8.11. wo kao!

Amazing. Several things that have me lawling out loud...

1. YouTube video "Cat Vs. Candle." Exactly what it sounds like. Also, YouTube video of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" in Chinese! It's really awesome... I really like this glimpse of Chinese musical theatre.

2. The following conversation:

connie: I was going to invite you to something
connie: but now I'm afraid you won't want to go
lucy: what?
connie: beach volleyball, next Monday at 6 p.m.
lucy: what?
lucy: where? with whom?
connie: lol i'm afraid we won't be playing
connie: but spectating =)
lucy: okay where?
connie: wherever they hold the beach volleyball competition
lucy: what?
connie: hahahahaha
connie: LUCY
lucy: wait, is this for the olympics?
connie: YES
connie: hahahahhaa
connie: LUCY

YES.

Two tickets for August 11th, 2008 18:00, 朝阳公园沙滩排球场. Bitchez. I'm so pumped for actually seeing the Olympics, and beach volleyball too! CANNOT WAIT.

3. At summer camp, a few campers asked me about my childhood in China, and I told them about my best friend from kindergarten, Ma Li Chen, and how we were best friends because we lived across the street from each other, and had the same last name, and were in the same grade... and the night before I left for America, she cried a lot, and gave me presents. And we never saw each other again.

Until like, maybe this Tuesday. But definitely this next Sunday.

Because one of those campers (those sneaky little children) asked me for her information, and asked one of her college-age friends, who was tutoring her, to find my best friend. AND LO AND BEHOLD: she was found. She called me today, and we talked a little excitedly. And then we talked online tonight, and it was really incredibly awesome to be able to find her. We have each other's cellphone numbers now, and also exchanged QQ numbers. And I'm so glad we've found each other again. I will definitely write home about this... and hopefully we're having dinner Tuesday but if not, we're definitely going to go to her grandmother's house at Beishida, which is her childhood home, and across the street from where I used to live! Talk about a stroll down memory lane...

Finally, this week, everything has been falling into place - I have so much to look forward to here, and it's grounding me in China, in the Chinese mindset, in the here and now. And I have not felt this good for a very long time.

Thank goodness, is all I have to say.