I am very tired, so I am a bit hesitant to write here for fear of being boring or offensive. But I feel like sharing some about my stay in Nanjing so far, even though it's only been about 48 hours since I arrived. I think the most difficult thing about being here is that I could write a book about each day that I've been here so far; everything is different for me, I understand Mandarin in bits and pieces, and I seem to feel completely miserable half the time and completely exuberant the other half of the time.

And wow that was some strong green tea. Mmm.

So tonight, of the many things I would like to write about, I will at least write a little about my host family, who picked me up today. Well, it was actually just my shushu, or host dad, who picked me up in his silver Citroen blasting French and Chinese pop music. It was at this point that I discovered just how bad my Chinese is: I really can't understand full sentences - it just takes me too long to process them, and my vocabulary is extremely limited. The one thing I consistently understood that he said was "Ni ting bu dong" [you don't understand]. I think he got kind of frustrated with trying to speak with me after a while, although he stuck around long enough to watch me unpack my stuff and continually tried giving tips. It was a little disconcerting that he chose to do so in his underwear, though with the heat here lately, I can hardly blame him.

Speaking of the heat, maybe sometime I'll put up a picture of the... "fashion" that Chinese men here seem to take to in the heat. That'll sort out you dedicated blog-readers from the noncommittal ones. ;)

Also, Mr. Michael Brown is right - I think I discovered how many people are in China on the first day here.

Other things of note:

I have broadband dsl and a/c here. That's better than Evanston, where I just had cable. And I don't have to cook my own meals here. Furthermore, the couple I'm staying with has a son who does computer programming and knows a bit more English than I know Chinese, which is really handy for me surviving here. Well, okay... he just came in and told me that I am free to use the bathroom to shower anytime I would like. I think I might have worked that one out alright.... So far our Chinglish conversations have been thoroughly entertaining for me.

I am planning on taking kung fu (gong fu) at the university here with ex-Roommate Tim.

I'm not sure what the family would do if I killed the giant cricket they keep in the cage in the dining room, but I am sorely tempted to. Maybe if the chocolates I gave them are good enough, they will forgive me.

One last bit of joyousness for you: the view from my window. I'll probably put up some pictures of the inside of the apartment here some other time; it's really nice on the inside.