Well who woulda known there would be two sets of McDonald's, each right next to a UBC Coffee, within 2 blocks of each other? The answer to that question is, "Not I." And that is why I was lost and in a state of near panic for a good 20 minutes today. And that is why I was also forced to use a public telephone that I most certainly contracted something from. Let me point out that it was just "near panic" and not real "panic." My anxiety about getting lost, never to be found again, in the Shizz is getting much better.

It was a rather rainy day today. In the US, at least where I usually roam, that means that things get a bit of a cleaning and afterwards the city looks noticeably more fresh. However, here "rainy day" just means that the dirt and excrement that coat the streets gets rearranged a little. This usually ends with my having filthy feet. But then again, nearly every day does. My paranoia about the dormitory assistants being evil and surly was confirmed on Thursday. Jenny tried to ask them about setting up a date for someone to come work on my internet, and somehow ended up in a screaming match with them. Jenny is one of the nicest people I've met here, and puts up with my stupid questions, so that's just how malicious these ladies are. I shall now call them the Three Furies (even though there may be 4 of them).

Speaking of paranoia, I had a sneaking feeling that there was something dodgy about the taxi drivers here. Each taxi has a small certificate with the driver's name, ID #, and a photo. After taking a few taxis I began to think that a lot of the drivers looked awfully familiar, even though I've never been in the same taxi twice. I wondered if perhaps that racist ideology of "They all look the same" was at work in my small mind. Then I figured maybe the taxi company only had about five taxi drivers photos which they randomly put on taxi certificates. Then I circled back to thinking I was just plain ridiculous and of course the company would never do something like that and all of the photo ID's are unique and beautiful and matched with their driver. However, when I stumbled into a cab this morning, glanced at the familiar Chinese man's photo on the ID, and then saw a long-haired woman driving, I knew that my suspicions had been correct all along. Brilliant!

English Corner. Holy crap. Thursday night from 7-9 I was literally encased by a solid circle of 20-40 Chinese students. Here are a few of the questions I was asked, repeatedly: 1. Do you speak Chinese? 2. Do you want to learn Chinese? 3. Why are you in China? 4. Do you have a boyfriend? 5. Would you marry a Chinese man? 6. Do you want to see a movie with me? 7. Can you teach me to be a better English speaker? 8. Do you like Chinese music? 9. Do you like Chinese food? 10. Will you be going to the 2008 Beijing Olympics? 10. Is your hair color natural? and my favorite... 11. How many children do you have? I like to assume that the last question was merely a misphrasing of "How many children do you want to have?" because I was asked that after staring in astonishment when being asked the prior. However, it could just be because I have a tummy. Jesus. The answer to most of these questions was no. My favorite comments of the night were: 1. I like your hair. 2. You are the most beautiful foreigner I have ever seen... and, 3. I think you should exercise.

And in case you were wondering what I did on Saturday morning, I climbed a phucking mountain. To the top. Using uneven stone stairs. My calves now feel as though they've been bludgeoned repeatedly with stone mallets. So, I guess the students were right, maybe I should exercise. Anywho the mountain was lovely and enshrouded with a slight mist, although, it could have been smog...
I have a new name for the daylight here. It's "smoglight." And, yes, I am in process of copyrighting "smoglight," so back off.
On my cab ride home, the driver made fun of my Chinese pronounciation of "shenme?" meaning "what?" I was in a good enough mood, thanks to a piece of toast and a milkshake, that I was able to laugh with him, rather than glower at him.

If you care, I should be throwing up more pictures within the next couple of weeks, just as soon as I can get the university to install a copy of Windows XP that isn't in Chinese. I also had the most delicious eggplant in the world on Saturday. In some parts of the world, this food is known as "Aubergine." Then again, in some parts of the world they eat their young. I'll stick with "eggplant."