trying to be attractive

today was the day that everything came together. an apartment all to myself right next door to the province police department - can't get much safer than that. set up at the school with the program details. bought a wireless router so i can access my connection to the outside world from the comfort of my well loved, but comfortable leather chairs. A/C works. the food tastes great, life in China is pretty good these days. OH and i have a maid who comes by 5 days a week to clean all of my 'messy' life up (basically makes the bed and takes out the little garbage i generate). She even hand washes my clothes. i'm not sure i'm going to let her do the underwear though....

my apartment is about a 1/2 mile from the school. tasks for tomorrow are to buy a bike and get my blood tested so i can use the university's pool. apparently, you have to prove that you don't carry any comminicable diseases in order to swim there. perhaps we should instigate that program in the states.

so far, i haven't run into too much of Chinese red tape. although i am often told what i want, even if i have expressed something else. for instance the guy who lived in this place before me was a Brit who apparently liked to collect wine and beer bottles because they are displayed all over the house. the landlord, at her suggestion and my agreement, asked the maid to please get rid of them. she didn't want to and started telling me that they kinda spruced the place up and made it look nice...... fortunately, the landlord inisted that she get rid of it all.

my landlord is one of the top judges in the city. i'm not sure exactly what her position is, but her driver said that she is the #1 judge in her area of expertise. my Chinese coutnerpart at Nanjing University referred me to this place so it pays to be connected in China. again, if anyone has a hankering to come on over to China i have plenty of room for you to stay and then some.

always remember: "Eats the fish the girl to be most attractive" - (who is eating who here?)