Well, it’s been too long since the last post, and some of that has to do with the fact that I have been rather busy, some of it has to do with the fact that I am lazy. So… where to start…
Finishing the LAB Program:
Finally ended a few weeks ago, right around the time that I stopped updating. I had a final presentation and test that I had to do and I really didnt have the time to do anything other than study. Overall, it was a great program and I wish I had the time to stay longer and learn more with my excellent teachers. It was a blast being the only student and having a completely unique class experience.
The Game:
The Asia Cup 2004 was held here in Beijing, and the final came down to China and Japan. You can only imagine the hype that this created. China doesnt exactly like Japan for some obvious reasons. Anyways… I went out with a good friend and some other people, got horribly drunk at a bar, then moved along to a club, and I dont remember much of what else happened. It was a decent game, but Japan unfortunately won 
My Shitstorm of recent fun:
Another reason I stopped updating was due to stress over my student loan that will pay for Japan this Fall. SallieMae decided that although my credit was good enough for loans before with no co-signer, it was no longer good enough. I came up with my alternate plan of staying in China and blowing off my loans in the US. In other words, burning bridges. And transferring to a college here to finish my degree. This must have scared the parents, because they agreed to co-sign for me. The greatest thing was that the day after the agreed to do this, SallieMae approved me without a co-sign. This makes no sense to me, but, whatever. Now, the issue is that I would still like to stay due to finding out how easy it would be to do so.
But, that seemed to be taken care up all nice and neat. WRONG. There is so much more fun going on right now. I have been waiting for my COE from IES so I can apply for my visa. This finally has decided to come tomorrow. And unless I can somehow convince the Japanese embassy that this is in fact an urgent case, I will be in Beijing for at least another half-week. So, I dont know when I have to buy my train ticket for either now. To make things more fun, UWM decided for the second year in a row that it would be OK to modify my loan papers without my consent. Breaking a payment in half that has to be all at once to pay for IES. Last year, this took a half a semester to fix, sigh. And then, there is the issue with the ferry I was planning to take from Shanghai to Osaka. Simply put, they changed their schedule, cancelled my reservation, and decided to be kind enough to at least tell me this. I have found a low airfare direct to Nagoya, so, I will be flying Air China again instead of sailing. Oh well. This all came to my attention within approximately a 5 minute time-window last Thursday night, resulting in me staying up for 36 hours trying to sort everything out. At present, UWM financial aid is full of bumblefucks who cant do anything on time or correctly, ever. IES wants their money. Air China lied to me about them delivering my ticket to me and having me pay on delivery. I dont know when I need my trian ticket for, so, I am still without, and Monday morning I get to run off to the Japanese Embassy to plead my case and get a multiple-entry visa at the same time (shoot me).
Last Night:
Last night was my night of freedom. Went out to a party with some friends. Had a great time. Saw a lot of people who I have run into at various times over the summer. The party was a going away party for a cool guy who has been here 6 years. Party then progressed on to Taku (club) for more drinking and merriment. This was when something messed up happened. When going into the club, outside there were these 10-14 year old girls selling flowers. I have seen them before and it is really sad. On the way in, I gave one 10kuai and told her to take a break. I came out for air a while later and they were still there at 3:30am. In my fun drunken state I talked to them a while. They cant go sleep until all the flowers are gone, and they had a lot of flowers left. I still had a delivery menu from Moon House and offered to get them real food, but they couldn’t read the Chinese. In the end, I gave them 100kuai (about $12) for all the flowers (red roses, about 30-40 of them). This sent them on their way home, and left me with a shitload of flowers to get rid of. Thanks to my friend Di’s suggestion, I gave one to every girl in the club until I was out of flowers. Eh, it was almost 4am, and seeing 5 young girls out on the street like that got my sympathies, esp while being drunk .
So, what am I doing now? I am going out for dinner. 
Here are some pics
ä安 who I like to talk to
样老师 aka Effie
It’s so wrong, it’s right
Yes, I am keeping up with my laundry
Standard decent breakfast, nothing special, costs too much because I am too lazy to go elsewhere
And a picture of where I can get it. It’s literally right outside the door from 四号楼… so, yea, I am lazy
a clerk asked me what I was looking for, I gave him an impossible request that puzzled and amused him. Then, a break off of the herd came over to ask about soy milk seeing as collectivley they could not find it next to the yoghurt. i got to be translator again. yay. This seemed to be the same herd as last night, only in full strength. And I got the cool “whitey knows japanese? wtf?!” stares. made a comment to the clerk about there being too many japanese around lately… he laughed. The herdlet inquired as to what I said. I told them that I said we are glad that more Japanese friends have come to Beida. They laughed. I laughed hardest because neither side knew what I was laughing about. Sigh… shoot me.