

I knew that it was about time and today I bought new socks. This has never happened before in my travels and I think it’s that the washing has been especially hard. If you haven’t guessed, several pairs of my socks have holes in them. Lame joke I know…get over it. ;)

Getting lost…

So the major item that has dominated the last week is the first season of Lost. Now I know Becky and Keith (aunt and uncle) watch it, so we can sit down and you can fill me in on what has happened thus far in the season. I can’t believe how addictive watching the whole season is. The fact that the whole thing cost a fraction of what it costs in the states, well let’s just say that when I look at a wall covered with West Wing, Seinfeld, The original Adventures of Lois and Clark, and many other series it’s becoming harder to walk away.

Shove off…

The boys are getting ready to go back to ND and it’s sad to see them go. I feel the same as I did this summer when I was the last of the group to leave Shanghai. We’ve been all over and explored the city together and separately. I am lucky that I have such good people that I can share this experience with. But now I will have to start some more stories to let them know how much they missed by leaving early. Hope that Dan and Justin have a good Christmas with family and friends.

Moving at the speed of construction...

Every time I leave campus, it seems like the landscape has changed. Since I arrived here in September, they have laid new pipes all over campus and are nearly complete with that phase. An entire city block has been leveled and by next September a new library will be in its place. Outside the gate to campus opens onto the new elevated ring road. It is getting increasingly harder to motivate and get out of campus because the construction has caused an enormously confusing situation. There is a lot of dust and in an effort to lessen the amount, a truck comes and sprays water. Great idea, but now the roadway is constantly muddy. This is not the best news for a mud magnet like myself. From what I have been told this project will be completed in the next year or so. I have never seen construction move so fast in my life. It’s not common to walk down the street one day and the next day say “Wasn’t there 2 buildings there yesterday?” I’ve said that on numerous occasions.