9.4

Pretty quiet night in Maolan. Sometimes it's nice when nothing weird happens.

9.3

Back from Lincang with some very important purchases: Chinese Camouflage Jacket and a loaf of (中国味道) bread.

9.17 Minutes From an Unnecessary Meeting

(A note to the reader. The Chinese government has a knack for holding extremely long, extremely boring meetings with extremely long, pointless speeches. As a teacher, I am employed by the Chinese government, and am required to attend some of these meetings. The following account was recorded during a weekly staff meeting held on a Friday afternoon. Most of the speeches were in the local dialect or poor Mandarin, so I had to use my imagination for some of the part in this record. All names have been translated into English)

4:17 Mister Teacher opens the proceedings.

4:17:30 (Proceedings not thoroughly opened, brief chaos reigns for 5 minutes)

4:22 An eruption of gurgles and half sentences in thick dialect from Mr. Teacher formally opens the proceedings. An in-depth summary of Yunnan's educational system enthralls the audience of this weekly staff meeting.

8.31

A sport I don't think I'll ever understand. Old men spinning large granite tops.

8.30

Nervous-looking kids and their dads sign in at registration unter the big tree in the courtyard

8.29

Little old ladies at a Buddhist temple after dinner in Maolan.

8.28

Strangely stunned that China has home makeover shows on TV.