Back in Black

Technically, he's still white, though I have a few new stickers on 'im. >_<

Yes!

Finally!  After over a month, my beloved lappy Kaito (née Katsumoto.  i couldn't very well keep his old name when he is running with a new brain) is alive and fully restored to his original state.  Using my handy backup disk, I was able to restore all my old files.  I've got all my music, movies, documents, and photos (with the exception of the ones I took in Chengdu) back.  

It seems the problem Kaito had was that the OS was mysteriously erased from his hard disk.  How that happened I have no idea, but the fact remains that it did.  His old hard disk had nothing wrong with it, so technically I didn't need to buy a new one, but to be honest I'd been thinking about it for a long time.  Now I've got a 250 gig drive (the previous drive was 80 gigs and bulging at the seams) that hopefully will last me for a good long time.  

Once I got home, I tried to install the OS from various Mac OS X Leopard disks, but it just wouldn't work.  Because I'd bought Kaito before Leopard came out, I thought maybe I'd first have to use the install DVD that came with him and then try upgrading to Leopard.  This didn't work while I tried to use my parents' computer's DVD.  Last year a few friends and I went in on a family pack Leopard upgrade to save some money, so I tracked down that disk with the hopes that it had an install left on it (the limit is five).  I worried that it had been used on five computers already and wouldn't let me install it.  Fortunately for me, either the disk remembers what computers it's upgraded already or there was an install left on it, because it worked.  

I'd say that's a good Christmas present.

Kaito is back.  In black.

Last Days in Zhong Guo

My class is adors (but missing Stephanie).

Ken. My favorite.

Eugh; looks like it's been nearly twelve days since I last posted. That's a long time. But then, it's not exactly as though I've had much to talk about.

Except that I came home early! Ha ha. I suppose most of you knew that by now, but for those of you who didn't, uh, yeah. I came home on Saturday the 13th. We finished up our teaching on the 12th, so there really wasn't much for me to stick around another six days for, so six of my friends and I made arrangements to come home early. It wasn't expensive at all to do it, and so worth it.

When I called my mom to ask her what she thought of the plan, she said she'd love to have me back early but didn't want to tell anyone in case it fell through. Then, after we found out it was for sure, we decided to keep it a secret and surprise everyone back home. Not even Dad knew about it. We were slick. Kudos to Mom for holding it in, even when she was so tempted to spill the beans. *does the stolen Jayson Victory Dance*

By the time the seven of us (Natalie, Kelcy, Lundi, Sara, Breanne, and London) had all the details set, there were barely four days to pack and I was still going to Shenzhen the day before I left. It would be a tight squeeze.

It was. Literally. I came to China with a 50-pound suitcase of teaching supplies, another 50-pounder of personal effects, a 20-pound beast of a carry-on, and another carry-on that probably neared 9 or 10 pounds. The teaching supplies were left and exchanged for 65 pounds (32 kilos) of gifts and souvenirs. Yuck. To say the least, the process of hauling said luggage from Zhongshan to the check in counter at the Hong Kong airport was a challenge. But one well worth it!

Let me give you a brief run-down of my last two days in Zhong Guo (China).

Friday:

• Woke up at 9, prepared for parents day at school.
• Went to my students' Chinese classroom and watched them perform for their parents. Two other ILP teachers and I had taught the kids a few Christmas songs and put together a little program, so that little skit was done as well. It was adorable. I cried.
• Said goodbye to my students. Shareena, Mary (from my old class), Catherine, and Ken were the most torn up about it. Mary asked me to come live at her house. Ken, my favorite, was the last I said goodbye to. I got down on my knees and gave him a hug. He didn't let me go for a long time. We both cried. I walked back to my apartment after that, sobbing like a baby.
• Got on the bus with Travis, another ILP teacher, twenty minutes later to the bus station.
• Took the 12:50 bus to Shenzhen. Cried some more on the bus.
• Arrived in Shenzhen just before 3 pm. Shopped. A lot.
• Had a quick dinner; the first food I'd eaten all day.
• Caught the 8:00-ish bus back to Zhongshan. Cried a little more.
• Landed in Walking Street at 10:00.
• Took the city bus a few minutes later back to my apartment.
• Packed for a few more hours.
• Went to bed around 4 am.

