This is supposed to be an action shot of the hair dressers taking a break to play badmitton, but somehow between focus and flash the guy managed to pose. Anyway, it is very common to see people playing this sport on the sidewalks. Watch for flying birdies and swinging rackets and you will keep your head.

About a week ago I found that cinderblocks and wood had been piled up in the vacant lot across from my apartment. I wondered what they could possibly be building in the middle of campus. As I watched I thought, well maybe it is an outhouse for sporting events, another person suggested that it could be a prison for students. So then I asked. . . housing for workers. Apparently they are going to be building a new apartment building next to mine and they needed a place for workers to sleep. I guess they haven't yet heard of portable buildings. It seemed a waste of time and materials to me, but I am impressed at how quickly they were able to construct this dorm/office building.

Here is something that I doubt American home owner's associations would put up with. When they mow the grass they rake it up, make it into a big pile, and then burn it. This pile is right outside my window. At times the smell can make me cough. When I was out running the other morning I came near one of these piles and a rat ran out from underneath it. I guess dry grass and fire makes rats.

For those interested in Asian fashion, here is some of the latest. These outfits are hanging inside one of my favorite stores. I doubt that I will ever buy anything here but I love going in with my American friends and laughing at the different patterns, fabrics, and styles they put together. These two really aren't too crazy. Perhaps when the weather gets warmer and I am not wearing so many layers, I will venture to try some of them on.

JCJ has three city squares. This main square serves as the entrance to our walking street and a motorspeedway for children. You really have to watch where you are going if you don't want to get run over. At night the square sometimes has promotional concerts, and during holidays there is often a flea market type thing set up.

This is a picture looking down my favorite street in JCJ (my city). The foreigners of the city call it the walking street, but locals know it as 8 white horses road. The street is possible place to come on weekends because it has many fun "window shopping" stores, fresh kettle corn, ice cream, and the movie theatre. This street also has some of my favorite architecture in the city.

I visited a middle school in the city of long life and was urged to see their prized turtle. Of course, I was expecting to see a real, living turtle. When I saw the rock I thought, well maybe the turtle is on the rock. Then I put my imagination goggle on and behold, before my eyes I saw a turtle. I was surprised to find out that the school paid quite a bit of money to get this stone symbol of long life. The things we spend money on boggle me.

Language Blunders

One of my new words for this week is "washroom", basically the bathroom. While in my lesson one day I was going over my diaglogue and accidentally used the word for "tomato" instead. I have laughed at some of my students who say "photo" instead of "potato", "chicken" instead of "kitchen", and "hospital" instead of "festival", and now I laugh at myself for calling the restroom a tomato. Fortunately this was just with my tutor and I didn't ask some random person where the tomato was. But I suppose that it is better to call the bathroom a tomato than the other way around.
My language skills progress slowly but surely. I had a long vacation from class and am now back taking eight hours a week and trying to study about eight independently. My 7:50 class this morning found my brain a little slow as it tried to comprehend the swiftness of my teacher's speech. Last week I learned the practicalities of going to a clothing store so it was easy for me to use on the street, but I am finding it difficult to strike up conversation about going to the airport with a bunch of people who have never been near an airplane.