Happy Thanksgiving!

It is beginning to hit me that only 2 weeks remain in my program here in Hangzhou, and this is important because I really like the people here and also because I have a lot of work to do before I leave. It may only be two weeks, but I am expected to write thousands and thousands of characters. It is weird because most of my friends here are mentally preparing to go back to the states, they are making lists of the things that they are going to miss and wondering how they are ever going to live without dumplings for breakfast, or how they are going to ever readjust to paying more than $2 for a delicious meal. But not me. I have none of these problems because I am staying here in this lovely, strange, and fascinating country for a very long time.
While my classmates' brains are drifting back to the states, mine is already thinking about the 7 weeks of traveling that I have ahead of me, during which I will be accompanied by various and wonderful travel companions. I am also thinking about my new home in Kunming and starting over in the beautiful city where everything will be completely new again.
But really, I have no need to live in the future because right now is pretty great. I spent this past weekend spreading my time between a tea house and a jazz club. On Friday night my friends and I "won the tea house," meaning we spent seven hours there, drinking tea, eating food, playing games, collapsing on the floor of our private room in fits of laughter, until they kicked us out at 1a.m. On Saturday and Sunday we spent many many hours listening to live music and chatting with the musicians at JZ jazz bar, where the band consists of a singer and bassist from Mauricius, a drummer from Portugal, and one of the best Jazz pianists in China. Random people end up in China. We all wish that we found this club months ago, but we acknowlegde that it is probably better for our budgets and grade point averages that we did not.
This week is our last week of weekly tests. Next week we have a review week, and then the following week is finals. And somewhere in there we are expected to write thousands of characters, no big deal.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are all going together to have a "traditional" thanksgiving feast at an Irish Pub in Hangzhou called "the shamrock."
These last two weeks will probably fly by.
Oh, and my internet in my room has decided to suddenly stop working, so if you have not had any contact with me for a while, that is probably the reason why. Having an apple computer in China is extremely mafan.