Saturday:

• Got up a little before 6 am.
• Showered.
• Hauled my own weight in luggage down four flights of stairs.
• The seven of us said goodbye to our friends that woke up to see us off at 7.
• Taxi arrived on time. Good man. He managed to fit all our luggage (everyone had as much as me) in one clunky van.
• Made it to the ferry (Natalie and I did our stolen victory dance) and we (excluding London, Kelcy, and Lundi) boarded at 8:00.
• Arrived in Hong Kong just after 9:00. Victory dance.
• Took two separate taxis to the airport. That's about a fifteen-minute drive; no sweat.
• Made it to the airport with hours to spare before our flight. Victory dance.
• Checked in our luggage. I paid 32 American dollars for my 32-kilo bag. The limit is 23.
• Security. Fast line. Victory dance.
• Met the other girls, who boarded a later ferry, about an hour after that.
• Passed a few hours at the boarding gate.
• Boarded the plane. Took off at 1:35 pm.
• Landed in Taipei 90 minutes later. Victory dance.
• Waited an hour for connecting flight to LAX.
• Boarded. I had an empty seat next to me. Victory dance.
• Spent 11 hours on the plane, which was luxurious compared to the two 24-hour trains (in the span of a week) I took to get to Xishuangbanna. I laid down on the seat next to me. Got nearly five hours of sleep.
  
• Landed in LA around noon (Cali time). Victory dance. Photo taken as the plane descends to California.
  


• Customs. Natalie gets hassled by a mean customs official, but mostly it goes well. We're done in less than an hour.
  
• Bought a caesar salad, which was the most delicious thing I'd eaten in four months.
• Slept/listened to Nobutada the iPod/talked to Mom on the phone/freshened up until our flight at 4:20 pm.
• Bad weather in Salt lake delayed our plane.
  
• We took off at 5:50.
  
• The short flight reduces us to nervous wrecks. We all have minor panic attacks and nausea.
• Landed in Salt Lake just after 8:30.
• Booked it off the plane. Forgot the victory dance.

Mom came to pick me up, and she was the first person I saw when I came around the corner. I didn't expect to cry as hard as I did. We hugged a lot.

The drive home was short because I talked my head off the whole way. I ducked when we pulled up the driveway, just in case anyone saw the car coming in. Mom went in ahead of me and gathered everyone into the family room, telling them she had to talk to them about something. Nathaniel later said he thought they were all in trouble.

Mom surreptitiously grabbed the video camera, and following me into the living room, taped their reaction. I walked in and said "Hi guys." It didn't sink in at first. Nathaniel was the first to speak - a whopping "oh my..." Then I grabbed them all and we hugged for a long time. Dad just stood there with a confused grin on his face, saying "I can't believe it" and Morgan cried so hard and loud that one would have thought she was passing a kidney stone. They were quite surprised.

There's my not-so-brief rundown of my last days in China and the journey home. Other than our short delay out of LA, everything happened like clockwork. It was a relatively stress-free 28 hours or so.

The first thing I ate at home was a tuna melt on bagel with a couple of pickles, a glass of milk, and a slice of pumpkin pie. Delish.

It's good to be back.

More of Shenzhen and a Few Reminiscences

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Shenzhen to get a few last-minute Christmas gifts (I say last-minute because I'm leaving in 7 days!!) and to pick up the clothes I had made at the tailor's shop. I am really excited to see how my stuff turned out. Hopefully there aren't any major problems, because I won't be able to go back again.

With only a week left, I realize how lucky I am to have been here. I've seen and done (and eaten >_<) things I'd never even dreamed of before. It has been one of the most interesting, challenging, and exciting experiences of my life. If I could turn back time, I certainly wouldn't trade it for the world. I might not have come with the same volunteer program, but I'd definitely have chosen to come to China. I love this country. The people here are so friendly and willing to help.

