Well, things are going well so far. I'm still in Guilin processing my paperwork then I'm off to my final destination on the 29th. Food here is freaking amazing, haha. I love the karst mountains. Was a bit surprised to see how run down the city looked but I guess it's functional so who cares. I'm really really glad I had a good friend to be with me while I am here, it made things so much easier. I seem to swing in mood frequently; sometimes I want to get on the next plane out of here, other times I think I could stay forever. Sometimes I just want to Who knows, I think my perceptions are changing.

By the way, you guys were sooo right. The first day here, it was so damned hot. It probably would have been ok but the first thing I did when my handlers left was to plug in my AC converter and it quickly shorted out and kicked the circuit breaker or something so I was out of electricity until almost 8pm. No electricity means no A/C and I sweat myself to death the entire day, even in clothes there were silk thin and full of air holes. I think I would have felt the same naked so really no clothes could be recommended. The only way to beat the heat was to take long, cold showers. It was very cool yesterday, though, and today seems to be the same. Perhaps with fall and winter coming I can use my dress clothes until I can find some thin summer clothes.

I'm separated from the other foreign teachers (because I'm only here for a couple of days so they allowed me to stay in their nicer dorm room) but I've still met quite a few of them already. I am still nervous about arriving on an L, giving them my passport to do the paperwork, etc., but all of the FTs here say the same thing: don't worry about it, it's ok. Most of them have been teaching here for 2-4 years so I guess they probably know what they're talking about.

My attitude for now is to simply go with the flow; at worst, I have to have the folks put some money into my bank account so I can buy a new visa and get on a flight out. At best, everyone will be as genuinely nice as they seem and I've found paradise. Time will tell.

JP