Hello all,

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have posted, but life here has been busy and yet not at the same time. I finally have internet in my apartment and I have found a way to operate my toilet without too much effort.

I have been teaching at the college for two weeks and have met all of my students (except for my freshman, who are undergoing soldier's training until Thursday). the second time I had my Monday afternoon class, my students sang happy teacher's day to the tune of happy birthday. It was rather comical and in it they referred to me as "Teacher Yeremy" (yes, that is a "y," and that is how they pronounce my name in China...). For the rest of the week I received text messages from my students wishing me a happy teacher's day and asking if I needed any help. One student even called me last night (Saturday night at 9:30PM) and asked if we had homework due on Monday...wow. I have a full teaching load this week and have still not planned what I am going to teach about, but I figure I can do that tomorrow.

When we first arrived in Chengde, I thought that Michelle and I were the only foreigners. Before CJ and Aleks arrived, we had not seen another non-Chinese person at all. We were surprised, however, to discover that there are several other foreigners here (including two others from Drake, one from Serbia, one from South Africa, and one from Honduras). Michelle and I have spent several nights with our new foreigner friends and have had a lot better food since eating out with people who actually speak some Chinese (who would have guessed). All-in-all, life is going much better here, now that we have found other people to talk to.

Some interesting things that I have observed/have happened to me in the last two weeks:
1. Michelle's list of things one must have in order to be Chinese are 100% accurate (you can check them out on her blog at thegreatPRC.blog.co.uk)
2. When I attempted to purchase a case of beer and the price came up incorrectly it took at least fifteen minutes for the cashier, Michelle, a manager of sorts, and me to grunt, gesture and point enough to get the correct product/price (this was followed by Michelle's new purse not having a price tag and then us setting off the theft detection devices at the door...we did not steal anything, they forgot to take the thing off her purse...this all happened in Chinese, which made it ten times more frustrating)
3. MIchell, CJ, and I attempted to order food at a restaurant by ourselves one day (the same day as the supermarket fiasco). We ordered green beans, fried calamari and chicken...or at least we thought we did...the waitress brought us out spicy spinach, whole fried crawfish with their heads still on, and some dish that looked like small brains...we payed and went to KFC
4. their are several hundred people in chengde that sweep the streets clean every single night with brooms that look like they are made of twigs (they are very inefficient). Some, however, have twig like brooms with feathers on the end, I have decided that they must be the supervisors because their brooms actually work.

Things that I really miss from the US:
1. disinfectant wipes...please send me some...or lots
2. driving (I would never attempt it here because no one appears to follow traffic laws...even police officers)
3. Cheese / Milk...I never knew how much I liked it until I lost it
4. Carpeting (I have not seen any carpeting, at all since I have been here)
5. tall doorways...I am surprised I have not had several concussions with how often I hit my head. I have to duck to go through any doorway...
6. Doritos..I love them and I miss them
7. being able to talk to anyone (when there are only ten people in the entire city that speak your language fluently you can get kind of lonely)

That's it for now...talk to you soon. Hopefully, I will stay more on top of this blogging thing. (I will also post pictures soon, but for now I am going to sleep)