Twinkies make a 30" waist line

Hmmm, well I was going to try to post some pictures but the computer has a hard time functioning here. Today I did the same thing that I usually do here. I woke up, took a shower, read, went to lunch, walked around town and shopped, ate dinner, read some more, got on the Internet, and in a few minutes I'll go to sleep. Maybe I shouldn't complain. It's nice to have some kind of schedule instead of uncertainty and spur of the moment activities . . . right? I guess if I suggested that we try something different I might be told there isn't anything else. I doubt it though. I think taking a few hours tomorrow to explore and take picture would be a fun idea. Except that I don't have any room left to take pictures, and I'm too cheap to buy a USB or a new card. It's probably worth it. I'd also like to rent a bike and go further and see more of the city and the river that runs through the city. It's Friday night already but maybe I can convince Liz to ride a bike around, I doubt it. It would be good exercise and a definite adventure - seeing as how people don't really follow the idea of staying in the lines (I wonder how their coloring skills are). I might be a little frightened too, but at least it'd get my adrenaline running a little.

Speaking of exercise, boy does my body need some right now! The fact that I didn't dance much during finals, the few weeks before I left, and this whole month in China has resulted in me gaining a lot of weight! Haaaha, and I guess buying bags of candy at the store and eating American food (KFC) for the first time in weeks today isn't going to help. I didn't really notice I was gaining weight until I tried to buy some pants here. I don't really remember what the average size is in the United States but a size 30" waist is considered almost non-existent in China. I can not find a good pair of pants. Plus it seems the makers of pants here don't like to offer pants that allow extra baggage in the trunk (curse those petite Chinese with their flat derrieres). It seems that the Chinese always try to guess what part of the country you are from by the way you look. I wonder if there is a part of China with really big booties, I could go there to buy some pants. Hahaa, Liz and I asked her Aunt where they have plus size stores here so I could find some pants. And whenever we walk into a shop and they ask what we are looking for we tell them we need large pants (a 30-31) to fit my big butt, sweetness. I guess if I worry about gaining too much weight I can always take comfort in the fact that in a few weeks I'll be in LA sweating it all off! Woot woot! Even if that doesn't do the trick I'm not too worried seeing as how when school and dance starts I rarely have time to stuff my face with food. I'll end up losing the weight I gained anyways.

Well, I'm sure all two people (minus my parents and Grandma) who are reading this aren't really interested in how my weight fluctuates. So to move onto more interesting things I have some kind of exciting news (I'm trying to make reading this worth your time ;))! I didn't realize what I was getting myself into until I started to organize my schedule yesterday. When school starts I will be involved with at least five dance projects! I have no idea how it ended up being that many. The Asian association at the University of Utah has asked me to choreograph three pieces for the Chinese New Year celebration. I auditioned for the Modern Department's Senior concert and made the limit imposed dances of two (which are jazz and tap . . no way do they want me doing any kind of modern). Then I have the University dance club that I am in charge of starting up again . . . and I'm trying to put together a concert. Then there is Transfusion Hype which I love and hopefully my school schedule won't mess things up. A girl I took jazz with last semester is putting together a benefit concert that she asked me to be in and to choreograph for. I teach ballet on Tuesday nights but I want to teach on Monday and Thursday evenings too so that I don't have to look for a pointless job I don't enjoy. I'm not really ready to give up dance to focus on a 9 to 5 job just yet. Plus it would help to just teach a few hours in the evening when I have 18 credit hours. Well then, I guess that wasn't really exciting news but it felt good to share my concerns about my overloaded schedule and my absence of well-roundedness.

I would have some exciting news about finding some genealogy, but I don't sadly. When we were in Xi'an we went to the police station where I guess they keep all their records for the city. We went through a few different people but eventually we got a short and very simple answer that stopped us in our tracks. She said that they only started to keep records after they (the communists) took over. And I'm guessing that if there were any other records left over that they were burned or that they won't allow us access to them (supposedly because the Chinese communists are weird that way . . . I don't know). We talked to a investigative reporter but she or they thought that it would be too difficult to find anything. If I could speak the language better and were on my own I'm sure that I would be able to do more research. But for right now it doesn't seem like I'm going to gain complete fluency overnight. I think that if my Mom decides to come back to look she would have more luck with addresses and current family that lives here. I wish I could have found out more. My Grandparents seemed to have lived such a different and interesting life compared to mine. They lived in a time filled with revolutions and wars. I wonder how they felt about Mao, about the emperor, about Shang Kai Scheck (wow, I really can not spell that), about democracy, about Taiwan, about a lot of different things. I want to know more about my Grandparents families. I love to learn about my Dad's side of the family. I guess I'm beginning to find more interest in genealogy like I should.

I did find out something else though. In the morning I usually wake up to honking horns (even though the building is in an ally), loud music from a few streets over, a kids toy playing 'what child is this', someone selling who knows what in a Chinese monotone (if that is possible) voice, Liz's gradparents talking loudly (her cute Grandpa refuses to get a hearing aid), and the occassional setting off of fireworks. I didn't understand why they would set off fireworks. I was tempted to attribute it to the fact that 'it's China'. But when asked liz and I found out that they set fireworks off to celebrate a marriage. Okay, if you thought people get married in Utah like crazy, take a walk into Ganzhou. I hear fireworks at least twice a day, sometimes three! I wondered if for one couple they set fireworks off for seven days or eight and so on. But they only do it once. Then I asked if it is because they think this is a good season to get married, but I guess that isn't the case either. Wow. Now I can feel like an old maid on two continents. Hahaa, just kidding.

If you have read this far congratulations on running the reading marathon with flying colors! Woot woot! If you only read the first part and then skipped to the bottom to see how it ended then I have to say that you didn't receive the full benefit than if you read all the way through. The middle is always the best part (except for in Oreo cookies . . . and twinkies . .. and sushi . . . and hot dogs . . .and lots of things come to think of it). I think I'm craving fatty foods only because I'm in China. I don't think I've had a twinkie in at least ten years. Okay, I'll stop the ramblings- especially since it isn't about my trip to China. Good Night y'all!