Well, enough of that sappy stuff. I have to go, as it is getting really late and Bre wants to go to sleep (I'm on her lappy). I'll see you all very soon!

Shopping Extravaganza!

Last Friday, my friend Natalie and I went on a day trip to the nearby city of Shenzhen to do a bit of last-minute shopping. We left our apartments on the noon bus, and then caught a bus to Shenzhen at 1:30. It's a two-hour trip to Shenzhen, in which I worked a few more rows on my sock (which is coming along swimmingly, I might add) and caught a few winks.

The first thing we wanted to do when we got to the shopping center in Shenzhen was stop at the tailor's. She had come to Shenzhen a week before with her mom and sister to have some things made and needed to pick them up. I wanted to get some clothes made, so I had brought photos of what I wanted. The tailor I went to has made clothes for my friend Amy and they've all turned out so nice. I had two dresses and two skirts for myself made as well as a formal dress for Morgan, my mei mei (little sister). They should be done in a few days, and then I'll go back to pick them up.

I had some other things in mind that I wanted to buy, so Nat and I set off to find them. Boy did we get some deals! I'd show pictures, but obviously, that's bust. Just know that we had an awesome time and we got some really great stuff. My family is going to have an excellent haul this Christmas.

ARGH! I hate not having Katsumoto alive!

EPIC FAIL

!%@#$

I'M SO BLEEPING FRUSTRATED RIGHT NOW.

I replaced Katsumoto's original drive with the new one, and I'm having the same issues as before. When I boot him up, I hear the blingy-ding startup sound, and then it goes to a white screen with the same flashing question-mark-over-a-folder icon. Apparently it's not the hard drive that has gone to the dogs. I think I just might lose my mind.

Still trying to figure out what this white screen of death means. Will update when more information is available.

*descends intO mADne2S*

FINALLY

I got my new hard drive in the mail yesterday. The happy dance I did when I saw the package was quite spectacular, I must say. I was unable to install it yet, though, because I'm lacking a certain teeny screwdriver to take off the old drive's metal casing. Last night I paid a visit to the school computer teacher to see if he had the right one, but he didn't. He told me where I could go to find it, and I'm headed there in an hour. Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted. With luck, my next blog post will be from the new lappy. *crosses fingers*

I Have...

Friday was such a fun day! Bond paid for us teachers to take a bus to Guangzhou and go to the opening ceremonies to a week-long Guangdong province tourism convention. The show was a ton of fun and Jackie Chan even sang! I was thrilled to see him in real life. I'll post more about this with photos when I get Katsumoto (soon to be Kaito) up and running. According to the company from which I purchased his new drive, the package cleared customs nearly a week ago and should be here any day now.

For now, I'll just post something that doesn't require pictures.

Have you ever done anything on this list? The ones I have done will be in orange.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity ('course, that was in high school when more than I could afford was twenty bucks. actually, that's still more than I can afford. huh.)
7. Been to Disneyland (wo ai Disneyland!)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (karaoke ^_^)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (does the art of sock knitting count?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (been to it, was unable to go to top)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (heh - "slept")
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (again, back in high school before I came to China. twice. >_<)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (though I might have by the end of the day. long story.)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (after the wreck, right, Mom?)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (not a pleasant memory. having a nervous breakdown underwater in full scuba gear is unsettling.)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China (YES!!)
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class (VERY YES!!!)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (not allowed, as we lived in Holland when I was a wee 'un)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check (technically it was an online payment via my checking account)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square ("Yatta!")
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (working on that. Chronicles 2, chapter 5)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (best turkey I ever ate)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Ray Park = Toad from the X-Men movies and Darth Maul)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (heh - first time was on my rear)

Kung Fu Photos!

Photo time!

Tara was kind enough to let me load some of my pictures on her computer so I could post them here. Thanks, hon!

Kung fu was a blast tonight. We spent the beginning half of class going over our form, and then we filmed it. Then we all took pictures together and goofed around. It's times like these when I most wish I could speak Chinese. Laoshi and Kyle don't speak any English, which is a bit of a hassle, but does come in handy sometimes when we're gushing over them like teenage girls. ^_^

From left to right: Tara, Jessie, Laoshi Steve, Paulina, Cherstan, me

Kyle and I

Isn't he cute? Mmm.

