Random

No real thread connecting today's thoughts. Had Kung Fu class Sunday. Might start taking a few private lessons with the teacher (cheap enough by American standards). Been real busy though. So much work. Going with my language partner to my school's museum tommorow. Should be a great chance to learn about China's history and culture. Chatted with my language partner today. Actually had a really deep conversation about China, the Environment, independence/seperatist movements, American imperialism, etc... In some ways, I feel the media doesn't portray China fairly. Okay, so there's a great Firewall, and many cites on the internet are blocked. But the firewall is more for show, most Chinese have ways of getting around it (for instance I'm breaking China's laws right now by hacking into blogspot). It's more a matter of "face" or "mianzi" in Chinese. This is a concept which dates at least back to Confucius, and is kind of hard to explain. We have a similar concept in English. Let's just say the government is "saving face" by what may seem to Westerners to be mere totalitarianism. Been trying to eat more fruit lately, having at least 3 mangoes a week.