26 June 2007

First off, a quick technological note: due to Chinese internet regulations, I can't actually view my own blog, or read my comments--I'm "blogging blind," as Wen Jun says. So if there's an awful problem with the layout, or if you wrote me a haiku comment (highly recommended) that I haven't yet mentioned, that's why. I'm working on getting around that, but it might not happen.

Since Saturday, many exciting things have happened:

1. I ate Beijing's famous roast duck (even the 鸭头)
2. I went to Hou Hai
3. I got a letter in the mail (which brought me great happiness!)
4. I had my first food-induced stomachache, probably as a result of either the sketchy but delicious Cantonese restaurant where I ate lunch, the odd-tasting green-bean popsicle I ate in the afternoon, the day-old sticky rice balls that I ate cold for breakfast, or some combination of the above. I've since cut back on "exotic" cuisine.
5. I took part of the HSK--the Chinese TOEFL
6. I witnessed a fantastic thunder and lightning storm that seemed like it was right outside my 6th-story window
7. I got a haircut

... all in Chinese. Each of these is a story in its own right, but I have to save some things for when I get back! Ergo, my next blog post will most likely be about the Opera this weekend, though I do have a few text-book inspired thoughts about Chinese culture that may surface between now and then. 在见!