银行, 吉他, 豆腐

When I start to get over-confident in my ability to perform every day functions in China life takes a sledgehammer to my confidence.  For example, I went to the bank to Western Union some money home so that I can pay those pesky student loans and possibly buy a plane ticket for winter travels.  Last year my first Western Union adventure was one of the biggest headache inducing expeditions I've had, but I was naively expecting it to be a piece of cake this time around.  They wouldn't surprise me with the irrational requirement that I have to have the ID card of a native even though the money has nothing to do with any Chinese citizens.  I was fully prepared, walking past the largest, fanciest branches of the Agricultural Bank of China.  They wouldn't fool me by their size or grandeur.  The western Union was hidden in a smaller, farther branch I knew.  When I got to the location of the bank I gazed upon a pile of rubble and mentally gave myself a few swift kicks in the rear for thinking any building here is safe from the sudden demolitions ravaging Yichang.  Buildings are destroyed and replaced overnight on a regular basis.  So a quick errand once again became an epic battle with the streets of China.

 

To make a long story short, I was victorious in sending all my money to my mom--which incidentally did not bring with it the sense of accomplishment most victories in China do thanks to my now-empty bank account.  Katie-1 China-0.

 

Tonight one of my friends called and asked me if I wanted to come to a guitar class with him, to learn from a "Guitar Master," and since I've had a guitar decorating my living room for the last 8 months I felt it was about time I used it.  At first I had to endure 10 minutes of the kid next to me extolling the brilliance of Avril Lavigne and I was wishing I'd said no to the invitation, but soon I met some kindred spirits.  On my other side a student started playing some Dylan and from there I met some people with good taste in music, and am therefore exceedingly glad I went, not to mention there's a chance I might come out of this with the ability to play a song or two.

 

I'll leave you with a story from lunch:

"Hey Katie," I paused with the noodles halfway to my open mouth and glanced at Utopia from the corner of my eye.  I held my breath in anticipation of his next sentence.  He lifted his eyebrows in excitement and proceeded, "I want to be a business man someday and I will sell tofu in America.  And when I sell tofu in America, I will give you all the tofu you want for free!"

 

It's all my dreams come true.