marginal sadness

I might become a broken record this week, but

MIDTERMS ARE COMING!

I'm taking a break from studying my old flashcards to check my email and update all my loving constituents worldwide. Today my JingDu professor started reviewing us on old material from the first several chapters. That was helpful. I've got a script for my HuiHua class's dialogue that I have to do with a Korean girl. I need to internalize the thing by Wednesday. As far as TingLi, I've no real idea how to study for listening other than to actually put the cd into my computer and listen to it. Oh, that prospect is tantalizing.


I wish you couldn't smoke in restaurants here. The people directly behind me are puffing away on something that smells terrible. Maybe just cheap tobacco? It keeps wafting my direction and irritating my already cold-ridden lungs. I'm in Coughsville.

Oh, I learned something today. I now understand why those tiny little candles used in jack-o-lanterns are called tea lights. You put them in the little bowls that go under the teapot. They keep tea warm. Lights go on all over the world! I can sense I just taught you something. (It is only marginally sad to me that that is what I learned today.)

Also, this evening I talked to the taxi driver for a few minutes about where my roommate and I are from and where we wanted to go. He asked how old my roommate is. Then he wanted my roommate to guess his age. He was 50, by the way. I told him that I was very hungry, and that we wanted to go to a coffee restaurant. He asked why we'd go there if I was hungry. I told him that they have "很好吃饭" which translates loosely to "yummy food." He agreed with our decision making, even if he'd never heard of Texas and we'd only been in Beijing 2 1/2 months. He thinks my Chinese is very good. I think he is lying, but I'm vaguely conflicted, because they don't work for tips. So I told him that he's too nice.

T