What's there to do around here?

I've had classes for almost two weeks. My Tuesdays and Thursdays are free, and I haven't yet found a job, but I have some exciting prospects. Still, these days I'm finding my life more boring with a lot of time to think. Last week the weather was quite cold, so I decided to make a scarf, which I finished on Monday. Today I made a necklace, having finally acquired some daisy beads.


Today I studied at a coffee shop for about 3 hours. I came home and decided to use some of the beads I bought with my aunt just before I moved. It was my first attempt with a three-stranded necklace, but my crimp beads weren't big enough to allow six wires, so it's two strands.

The birds are well. I wish I had it on video, but I couldn't get it fast enough. Roscoe went down to the bottom of the cage and started chewing the paper. Then he started rolling up the top sheet. He jumped off the paper, onto the next sheet, and allowed the top paper to unroll on top of him, covering him completely. Kavi and I looked at each other, but Roscoe was happy, whistling from under the paper, and popping his head up every once in a while, causing the paper to pop up with him. I finally lifted the paper up and let him out.

-MsLin

Two Birdies

Well, I moved to SD on Saturday and started classes yesterday. Classes seem good, but undergrad classes have a lot of work in them. I got Kavi back, along with his friend Roscoe. Both are sweet, but Roscoe is kind of a stinker. His mischief is cute, though. I let them out whenever I'm home. They have clipped wings, but Roscoe flies with no problem, I guess he just figures he has to try a little harder, but it works. They mimic each other and like to be in the same room at least. When Roscoe flew into my bedroom and didn't know where he was, he screamed and Kavi screamed back, although that was the only time I've heard Kavi scream these days. Kavi might have an infection, and he's been quiet but affectionate lately.

Kavi (left) and Roscoe

This morning I let them stay on the counter in the bathroom while I was getting ready. Roscoe checked out the sink, but then they both sat on the counter, and Kavi preened Roscoe. I thought I would check out the video feature on blogger and let you see how cute they are. If the video doesn't work, I'm including a still.



Roscoe wants Kavi to preen him all the time, but Roscoe doesn't like to be petted by people. Kavi will take a pet from anyone. It's what one might call the "chain of preening."

I don't have internet or TV at my apartment. I'm at the library now with plans to buy my books after this. I've already met a few people on campus through the International Student Group. One of the international students is a returning student like me, so we have some of the same classes.

-MsLin

I'm never...

There are many times when I say, "I'm never..." but the trend seems to be that I always end up doing the thing I thought I would never do. Like going to China to teach English, and eating a river snail, and being a vegetarian. Add to the list: Owning a car that isn't a Chevy. Two weeks ago, my dad and I decided to look for a car for me because SD is 5 hours away, which is just long enough that anyone who would come pick me up would have to stay overnight before driving home. SD is also, I hear, crazy cold in the winter, so a car will be better for errands and emergency runs to Sioux City when I can't bear it any longer.

We did some research on consumer reports and Edmund's. I had driven a few cars, but we found a 2005 Elantra with low mileage, which seemed kind of perfect. The 2005 Elantra is the used car "best bet," and it's considered to be pretty reliable. Besides...look how pretty!


Perhaps you remember when I wantonly threw out my favorite shoes in China. It was really sad, but I got some new shoes, which are better, if only because the soles aren't falling off. Actually, I think these shoes are a bit more awesomer because they have different colors of brown and stylish stitching on the toe area.


New car, new shoes, new school...and coming soon: two birdies!

-吴碧芙

Stepping Out

My old roommate and I were busting up Iowa City this weekend. Things have changed, but things are also the same. There is a feeling to IC, which can't be described. It seemed that almost everything was the same, including some of the people we saw, people who have been walking the streets probably every day since we were in school. Shock highlights included the empty store front where Baldy's used to be, flood damage, and many new buildings.

We, of course, had dinner at Masala, and spent the rest of the night at, of course, Dublin Underground. The evening included us, ex's, ex-band members, and a few surprises. When we got hungry, we skipped out to Marco's Grilled Cheese cart and George's Gyros cart. We took over the jukebox, and played the less-known alternative and indie songs. In the morning we had breakfast at, of course, the Java House, where they make a Tahitian Coffee that can't be beat. We walked around checking out downtown, and we eventually went to the Co-op to get those few hard-to-find items (Coconut oil was on sale).


