What I See

It's been a pretty good day here, and I finally pulled out the camera. Here's my day, the way I've seen it:

There are wild cats everywhere. This one was meowing on my windowsill. We're not talking the cute kind of meowing here, but more of a very loud crying/yelping/angry howl. I'm pretty sure I won't be feeding or petting them anytime soon.

After days of clouds, smog and rain, we woke up to a gorgeous day with a gorgeous blue sky! This is the street leading up to our alley- which is right across from the streetlight.

We had our Sunday meeting, then went to lunch at a place they call Bruno's. It and most of the places we'll go are on this main street in Langfang.

After lunch we did some shopping around. There are tons of these tiny shops along the street, with all kinds of stuff, from shoes and clothes to school supplies, to trinkets and toys, to hardware.

This is the sweet lady who took pity on me when I went to buy a hammer and some nails. She sent her helper to the back to find the hammers, let me have my pick, and then gave me the nails for free.

Here's our "grocery store". It's in quotations because there are groceries on the first floor and then clothes, shoes, toiletries and housewares on the second floor. This was my third trip in four days, but I took my time to really look up and down the aisles and get some more essentials. Reading the translated labels is very amusing. My favorite simply said: Man Cream. Who knows?

This is my favorite purchase of the day. It's literally a bug zapping tennis racquet! Notice the outline of a mosquito/bird in the wiring. You charge it up, turn it on, and swat at any bugs you see. It makes a lovely popping noise and leaves a faint trace of smoke in the air. Touch it with your hand, and it will supposedly bring even the manliest man to tears. Best $6 I've spent in a while.

The decorating has begun, and my Steelers stuff was the first to go up (obviously!). This is a wall in my living room/office. Here we go Steelers!!!

I did my first load of laundry today. I can't read any of the labels on the washer, but I turned some knobs, threw some towels and Tide in, and let 'er rip. There were some strange noises and lots of rattling, but it appears to have done the job. Believe it or not, I've never hung my laundry on a line before now. So there they are, my towels drying out in my sunroom/porch.

So there you have it. That's been my Sunday so far. Classes start tomorrow, so I need to get to my lesson planning. More on classes in a later post. For those who have been asking, I do finally know my mailing address:

Jessica Shamblee
Foreign Language School
Langfang Teachers College
No. 126 Aiminxi Rd.
Langfang, China 065000

Obviously, any mail will be a treat!! :) Have a great week!!