Chalk and Talk

did you know that I can't see my own blog? It's true! That means I don't know if you saw the first time I made this video. But anyway, I made it again just in case.

sideways video

so okay, this video is sideways and not too clear, but I still had to film it. There's a giant earthmover with a jackhammer arm demolishing half of this building, and in the other half there's somebody with an open cigarette shop.

If' I hadn't been in a hurry I would have gone back and re-filmed the whole thing.

Baotsu

sorry about the angled, "batman-style" camera, but you have to admit it is pretty awesome.


admittedly the couple (I think they're a couple...) that run the place do know my order, but I still try to say it every time. I think they've noticed my improvement, and they're always so happy to see me, it's really nice. The place is right on the way to the high school I teach at, and if they didn't use a charcoal burner to heat the place, it'd be perfect.
also I accidentally uploaded this this video.

When

When will this city open its secret heart to me? It took me five years to see the Soapbox Derby, would it take five years for Beijing to reveal its center?

Yesterday the surly cook at the open air restaurant near our apartment kneaded a ball of dough the size and shape of a football. Then he grapped some sort of special tool and, holding the ball to his chest, with rapid motions shaved off hundreds of tiny noodles, one at a time, into a giant steaming pot.

I will stay until August, but you are not under a deadline Beijing. I will come back. I can wait.

videos

we're having some trouble with video, I'm going to try this again....

Crowded bus and Jian Bing writ large

The person speaking on the bus is the driver, telling people to move back.

minnie mouse backpacks race

these two rolling backpacks used the identical Minnie mouse clip art.

counting

so you can count to ten on one hand here

Also you can dualbox hats.

Pros and Cons

So I'll be going to a dental hospital to get my root canal and implants, but for all the filing, crowning, and bridgework I went to a plain old clinic. They're tiny storefronts where people on the sidewalk can look in and see you in the chair.

Pros:
1) cost 10% what they would in the US
2) walk in service
3) modern equipment
4) the dentist will photograph every single cavity before and after, to prove that he's actually doing something with all that drilling.
5) removed the stump of a tooth mostly covered by gum without referring me to a dental surgeon or even charging me anything
6) did something at one point that made smoke come out of my mouth.

Cons:
1) speaks no english
2) doesn't turn off his cell phone
3) will chuckle when you scream in the chair.

Sara asked me what I meant by the chuckle. Was it like he didn't beleive me or what? It's more like "hahaha, okay, you win, I'll stop the agony."

Halloween in November

This video was taken during the five minutes of "free time" my students often get at the end of class to work on homework and listen to the super sounds of the 60's.

If you should desire a sort of strangled, choking, hate claw its way up your spine

become a copyeditor

Der Bomber

Sorry neither is particularly clear, but you know.

Here's a blurry photo

our apartment

pretty much the only two odd things about our apartment are 1) the shower and toilet being separated only by a curtain, and 2) that our balcony is in fact a windowed-in room (dust storms make a real balcony unusable). Of course you can't drink the tap water or flush toilet paper, but come on, that's life in the big city. Am I right? Know what I'm sayin'?

New Day

Sorry 'bout the cussing folks, sometimes a man with a mouthful of beautiful teeth has gotta express himself.

The procedures:
Bridge and two crows on the top left
Four joined crowns on the four front top
Three crowns on the top right
Three crowns on the bottom left

possibly one root canal, and then three implants bottom right

and all of it's affordable, all of its available

Five years of pain. Three teeth extracted days before my wedding, hundreds of meals spoilt by a sharp jab as I try to bite down. And it's been years since I've felt the sensual pleasure of really chewing something

Toby