Kung fu pose!

Laoshi and Kyle show off their sweet side kicks. They're not as solid as Mr. Tatton's kicks, but still pretty nice.

Knitting, Kung Fu, and More

Living without Katsumoto, I have discovered, really stinks. I've had to use the school computers for emailing, and when I want to talk to my family I have to borrow my friends' lappies. It's been a big hassle. You never realize how much you love something until you have to give it up.

Let's see. Much of this past week has been occupied with more knitting. Since I finished my scarf, I haven't been doing a lot of knitting, especially because I could not find needles or yarn anywhere here. I've seen ladies knitting here a lot, but I just didn't know where they were getting their stuff. Last week I found this great little shop that has tons of yarn and needles for cheap. Yarn in the States is really expensive, so I'm going to stock up before I leave.

I've been working on a pair of socks the past few days. It's my first attempt at making socks, and so far it has been going well. Of course, I've only been doing the easy part. I have just gotten to the part with the heel where it starts getting tricky. I will be able to figure it out ok, I think.

Tonight for kung fu we're going to be doing the form we learned and Laoshi (teacher) is videotaping the class. Should be a lot of fun! I've been going to the school-offered kung fu classes every week. It's not the same as taekwondo with my friends back home, but it's still martial arts. It's really cool, because the school kung fu teacher teaches this class once a week for the ILP teachers and we can go for free.

Actually, in addition to kung fu, Laoshi does Olympic taekwondo. I'm not bragging or anything, but I have always been the best in our class, which is perfectly natural considering my martial arts background. When Laoshi found out that I also do taekwondo and am a red belt, he was really excited. One night, after he had shown us a new move in our form, he had me come up to the front of the class to be part of a demonstration. The move was something like an outside block that you do with your foot behind your opponent's leg so they fall backwards. Laoshi's assistant, Kyle, stood behind me, and Laoshi did the move. As expected, I fell right over. Instead of Kyle catching me, though, he lost his balance as well and we both went toppling into a hedge. It was embarrassing.

Then, to further the embarrassment, the next week in class Laoshi made me spar him. Yep. I had to fight this teeny Chinese guy who's been doing taekwondo since he was a kid (I asked him). The worst part (other than everyone watching me make a fool of myself) was that since he does Olympic taekwondo, my technique and style is drastically different from his. The whole time he was trying me to do the kicks like he was, which goes completely against my training. It was awful!

Other than those humiliating incidents, kung fu has been great. Even though Laoshi thinks my taekwondo is rotten, I'm still best in the class and Kyle the assistant laoshi has a crush on me. :) Tonight I'm going to take my camera and get some photos of everyone. I'll post 'em when I get the chance.

Computer Woes

RATS!

My hard drive failed last night.

I was watching a movie while uploading photos online for my blog (I was going to post about my weekend in Chengdu with my aunt and uncle), when my computer suddenly started acting all slow-ish and stuff. I tried to quit the other applications, but it just froze up. Restarting it obviously was not the thing to do, for when my beloved Katsumoto booted up, all that was to be seen on the screen was a flashing '?' symbol.

Great.

It isn't as bad as it could be, because I have an external hard drive and I'd backed up my lappy the day before I'd left for Chengdu, but I did lose the photos I took there. *sigh* Oh well. I ordered a new hard drive online, and hopefully it will get here in the next two or three weeks. The irony in the situation is that I've been looking into upgrading my hard drive for about two months, as my old 80-giger was dangerously close to being full, and I had to keep deleting things to keep it all going. The one I've got coming is 250 gigs, and I got it for a pretty good deal.

Man, this bites. You have my apologies, as this blog will be significantly less exciting for the next few weeks. Text-only posts... mmm.

See?! See?!

My leg totally looks like plastic in this picture.  Sick.

I told you it was bad.  Gah - and right before I go on vacation.  Totally not fair.  For those of you who can appreciate this reference, I feel like a koloss  - my skin all stretched and stuff.  I'm probably going to have stretch marks on my shin now.  Just what I always wanted!

