Xindu, July 11, 1999

Ted

The only problem with our otherwise luxurious apartment is the number and variety of life forms that we have to share it with. Well, actually, there are not that many of them but they are very noticeable. The first one that we met was the spider. I named it Ted. It is as large and as hairy as a bear. We haven't killed it because none of us feels comfortable killing something that can make a big splat (what do you do with it afterwards? Scrape it?). I saw Ted this morning running around our living room and this evening he watched me take a shower. I tried to persuade him to go somewhere else while I used the bathroom but, I guess, he didn't really have anywhere to go. He is too big to fit into any of the cracks in the wall and I'd rather he didn't to the kitchen or to the living room. He just sat at one place and did not cause any trouble so stopped complaining.

Hoeteck goes crazy with our laptop in the living room of our apartment

Besides Ted, we also have some cockroaches. They are as big as your thumb and thus likely to produce a big splat when killed. That's why we (Hoeteck, to exact) expelled only one of them. The others hid or ran away and we see them only on very rare occasions. They do not seem to like light. Other than Ted and the cockroaches, we have no other interesting creatures living with us. As far as we know.

Today we finished preparing for our first class, which will take place tomorrow. The network is still a little bit flaky but we hope it will not be too noticeable. Apparently at the beginning of tomorrow's class there is going to be some kind of an official ceremony where somebody important (probably Principal Wang) will give a speech. News reporters are also expected. Oh boy!

I am really glad we came here several days before we started teaching. We ended up having just enough time to get everything set up, plan our first classes and familiarize ourselves with the local hierarchy. I really feel that we are reasonably well prepared for the first few days. After tomorrow we will know much better at what pace we can proceed and we will plan the rest of the course.

There really is not much to do in Xindu. Our daily trips to "downtown Xindu" tend to revolve around food. Today we had ice cream.