The past week has gone well--I'm still adjusting to teaching, but I haven't keeled over or something, which is always a good thing. I'm fairly certain I can survive this week as well, but I'll keep you updated if I don't. Thursdays for me are fairly busy--I have three classes in a row. With the exact same lessons. But they're fun classes. I teach Business English majors, so they are a little more willing to talk in front of the class than Jeff's Architecture and Computer English classes (I went to one of his classes to observe and offer feedback). I'm not sure if I'm teaching easy subject matter or not, though, which is a bit of a problem...but I'll get used to it.

Anyway, this weekend, Jeff and I decided we wanted to go downtown. There are stores near our campus, but they don't have any meat or anything available for purchase. So, we invited two of my students, Stone and Stephanie, to accompany us (mostly so we didn't get lost) and then hopped on the number 10 bus. A lot of people ride the bus in China. According to Stephanie, it is very difficult to get a driver's license in China. Which is probably a good thing. There would be a lot more accidents if more people were driving. Drivers have a habit of turning into opposing traffic rather than waiting... Anyway, the bus ride was pretty good. We got on it while there were still seats available.

Once we reached downtown Xiangtan, Jeff and I offered to treat Stone and Stephanie to pizza. Xiangtan has three American restaurants--McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut. I've been missing bread, so pizza sounded really good. I was expecting Pizza Hut to be more like it is at home--simple. But it's an upscale restaurant in China, if you can believe it. The restaurant was gorgeous. The menu was...well, unusual. We could order squid or escargot, for instance. Pepperoni pizza is called "American style" pizza. Jeff and I collaborated and ultimately decided to order pepperoni pizza and a supreme stuffed crust pizza for the four of us to share. Pizza Hut is comparatively expensive in China. We paid 150 yuan for our meal and drinks. In American dollars, that's about $25. Meals are generally under $1, so that's rather pricey. Neither Stone nor Stephanie had ever had pizza before, so it was quite a treat watching them eat it. Both said they enjoyed it, though Stone had a hard time getting through his second slice. The stuffed crust pizza in China is different--they don't fold the crust completely over the cheese. It looks really cool. I wish I'd brought my camera...but I didn't even think about it.

After we finished our pizza, Stephanie took us to the big market where Jeff and I purchased rice, flour, sugar, and meat. I'm so excited! We've been living off a lot of noodles for the past week. Noodles are good, of course, and so are all the spices available...but my palette is used to eating other foods. I really miss eating sandwiches, for instance. Anyway, once we were all done shopping, we hopped back on the number 10 bus. It was very full, so we stood the entire way. The ride is only about ten or fifteen minutes, though, so it wasn't bad. When we got back, Jeff and I showed Stephanie and Stone Robin Hood: Men in Tights. They thought it was hilarious. Stephanie liked repeating a lot of the phrases.

Well, I should get back to writing my talk for our combined Relief Society and Priesthood meeting. Ciao!