Because My Students are Just Too Cute

These are some Halloween worksheets that my students did last week.  I just loved the drawings!

Simone (pronounced Simona)

Nicole (this is arguably my favorite)

Catherine

Michelle

Stephanie

Ken, my only boy

Shareena

Aren't they cute?  

Ouch

I mentioned in my Halloween post that I'd fallen while getting out of some exercise equipment and bruised my shin pretty badly.  Ta daaa!  My humongous bruise.  These pictures don't do it justice at all.  Unfortunately for me, my bruises tend to stay nice and normal flesh-colored, so they're never very obvious.

The whole thing has swelled to the size of my hand and is very tender to the touch.  It's painful to walk very far or quickly.  So much for my promise to run five days a week, Mom.  My only consolation is that it looks worse as time passes, so hopefully it will be downright horrifying in a few days.  After all, what's the point in having a minor injury if you can't show it off?

You can kind of see the swelling in this photo.  It really is bad - my shin is now convex rather than concave.

It's lame, but this is probably the worst injury I've had in several years.  I am lucky in that I've never broken a bone or needed stitches.  Heck, I don't think I've ever properly sprained anything, either.  Hopefully that luck continues for the rest of my stay here.

Halloween in China

Halloweeeeeeen...

Mmm.  This has got to be one of my favorite holidays.  Actually, if it wasn't for Christmas being so darn full of family, friends, and fun, Halloween would be my fave.  Unfortunately, this year I couldn't dress up as my customary Jedi because I left that costume at home.  I was forced to be creative (alas!) and think of a new idea. *sigh*  As much as I love making costumes for Halloween, I also love being a Jedi an awful lot.  But I did have a ton of fun doing something different for a change.  Prompted by my recent obsession with the musical CATS, I decided to be one of those furry felines.  It would be a fairly simple costume to assemble, and as resources and funds are limited, this was a good choice.  Can anyone say alliteration?  Furry, felines, fairly, funds... haha.  I'm a nerd. 

Moving on...

To start off, I put my hair in sponge rollers last night to get the needed volume for my big 'do.  Rollers out: just call me Shirley.

Since Halloween is a holiday most worthy of going all out, I dyed my contacts yellow (a la food coloring) to be more cat-like.  I did my own makeup. *takes a bow*  Pretty hot, eh?

From left to right: Tawny as a vampire, Heather as a witch, Paige as the Grudge girl, Cherstan as a vampire as well, and moi.  The Bond Language Institute hosted a big Halloween party for the students and their parents.  We helped out with games and a group of us even performed the Thriller dance for the guests.  As I am the one who taught the dance to the teachers, they made me be the lead dancer. >_<  I didn't mind, though.  It was fun.

Heather's contacts, which we also dyed, turned out fabulous.  We gelled, ratted, and baby-powdered her hair to make it look that gross.  

Witchy Heather and me on the bus.  Halloween isn't a big holiday here, so the group of us were stared at even more than usual on the way to the school.  I totally took advantage of it and hammed up the part, meowing and walking cat-like everywhere.  Allow me to point out my collar, which I made out of felt, brads, and eraser tops cut off and covered in gold foil.

Ok, so there are a lot of pictures of me, but really, I looked awesome!  Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year, and I love going all out.  

We decided that I was Heather's black cat.

Group photo!  This is most of the girls that teach at my school and live in my hall (and a few who don't).  I love you, guys!   

Dressed up as Indians, Sara and Breanne were definitely some of the more tame partygoers, as far as costume goes.

Why a vampire would be snacking on another of her kind is beyond me... and Tawny just looks stoned or something. ^_^

80's exercise instructor Shelby.  Unfortunately, her neon pink leggings are not visible in this picture. 

Paige's contacts were quite frightening, as was the rest of her makeup.  She originally wanted to be a banshee, but when we realized how much she looked like the Grudge chick with the makeup on, we decided that's what she would be. 

Tara (Cleopatra) and her mom pose for a picture.  Laurie, Tara's mom, is visiting for a few days.  She arrived in Zhongshan from Hong Kong just a few hours before our party and Tara picked her up from the port.

