Dim sum and red hundreds

Today was interesting. I went to an enormous bank twice. The second time I actually did business. I have enough money in cash to enroll in school tomorrow morning. Sweet action! I don't particularly like walking around with huge sacks of kwai, but if it happens, it happens. This brings me to an interesting note. I don't really know how to refer to the money here. I've heard three conflicting stories about it. The money may be referred to as yuan (you-ann) or as RMB (are-em-bee) or kwai (kw-eye). I know that those pronunciations are mostly superfluous, but I felt like it. Anyway, I don't know which is which, or if there is any difference. The money itself says 1 yuan on it. The exchange boards all say something about RMB. Some of the people I've met call it kwai. It is a conundrum, I suppose.

My documents and money are in order now, so I will be registering for school tomorrow. Hooray! I can see visions of standing in endless lines all morning. I can also see visions of not standing in those same lines tomorrow, which is really a good thing. I still need to pay housing. My poor Batman MasterCard debit card is getting tired these days. I've been swiping the heck out of it, because I have to pay everything (tuition, books, housing, fees) all in cash. I feel like buying a bulletproof briefcase to walk across campus to register, it's that much money. I have 22,900 RMB in 100 RMB bills in my safe in my room. That's a lot of bills. I'm glad to be getting them out of my hands tomorrow. That comes to right around $3,061.49 USD. In $13 bills. 229 of them.

Tonight I had my first authentically Beijing-made dim sum. It was pretty good. I like dim sum, and it is cheap, so that's good, too. I also had a bowl of rice. Those of you that made rice jokes should can it. You get used to plain white rice. There's no real flavor, but it fills you up. And it's not hard to eat, even with chopsticks. You just remember to scoop, not pinch.

T