After the Co-op, I met my friend and her four-year-old for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Then, I went to the best HyVee ever, where I used to work. They had gerbs, buy one get one free, and I couldn't resist.

I miss IC...It was good as escapism, at least for two days...Now I'll be going back to Starbucks coffee and beer to drown my sorrows.

-MsLin

TAC (Thursday After Class)

Looking through my China photos, I found the pictures from our last group barbecue. We used to go every Thursday after class, around 9pm, to have barbecue at the university's East Gate, where there was also a smoothie stand and the small restaurants that we frequented. Everyone would meet for beer and things barbecued on sticks, ordered with the instruction yidian la ("a little spicy"). This stand appeared in the evening and was completely open to the air. The blades of the fans were missing, and instead metal wires with plastic bags attached to the ends spun on the fan apparatus to keep the flies away from the food. The grill was next to the stand, also open to the air, with an exhaust fan to the side of it, in order to draw the smoke away from the customers.


I liked that there were enough vegetarian food choices in the stands, including tofu skin that was wonderful with the spice mixture on it.


My food (above) from top to bottom (kind of): tofu skin, sprouted garlic shoots (green), mantou (bread rolls), cilantro wrapped in tofu skin, green peppers (underneath).

The owner always remembered who ordered what, and how much they owed, so we could pay at the end of the evening if we wanted. We sat at metal folding tables and plastic patio chairs under a tarp, and wait for the food we chose to be delivered to the table.

Last Thursday I was traveling. This Thursday I will miss the weekly barbecue and all of my friends from China.

-吴佩芙

The Leaning Tower of Lianzhou

The two cousins accompanied me to Lianzhou and we stayed with their older sister. The evening of the first day we ate snacks by the river. This was where I tried a snail, which is a local specialty. I ate one, and it was ok, but sucking on the snail and biting off the head to eat seemed more disturbing than the idea of eating snail in the first place, so I didn't try it again, but at least I tried it once.

The second famous attraction in Lianzhou is the leaning tower. It seems to have been built with some kind of Buddhism in mind, but the exact reason is not completely clear. It leans slightly because of a problem with the foundation years after it was built.

At the top levels the stairways and passages get shorter and narrower, but high on the top-most level there is one of the best views of the city.


After returning from Lianzhou to Guangzhou, I stayed for two nights with Cousin James, who has an apartment there. We had dinner with his girlfriend on both nights and we spent Monday looking around the city, where I bought an English book for the trip back to the US, and we had the best foot massage ever for 40 RMB.

I took the early bus today, back to Shantou where I had to start again with bartering for a cab after just stepping off the bus. Now I'm at my apartment and getting ready for the inspection and check-out procedure tomorrow before flying home on Thursday!!

-吴佩芙

A Time for Spelunking

I just returned from a visit with the cousins to Lianzhou, which is a small city in Guangdong Province. I went from Shantou to Guangzhou first. Despite the "theifs and racketeers" my student warned me about, I found Guangzhou to be a nice city, although a little large. I waited for the first cousin at the mall, and then we met the other cousin at the bus station, where we hopped the 5-hour fast bus to Lianzhou.

Every city has it's own claims to fame, and Lianzhou has the Subterranean River. It is a huge cave with amazing rock formations, so far down into the ground that the cousins joked that if you went much further, you could go to America.


Just looking down from the entrance, as we waited for a guide, was pretty amazing. It's called the "Big Mouth Cave," because the cousins explained the opening of the cave looks like a big mouth. Their four-year-old niece was a little frightened by the size of it. It's true, though, that it looked like the mouth of Monstro (the whale who swallowed Pinocchio).


The bottom left formation is called a "lotus flower," and the pieces really look like the petals of a flower. We walked up and down staircases for 40 min. and the tour ended with a 20 min. boat ride on the small cave river.

-吴佩芙