Overheard

"I don't understand why everything is so dirty. Do the people in this neighborhood have, like, zero aesthetic ability?"

Sometimes it's a little hard to relate to my classmates. The little old lady in the park did teach me a useful word: 贫困的。 Poor. She was saying that people are a lot less poor than they used to be, but there are still many poor in China. I tried to convey that there are poor people everywhere. I'm not sure if she didn't understand or if she was just doubtful that there are poor people in America.

And no Mr. Russell, the 73 year old woman was not coming on to me. She was explaining that Chinese kung fu helps keep her balanced (perhaps regular? My own grandmother had a peculiar obsessin with regularity) and has done wonders for her high blood pressure. She also says that we Americans eat too much butter (黄油。 literally 'yellow fat').

It was a very rough 48 hours. I had to leave class 5 times today, but I got a 95 on my quiz while sweating profusely and shaking. I still haven't eaten anything, but at least I've stopped shaking. I'm trying to save my cipro for when I'm really sick, since I've only got one course.