Valentine's Day

I spent today chilling at a tea-house/bar my friends own, sitting in the sun in shorts and sandals. I talked with my friend Reed for a while and Terry and Dwayne came by and chatted for a while. Then I bought a rose for my date and some chocolates and walked around. It is pineapple season in Chengdu, so for 1 kuai you can buy a quarter of a pineapple, peeled, on a stick. It's pretty awesome, I mean, who doesn't love pineapples? So yeah, tonight, dinner and then watch a movie. Tomorrow: football and then the Old Firm.

Spring! Shorts!

So in the last week it has clearly transitioned from winter to spring, the Chinese haven't quite caught on yet (they like to wear lots of clothes). Yesterday was the last day of Spring Festival, ending with the Lantern Festival (guo da nian), when thousands of Chinese gather along rivers and major roads and light candle-propelled paper lanterns, which rise slowly in the sky, creating constellations of rising stars surrounded by fireworks and loud booms. It was pretty cool. As I was biking home I wasn't really sure what was happening, and from the 25th floor at work, I watched the fireworks begin around 8. When I went home at 2 am from poker the fireworks were still going strong. I'll be glad to have them put away for a year, as the constant noise is a bit much. Today I played some go with my friend Ben at Middle Bar and had a couple beers, then biked to work. 3 hrs of class and hopefully another beautiful day tomorrow, my friend Andrew returns and so that'll be fun. No big news other than that, Oscar post still to come. Oh and I got a new visa so I'm in China for another 6 months at least.