Tut tut tut, looks like rain.

Today was supposed to be Joel's first day of school, but last night he found out that it had been canceled because of [drum roll please....]

a TYPHOON! Are you kidding me?

The best part is that Joel still had to report to work today. We'd hate to see anything happen to one of the students if they set out in such dangerous weather, but what the heck- let's see what happens to the teachers.

I, of course, haven't left the apartment today.  I tend to avoid things I consider to be overtly dangerous [which makes transportation here quite a challenge-every taxi ride you take is a huge gamble. I'm thinking of getting a helmet and a universal seat belt to carry with me at all times], and I am convinced that the typhoon will decide to rear it's ugly head the moment I dare to step outside these walls.

But even if I had wanted to leave, I was stuck here babysitting the internet guy for three hours this morning. It was a long, arduous three hours with the most highly technical game of charades ever recorded.  There were lots of phone calls made to potential translators, but nothing helped.  In the end he decided to leave, and he drew a picture of his watch to explain that he would come back at seven. He did not specify am or pm so I've decided to be prepared for either.

In the meantime I thought I would catch things up a bit here.

If you ask a foreigner here if they speak Mandarin, about 87% of them will bashfully admit that they only speak "survival Chinese," and explain that they can, let's say, order their favorite dishes and get a cab to and from the market.

While I'm talking about food- here's a peak at the dishes at one of our favorite lunch spots.

["Crispy Beef" although I'm not so sure. It's tasty though.]

[Joel practicing with his chopsticks.  This is what happens when you refuse to smile for pictures.]

[delicious greens and mushrooms]

However, upon closer inspection, everyone's "survival" vocab turns out to be quite different. For instance, the girl who can't live without a new pair of shoes each day knows all the words for shoes, size, color and the corresponding financial parameters for haggling, whereas the person considers himself an adventurous eater knows how to ask the waiter what his favorite recommendations are from the menu instead of just asking for kung pao chicken. 

...which leads me to, well, me of course. What does my survival Chinese say about me? Drop me within a small radius of home an I can lead a taxi back [I only know how to say "turn left" so I avoid routes where rights are necessary.] But so far the only vocab set I've acquired is design oriented. I can ask the price per meter for fabric, and can haggle my way through markets full of materials, designing curtains and furniture for my home and negotiating prices to have them made. So I'm pretty sure that makes me a housewife, for now. And here is your first glimpse at my efforts...

[Living Room. Please excuse the poor lighting that back wall is actually painted a lavandar-grey, once we hang things on walls we'll have a do-over.]

Fine, so it's not fabulous...YET! But you'd be more much more impressed if you'd seen what we started with.

I interview tomorrow for a substitute position at one of the international schools, which Joel and I think would be ideal. Great pay, flexible hours and schedule, same vacation schedule so we don't have to worry about time off for our travels.

Speaking of which! Our first big break is just around the corner and we want your advice on where to go. We have 10 days beginning October 1st and we're not ruling anything out! [except places that require a visa, I suppose- I don't think there's time]. Send us your suggestions. We're looking at Thailand/Cambodia, Laos or possibly Australia/New Zealand if we could find a good enough deal...checking on if visas are required on the last bit.