A few recent pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so.



First, we've got me trying to figure out my camera's timer to document my haircut. This haircut was really good, and uneventful compared to this one. I got a scalp massage before I went under the scissors, and I ended up having a Chinese language breakthrough event. My shampooer spoke slowly and I understood what he was saying or asking. Or, I think I did...I was more making guesses.

We talked about Canada being beauitful, how to say beautiful in English, that I'm not American, and that I've been in China since August and I like it here. He didn't speak a spot of English, so I am happy we were able to communicate because of my Chinese.

I'm happy with my haircut...I had to go home and repair it right away, but after some of my own product and tussling, I was ready to go. I think it's fair to say I'm a fashion juggernaut now.

(I am just looking for an excuse to use the term "fashion juggernaut". I saw it on a shirt worn by a Chinese person last week, and it stuck with me. I like to read Chinese people's English shirts, because sometimes you come across some really interesting phrases. Like "fashion juggernaut".)

You'll notice the artwork I bought on my walls...I like them. They're fish. The Chinese really like orange fish, and it brings wealth and prosperity to have them in your house. So, maybe having paintings of them on my walls will bring good fortune as well. Good fortune or not, I like the paintings and will bring them home with me. They're real too, not just prints. I'm quite the art connoisseur you know.

You'll also notice a motivational poster Carol made for me, to think about when I was racing my last race. I realized that if I lost focus during the race and thought about teaching, going back to Canada, or all the dirty dishes in my sink, I wouldn't run as well. I needed to concentrate on racing the whole time! The poster did the trick, as I turned in my best performance of the race series after hanging it.



Here's Alison making a move during Settlers. We played on Sunday night, before she left China on Monday morning, after two years teaching here. She had to leave very unexpectedly, and had only two or three days to pack everything and say her good-byes. This Settlers game was sort of the final farewell to Alison, so lots of people were dropping by.

The game took forever because this crew was not schooled at Erik's School of Settlers Efficiency like I was. That was OK though, since the company was good and the social time was excellent. The loooong turns provided a lot of oppurtunity for banter, and it turned out to be one of the most fun Settlers games I've played.



A burger, a beer, and grapefruit juice...it must be a party! It was my birthday party in fact. I didn't mind eating it myself, since there's hardly time to talk when you're enjoying a good burger. And a good buger in China is rare, so I think it was actually good I was by myself!

My birthday was good...I was woken up by Carol, Kir, Mom and Dad singing Happy Birthday to me over the phone. I had a good conversation with them, and then Er called and I chatted with him as well. It was a great way to start the day, and I would have been happy with my birthday if that was all that went on.

At lunch I checked my email, and there were numerous birthday emails waiting for me, so that was excellent.

After school I opted to go out for a burger dinner, because I really appreciate a good all-beef patty. I took the bus for 40 minutes to Hooly's downtown, an Irish-themed pub run by two Canadians.

I'm wondering if it was worth the trip though...the bus ride on the way back was terrible. The bus was packed and I had to stand for the whole 45 minute trip. We were all squished together, and I had to smell body odour for the entire time. To make it worse, the driver had a heavy foot, both on the gas and the brake, making for a jarring trip.

I'm not a huge fan of big birthday celebrations, so this one was just fine, even though I didn't celebrate with anyone. The phone calls and emails were great, and the birds were singing outside and it was sunny. I'm happy I was born in the spring!

Here's a picture of my birthday in 2005 I think. I was in Whistler at the time, and wanted to snowboard on my birthday, even though it was raining miserably. I'm wearing my yellow raincoat that I bought at Canadian Tire for about twenty dollars. The snow is melting and I'm gapping (that's a term that means "jumping over") a patch of newly exposed gravel.



That's the way China has been on this 15th of May, 2008. Goodnight everybody.