my sink is back

...and it seems to work, but we have a mutual don't-ask-don't-look-under-the-cabinet policy where it gives me water and drainage and I don't bother it with an inquisition.
the internet broke again today, and before that/now it's really slow (i think that every second that the kidz are not in class or on the basketball courts they are playing online games and slowing things down, that's my theory, tell me why I'm wrong) so no pictures for you, although I have a lot of random stuff.

such as when my washer must have missed my sink at the beginning of this week, because when i returned from class the other day, i found that it had decided to go looking, but not gotten very far. just far enough to spill water everywhere...brave little washer/dryer. pic of this monumental journey as soon as it loads.

getting over a cold, watched 12 hours of "Lost" (the first season), and teaching have been the extent of my week. last night i was feeling cocky enough agagin to venture out for dinner ( i must have been tired of microwaved corn and hot dogs, hah! Family, that bit was for you! I'll post a pic of the exploded hot dogs so that Kyle can laugh...but my microwave here is really, really strong. i've heard rumors that it can also function as a grill, of sorts, but no confirmation as yet.)
So, yeah, ventured out and had a lonely dinner at a Japanese fast food chain, Yoshinoya.
today after class i went downtown to explore and ate, unadventurously, at a McDonalds. I sat at first near a window, which was a *bad* idea, because apparently a lot of Chinese from outside Shanghai come to the city as tourists, and the sight of a foreigner eating in a McDonalds was too much, an amazing photo-and-pointing-opportunity. You can't stuff your face with a greasy-bunned, mayo-laced crispy chicken patty while there are people on the other side of the glass pointing at you and smiling. i felt like a lion in a zoo, it was certainly wierd.
but most people here are used to foreigners, and some are friendly and approach to practice their English conversation, etc, and some don't. i'm trying to make some local friends.

today I had juice that was hand-ground from sugar cane for me on the street by some guy. I imagine it was what hummingbird serum tastes like, it was awesome.

i have also been far, far too jammed on subway trains. they are like mosh pits; when the conductor brakes too hard, you couldn't fall (or sway) if you wanted to. i watched three trains packed to the brim go by before i gave up my sensibilities and wedged my body into the train like everyone else seems to do, you kind of have to do a diving, pushing motion and look confident like you already know that the door won't crush you.
so, now i'm off to go clean and get ready for my visitor this week...we're going to try to make it to Beijing.

...and a few thoughts

it was a lameass movie, but if certain people didn't prefer my hair long, it would already be cut exactly like Charleze Theron's from Aeon Flux. i'm kind of itching to do it.
other things that I am stopping myself from doing: buying a motor-scooter. I have been walking MILES each day, which I'm sure is very healthy but everyone and their grandmom has a bicycle or a scooter or a motorcycle. I can seriously buy a (cute, yellow, zippy) scooter for $200. so it's *probably* illegal for a foreigner with no china-liscense to drive...i could wear a helmet. who would know?? and my goodness it would be fun...like a live-action video game on crack. shanghai is often like NYC on crack. i don't know what "on crack" is like, but craziness, okay? neverending seas of people with lights and sugar and blaring electronic music and randomness. someone has also brainwashed everyone here and given them all a crazy obsession with fashion. everyone tries incredibly hard to be hip and well-dressed with what little they have, and everyone gets and gives constant up-and-down fashion-check scans, perusals, appraisals, etc. Clothing is booming here. Clothing is born here. You can give a street tailor some clothing and a sketchy description and a week later your outfit is born, right next to a meat-kabob stand and a bicycle repairman.
i love it. right now, at this moment, i don't want to come back. i could spend a year here, easy, and i feel suddenly like taking a million pictures of this city's lights and doing a passle of digital art and then marketing it professionally.
what about a more old fashioned medium, you ask? I've already picked up my calligraphy brushes from the local dime-mart. i just feel frivolous wasting a lot of paper here. and i've seen gorgeous horsehair? brushes the size of your fist but haven't laid out $ for them yet.