So yesterday was Mid Autumn Day, which is odd considering that the 21st was the beginning of autumn but hey, there wouldn't have been a full moon necessarily if they had waited.  They also give out moon cakes, of which I have been given a few, and they range from good to...let's leave it at not good.  They do not actually have the day off, but starting Monday they have the week off, YET they make us work on the saturday and sunday before the start of the week off which is slightly odd, but hey the chinese make their children work andstudy at school much more then America.
     Anyways, the plan is now mostly set to go to Hainan Island on Monday night and arrive by train on Tuesday morning.  After that not much is planned, exploring the beach, exploring the inner island, etc.  hoepfully surfing, though ive been told the surf isn't that great but how often do you get to surf in China?

     I picked up my jacket yesterday and it was pretty exciting, walked to the back of the cloth market and to the tailors stall and handed them my claim ticket and badda bing I had a tailored sports jacket.  It is black, simple, suave, always in style and I think its pretty nice.  Of course I do not have much to compare it to but hey.  So I now have a custom jacket hanging in my closet.  It's like Iv been told getting a tattoo is, kinda addicting.  I mean of course I will go back and get a full custom tailored suit, or maybe two.  You are supposed to have three, a grey, a black, and a dark blue right? WEll I have the grey one back home and now I need the other two.  BUT, can you really only have one sports jacket?  You need a blue one as well and then maybe one with pin stripes or lighter colors or something.  THEN of course can you really have custom tailored suits and sports jackets and then wear off the rack shirts?  It's a tough question to answer but perhaps just one or two right? 
   

So tomorrow, Wednesday, is a fairly full day.  In the morning I have to teach two classes, though i do get to sleep in.  Then I have two hors of chinese class.  After that I am going to Lo Hu Commercial City.  This is a five story mall where you can buy anything from electronics to fake watches or shoes or tailored suits.  I am going for two reasons.  The first is that I have a sports jacket being made for me, ailored of course, and tomorrow is the initial fitting, after which time they will make adjustments for the final jacket.  The second is that unless things change drastically change and we suddenly get our passports back we may well be buying the train tickets for Autumn Festival to hainan island, which should be fun.  So all in all a full day, and if all goes well with the jacket then next month at some point after I get paid I will be getting a full suit tailored, and maybe another sports jacket who knows.  I'll come back looking like Bond!

So in about a week and a half the first week of Cotober is coming up and that is the first of two GOlden Weeks.  While I am not sure as to what exactly that means I gather that basically it encompasses a week of celebration in this case around the Autumn Festival.  For this week me and some friends are discussing going to Hainan Isand or Thailand.  Hainan Island is an island about 10 hours away by train and has been called the Hawaii of China and supposedly there are surfing spots there which would be awesome!  Also the hostel there is only $4.00 a days. 
Thailand is Thailand, I actually might want to go to Hainan Island more because if I go to Thailand I might want to spend more time there or at least have more time to plan the trip so I can go to other cities besides Bangkok, other cities, maybe see some temples, and of course surfing in Thailand too.  We'll see what happens

Happy Teacher's Day!!

So today the 10th of September is Teacher's Day in China.  Yes, finally someone decides to celebrate my calling of two weeks.  It's about time.  Though I don't really understand why we don't get the day off if it is the day celebrating us.  But oh well.  It was very nice, lots of students gave me flowers or cards, and one class even gave me a small statue of two smiling pigs, this being the year of the pig and all.  So all in all it was a pretty fun day!

Ode to A Pen

You are like the light from the sun
Noticed most only in it's absence
So little and yet so important to life
The ability to write, to remember
Surely one of our greatest accomplishment

For want of a pen, here in China is a great part of my life.  I have bought a few pens here, because I did not bring any with me, though I should have.  One of the thigs I have gotten used to is the lack of good working pens.  For some reason, I don't know why they do not have a good pen here except maybe for the high priced ones that executives buy.  It is annoying how much you need a good pen when you don't have one.  Still, ces't la vie.