All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by frost.

Oi! I was really productive today, even though I've been dog-sick since Sunday!

Look, this is me being productive. (Or just stupid with the camera, go figure.)

No, in all seriousness, I'm really quite proud of my ability to go off on my own around here and get things done. I'll admit, part of my culture-shock has been the fear of exploring on my own. Want to stay in the comfort zone, ya know. I mean, it's not like I lock myself in my apartment all the time. I go out a lot! But...I've shied away a little from going out alone. However, I've been gradually reaching out, doing things without calling people first, and practicing my chinese. It's horribly awkward of course, and terribly embarrassing, but...fun! (in a strange masochistic kinda way...)

So, tonight I went to grab some dinner (ran into Andy, said hello, traded some english and chinese and agreed to eat lunch together tomorrow). Then, I went to the store to buy some candy for my morning class tomorrow. I ran out of candy on them last week (for Halloween), so I'd promised to get more. Buying candy here is a little weird usually, because often they just have big buckets of it that you throw into a bag and have measured by the...umm..jing? jin? Not sure how it's pronounced....but it's a weight unit. I managed to have whole conversations over this candy tonight and bought way more than I needed. (I wanted some for myself of course!)

Next, I went to the phone shop to recharge my minutes again. Okay, family. Get skype. Seriously? I can't afford to waste anymore minutes on you people! If Grandma can get a computer when she doesn't even have CABLE, then Mom - you can get a damn microphone! Do it!

I also bought some oranges on my way home. This prompted another conversation about fruit, where I learned how to say "orange", "apple", "kiwi" and "pear" with a changsha accent!

...

Is that a good thing? *shrug* Who knows.


Now, I'm going to take some of this chinese medicine and watch Dr. Who before bed, because I think my fever has returned. Great.

A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.

(Part of Team Journey East! Harold, Shane, Lisa and my silly red face. Too bad the rest of the gang couldn't make it!)

Halloween!

Obviously, this post is a little late coming, but Happy Halloween anyway!

In celebration of my favorite holiday, a bunch of us got together and threw a party in the teacher's office of the library (the building where we have most of our classes). Several teachers attended, as did some of our students and friends!


I wish I knew how to get rid of red-eye...hmm...I'll probably start playing with picture-editing one day....

This is Beth in front of the group performing "The Telltale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe. She's a great scary story teller! We all told some stories of our own as well. Even some of the students! Jane, one of the local teachers, did a few jokes and taught us some excercises!



This party was a really great chance for so many people to come together and get to know each other! Claire and Michelle, of course, already know each other from the competition, but they also got to meet my friends from different universities, and they got to hang out with the other foreign teachers here at CMU.

Pat, aka Father Christmas, is the best addition to any party! I mean...look at that beard! Gotta love papa!






Shane and Lisa's crew were big hits. Those guys are great! Here, Viviane and Shane pose for a picture.

Soon the costumes broke out of the bags and attacked the innocent party-goers! Lisa, here, was one of the first victims. We will forever remember her monstrous sacrifice. ^_^

This is hard to see, but...somewhere in the shadows...many of the boys succombed to the evil rabbit ears and were subject to numerous flashing cameras.

Not even I was spared! Boy, that hat got around. And please, ignore the small stick in my hand. It's not a chopstick, I promise. It's a magic wand. Simply add another to make a pair, and you can eat dumplings!



No one, it seems, could defeat the Hat'o'Witches.


Or the Phantom Mardi Gras Mask.



After numerous futile attempts at victory, we all fell, one by one, on the battlefield that was the CMU 2008 Halloween Party.


Harold was the last remaining survivor.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!