So it is a lazy Sunday morning, and Emily is catching up on TV while I'm reading about guitars and jam bands. We have finally gotten what we think is going to be our final teaching schedule. I have classes on Monday, two on Tuesday and one class on both Wed. and Thur. It is nice to kind of have a more set schedule instead of just waiting around to see what we will teach (in suspense!). Emily went and watched a Chilean ballet last night, but I bowed out and stayed home to practice my geetar. My plan is to be good enough to play with my brother in law when I get home :)
One of my favorite things in China (that I honestly thought I was going to hate) is the drive to Cixi every Monday. It is really calming to just put on some music from the ipod and look out the window and see such a startling different view of China. We go past inner city, industrial centers, farms, shops, pretty much everything you can think of. It is really calming to see farmers in their fields working so early in the morning.
I've been reading a lot of Larry Niven recently. He has always been a fun author to read but I realized recently that he is definitely one of my favorites. I've also read a little Robert Bloch, and now I'm starting in on my Cormac McCarthy collection. The kindle is really a godsend, as there is very little English literature available here, especially in the amount that I read. And there is no way I could have brought that many books to China.
I really like the guitar store here but it is really far away. About an hour and fifteen minutes via bus. The owner is really nice and is looking into getting Emily a banjo. I hope she gets it so we can practice together and jam some. It is weird because we spend so much time together, but don't really do many of the same things (unless you count being on the internet as something).
We have had the chance to have a bunch of really good meals in China, but honestly the two that stick out most in my mind are Casa Maya, where we had some pretty good Mexican food, and McDonalds, where I had two cheeseburgers. I will never make fun of people that go to a foreign country and eat McDonalds again. I suppose it is silly, but we have definitely sampled the local cuisine by now. It was nice to have something so much like home. The only difference between McDonalds in China and in the US is that the servers are nice to you here.
That's all for now!
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Niven's Laws (from Known Space)
Drawn from Known Space: The Future Worlds of Larry Niven
1. (a) Never throw shit at an armed man.
(b) Never stand next to someone who is throwing shit at an armed man.
2. Never fire a laser at a mirror.
3. Mother Nature doesn't care if you're having fun.
4. F x S = k. The product of Freedom and Security is a constant. To gain more freedom of thought and/or action, you must give up some security, and vice versa.
5. Psi and/or magical powers, if real, are nearly useless.
6. It is easier to destroy than create.
7. Any damn fool can predict the past.
8. History never repeats itself.
9. Ethics change with technology.
10. Anarchy is the least stable of social structures. It falls apart at a touch.
11. There is a time and place for tact.
12. The ways of being human are bounded but infinite.
13. The world's dullest subjects, in order:
(a) Somebody else's diet.
(b) How to make money for a worthy cause.
(c) Special Interest Liberation.
14. The only universal message in science fiction: There exist minds that think as well as you do, but differently.
Niven's corollary: The gene-tampered turkey you're talking to isn't necessarily one of them.
15. Fuzzy Pink Niven's Law: Never waste calories.
16. There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
in variant form in Fallen Angels as "Niven's Law: No cause is so noble that it won't attract fuggheads."[3]
From wikipedia
You gotta love it!
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