First Chinese Rain

I planned to write something on the one-month anniversary of my trip, but it slipped my mind and today will have to do. Today, I have been gone one month and three days. It’s a rainy Sunday and the laundry, once so close to being dry, is getting another wash cycle. No dry no socks remain, and no dry towel, so I probably need to bring some in onto the radiator. I don't want to, since it will funk up the room, but no other choice presents itself. For now, however, I’ll stay in bed.

Staying in bed is normal behavior at the camp, at least on weekends, but today it’s just Tom and I. Bernard’s girlfriend is in town, so he’s rented a room someplace to take a break from camp life. I don't know where Lion is. And as for Charlie, he invariably retreats to his Korean girlfriend’s apartment every weekend. The lure of heat and home cooking is strong. All I’ve managed today is to eat, call home, read some articles, and give my shoes a wash. The shoes I received are still bigger than I would like, and I may have to buy another pair. Hopefully, a wash in hot, hot water will do something for them. If not, the world won’t end. They only cost five or six dollars (about a third as much as the same shoe costs online in the states, even excluding shipping).

I’ve discovered the convenience of Internet radio. It’s free, with less advertising than traditional radio, and it relieves the burden of choice on my part. Listening and playing Go passes the time quite well when I need it to. I’ve yet to secure a board for the school, but I definitely will. I also need to get some coffee, even instant will do. It’s hardly the weekend if one can’t have coffee in the morning.