And out runs my time at the net bar!

Sorry to all who rely on our website for daily edutainment! We've been so busy lately that we don't have time to go to the net bar every day and update - which is just as well, because between paying tuition, all six months of rent - plus a deposit and some utilities - up front, buying books, changing our visas (very expensive for Americans), and furnishing our apartment, we don't need another thing to spend our time or money on. But we will do our best to post as often as possible, since we miss everybody at home and want to keep in touch with all of you!

Things have been going really well. Obviously, we've been keeping busy. It seems like our list of things to do never gets shorter - welcome to the real world, I guess? But, in reality, we're slowly getting settled. As Tom already posted, we rented an apartment, and aside from a few quibbles (unreliable water, seventh floor, a minor cockroach problem - currently being taken care of I might add, and a very loud and busy train track right behind the building), it's a really nice place.

We're getting furnishings settled, finally. Still no real beds, but we can't really afford them anyway - and we're happy with our set up. I'm sleeping on a perfectly me-sized futon, and Tom got some foam squares that Korean missionaries left with Jinpeng and has assembled them to make a bed. Don't pity him; they're actually quite comfortable.

Yesterday, we went with our friend Kyla to buy bedding. As we got on the bus, the bus driver accused us of shorting him a kuai, and Tom had to give him another coin just to end the fight that was quickly brewing. Several stops later, we arrived at the biggest warehouse I have ever seen. When we walked in, there were tiny stalls to our right and left selling curtains, tailored clothing, fabric, bedding, and bric-a-brac for farther than I could see. Just as my mind began to wrap around the enormity of the place, we turned a corner and it went on in THAT direction for as far as I could see! Then, we discovered we had to go to the third floor to find what we were looking for! It was absolutely crazy!

Kyla told us that she's a really good bargainer, and she wasn't kidding. We had excellent luck! I bought a huge, warm, wonderful, 100% goose down comforter for the low, low price of... US$15! Off to the next stall to buy a cover. We picked out some fabric (I had to compromise with Kyla because, to save money, we were each getting one made out of the same fabric) and as we watched, the lady sewed two comforters and two pillowcases at top speed. After some more hunting, we bargained for two pillows and a comforter for Tom, and, our arms full of bags, got on the bus to go home.

To our great surprise, we got on the same bus as the one we rode a few hours earlier - same driver and everything! It was sort of embarrassing.

On a different note, one thing we've been really missing, especially now that we have our own kitchen, is Western food. Although we can get every fruit, vegetable, and grain under the sun, there are many essential ingredients we can't get our hands on, like most spices and, surprisingly, legumes (though maybe we just haven't found those yet). We've found olive oil but we haven't bought any, since a small bottle costs about US$10 - and don't forget how much my down comforter cost! However, so far we have made successful batches of salsa, sweet potato fries, and a full diner breakfast of fried eggs, hash browns, and coffee.

Anyway, off to study! (Classes are going well, by the way.) How are things at home?