Some random thoughts

Since my parents have been in town, we've been eating really well. We found this restaurant near my school that serves really good food that's also really cheap. (We pay 40 yuan for a Peking duck.) But the portions are really big - even though we only order 3 dishes for 4 people, we still usually have leftovers. Remember when you were little and your parents told you not to waste your food since there were people starving in China/Africa? Well, now that I'm in China, I see these people whenever I go into town. (There are often beggars outside some of the tourist attractions.) Consequently, I always feel really bad whenever I don't finish all my food. I keep on wanting to bag it to go, so I could give it to someone who needs it. But there are no such people near my area (it's the university district).

Some people in my class are really starting to annoy me. Maybe it's because I'm starting to get older (and more crochety), but also because I haven't been getting enough sleep lately. (Contrary to my brother's assertions, he does snore.) I think most people in my class have improved since the beginning, but there are a bunch who totally don't make the effort and show no improvement. Normally, I wouldn't care less, but this means the teacher spends more time correcting them and less time correcting anyone whose pronunciation is kinda close. Unfortunately, in Mandarin, there are four tones. So something that is 'kinda close' often means that people cannot understand you outside of school. *sigh*

There are also some nice people I hang out with. There's this ex-ibanker who just completed her MBA and who's heading to the McKinsey office in HK. Another Toronto girl who's going into her 4th year at UT's International Relations program. Yet another UT-er who's in med school. Another law student, who completed her first year at LSE in London. (It was nice to have someone to share my enthusiam over cheap law books. =) And of course, some of my brother's friends, who all come from a variety of backgrounds. Will write more funny stories after I start getting some more sleep......