Jessie poses as Batgirl.  Her costume was so creative and cute.

Amy's goal for Halloween was to dress up as a dragonfruit.  I think she nailed it.  Notice the actual fruit on top of her head...

The Geek Squad pose for a creepy photo.

Brighton came to the party without dressing up (who does that at a Halloween party?), so we painted her face like a mime's as a last-minute solution to her lameness problem.

All in all, this year's Halloween was a blast.  The day ended on a bit of a downer, though.  As per my nightly routine, I went to the school track to run a few miles followed, up with a few minutes on the rowing machine.  When I got out of the machine, I slammed my shin against the bar, which hurt.  A lot.  I limped very painfully up the four flights of stairs back to my apartment to discover that I now sport a bruise/goose egg the size of a football. *reaches for the ibuprofen* So much for running every night.  Looks like it's going to be long pants and knee socks for a few weeks.

Apartmenty Goodness

I figure this post is long overdue.  After all, I've been living in this country for three months now.  I know at least my mother has asked about my living conditions.

Without further ado, I commence the virtual apartment tour!

This is what you see when you first enter my apartment, which I share with my roommates Nikelle (on the right) and Paulina (left).  Our apartment is surprisingly nice when compared to the Chinese standard.  Heck, it's nice compared to some dorms I've seen in the States.

A view of our front door, dresser, and desks.  The tv is kind of pointless - none of us care to watch CCTV, the broadcast station that dominates every channel in China, and as we don't have a dvd player... there you go.  Our head teachers have a dvd player, and we borrow it from time to time, but on the whole, the tv goes unused and unplugged.

Just to the left of the front door in the above photo is the bathroom.  Isn't it cute?  Heh.  We have a shower curtain that hangs from a bar across the middle of the bathroom.  In order to keep from splashing all over the toilet, we affix the bottom of the curtain to the toilet paper holder with a hair clip.  Makes for an interesting, but functional, setup.

Here's Paulina and her corner of the room.  She's awfully quiet, but very nice and easy to live with.

Nikelle is pretty frickin' awesome. We get along great.

Aaaaaand... here's mine.  Yeah, I like having stuff on my wall.  It just makes the room so much more lively, you know?  I brought with me to China a few things from home to put on the walls - my Rush calendar, a Heroes poster and a couple of drawings from Morgan and my friend Gloria.  

There's my rock-hard bed.  The mattress is nothing more than a box spring, which was a little uncomfortable at first, but I've gotten used to it.  It actually makes sleeping on my stomach much easier on my back. *shrugs*

I bought this painting in Yangshuo.  Augh, it's so beautiful in real life.  It's really vibrant and... dynamic.  Yes.  Dynamic is a good word for it.  Just below that I have my Rush Tribute Gallery - past months of my calendar that I've ripped out.  Those smaller pictures are photos that I've taken here in China.

From the left: various cards given to me by friends and family since I've been here (thanks, everyone), my beloved calendar, photos of vacations and my students, the sketch from Gloria, a Mormonad from the New Era, a drawing of Thomas and I from the man himself, my Heroes poster (Are you on the list?), and the drawing of Zuko from Morgiefied.  Sanks, Modan!  Oh, and my little pink and blue light-up lantern.  Below are various photos of family, friends, and pets.  Huh.  I just considered the possibility that you aren't actually interested in my wall decorations.  Too bad for you; I'm blogging about them anyway.

There's our balcony, on which resides the washing machine.  On the right is our kitchen.

Balcony shot.  Umm... that's my laundry.  I probably should have taken a picture of the balcony when it wasn't strung with all my underwear, but whatevs.

The kitchen.  It really is as cramped as it looks.  There's a stone-age toaster to the right of the mini fridge and a broken dryer for dishes on the left of the sink.

I bought these flowers to brighten up our room.  Aren't they pretty?  They cost me all of 14 RMB, which is 2 dollars.  They smell divine.

So there's my apartment.  It's small, but that makes it really easy to keep clean.  I quite like it!