I speak in squiggly lines.

This American expat in China has completed a week of actual school. It went decently, and I'm realizing that this language is not entirely beyond my reach. This morning I talked to the maid. No, I still can't tell her my lamp's broken, but I did tell her not to clean our room. She understood. That's something.

Last night some other Americans and I took a short taxi ride to a movie theater to see No Reservations, which was the only thing playing in English. In the taxi, the driver was asking us something about where we were going, so I told him, "我们喜欢看电影。“ That is, "We want to watch a movie." He understood, and said something about Chinese movies. I didn't tell him we were going to see an American movie in English, but it's ok. The movie was decent, and the Chinese subtitles at the bottom of the screen were only moderately distracting. I really think that it might not be a bad idea to watch movies now and again with the subtitles running, because I could pick out a character here and there.

Today I intend to be lazy, to read and relax. Tonight I'm going to a housewarming party. I hope that's fun. I won't be the only one not drinking, so that's a plus.

It's lunch time.

T