Friday/Saturday

On Friday, I blobbed* a bit in the afternoon before heading over to the Kiwi household for company. I ended up crashing at their place and then waking up to have an awesome Western breakfast: bacon, waffles, etc. I followed Mr. Kiwi's lead and made a waffle with bacon, syrup, and 1/2 a banana. It was delish! Funny thing happened as I was eating. I was cutting the waffle and raising my fork to my mouth (while watching the others at the table do the same) when I suddenly realized that something was very weird. Yes, I was once again eating with a knife and fork after almost two whole months of only using chopsticks!! =)

Ran home after breakfast to take a quick shower and meet up with 2 of my students to go eat Hot Pot. We had a great time. It was pretty similar to the hot pot in Beijing, except our pot of boiling broth had a divider down the middle so that we could enjoy two broths-- one la (spicy) and one bu la (not spicy). My two students ordered a wide variety of dishes to cook-- spinach, squid, clams, beef, mutton, Chinese cabbage, and cow's stomach. The last was obviously the most interesting, though definitely not the most savory. It is pretty much what one would imagine it would be-- hairy from the many cilia that aid in quick digestion and absorption of vitamins. Pretty sturdy meat as well. A bit chewy. Perhaps the only surprise was that it was white as a newborn baby's bottom =) So, I can check the digestive innards off my list of "Things I've eaten but needn't be repeatin.'"

After lunch, we walked over to the beach to meet back up with the Kiwis and to got out on the water. Below is a picture of the waves only beginning to pick up. They were over our heads by the time we finally pulled the boat in and took it back to storage for the winter.

I went water skiing and also got to drive the boat for others. It was insane!! We will have to wait until spring for more water action. =(