Recurring Dream

This entry is going to diverge a little bit from some of the main running themes in these past few weeks. But I woke up with this on my mind, so I thought I'd write about it.

I'm not much of a dreamer at night. Rarely dream vividly and rarely remember them afterwards. But there is one recurring dream that I have at least once every few months or year. I'm not asking to be analyzed here, but you're welcome to leave comments with your theories. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not the only one who has this dream.

My dream is about school. Usually it's high school, but sometimes it's college. We're nearing the end of the semester. Finals are coming up. And while I'm doing fine in all of my classes, I come to a sudden realization that I was also enrolled in a math class that I have forgotten about all semester. That is, I went to the class back during the first week... picked up the syllabus and found out when the test was... but never went back. (Ok, so that part kinda sounds like a few of my college classes)

So then, upon realizing this, I find myself scrambling to see if homework (an entire semester's worth of homework) will be accepted late. I have to dig up the syllabus so I can find out what the textbook is. I have to figure out what the test will be on so that I can cram for finals coming up. I'm trying to email my teacher to explain that it just completely slipped my mind that I was even enrolled in this class (never in my dream do I actually get to a conversation with my teacher though).

Somewhere in the midst of all this scrambling and stressing out, I wake up. And usually the first things that go through my mind when I wake up are, "Wait, am I not in school anymore? I graduated, right? RIGHT? Where am I...?"

Celebrating One Month of Koreanness

One of our team members here made BiBimBop, and Alvin fell in love with it. So we bought the magic sauce, and Alvin has been kindly suggesting that I make it. He even went so far to cut up all the vegetables the night before for me so I will be sure to make it.

So here are all the ingredients cooked:
Carrots, Celery, Dried Tofu, Mushrooms


Beef


Spinach


Magic Sauce


And here is the final product:
BiBimBop


We have been here for exactly a month, and the running joke is that we are Korean. Last week, one ex-pat asked our team if we could bring kimchee to a picnic. At first, we said, sure, but then we started wondering why they asked us. Eventually it came out that this person thought we were all Korean-Americans. Haha, funny. So to celebrate one month here, here is BiBimBop for our new Korean heritage.

Coffee Beans from Yunnan

I have decided that, as long as there is no Starbucks in this city, having coffee beans shipped or brought here by friends/family (though it certainly will be a pleasant blessing from time to time) is not a sustainable solution. I'm so grateful for the many people who have offered to send me coffee beans. If I called in all of these gracious offers, I could perhaps end up with 60+ lbs of coffee here by next month!

But no... to do this in the long-term is not sustainable.

So, at the suggestion of @rmchinn, I am now on the quest for local coffee beans. (Although sure, until I find them, I might be asking some folks to send some espresso roast or some sumatra).

My quest began at the Starbucks China website, where I found a video commemorating Starbucks being in China now for 10 years. In honor of this auspicious year, Starbucks issued a new coffee blend, called "South of the Clouds" - this is the literal translation for Yunnan (云南) Province. Yunnan is in south central China, a mountainous region with a mild climate - perhaps one of the best places in all of China to grow coffee beans. Starbucks' "South of the Clouds" blends beans from the Baoshan region of Yunnan, along with beans from Latin America and the Asia Pacific.

Armed with this knowledge - that there are coffee beans grown in China - I am now on a quest to find people "in the know" to figure out how I might get beans from Yunnan. This began yesterday by asking some import foods retailers if they know where I can get coffee beans. They pointed me to the Goji berry salespeople... perhaps they might know. But they didn't. So, next is to ask people at the tea stores (I hope they don't get offended).

Somewhere in this city, or (if necessary) province, I will find coffee beans. I will keep you updated on my quest...

The English Names We Use

I know this sounds ethnocentric, but sometimes Alvin and I use Western names to identify places in our new city. Either we don't know the real name, or it helps our teammates and me to quickly identify the place, instead of saying the Chinese name, and then having to describe it if the person doesn't recognize the name.

So here are some of the places with new names:

"Walmart" = This is the super-super market in our city. We used to call it "Target on steroids," but then we realized that is Walmart. It sells everything: washers, fridges, shoes, clothes, school supplies, food, groceries, etc.

"mini-Ikea" = This is a small store where the owners have bought items from Ikea, and mark it up a little to resell it. There is no Ikea in this city, but for those who like Ikea stuff, you can come here or order from their catalog.

"6th Floor Museum" = No, this is not a museum to retell of JFK assassination, it is a bargaining market, but it has about six floors.

"carnival" = The big street market outside of Walmart that sells street food, and plays games like shoot the balloons, and ring around the small objects.

I Wonder if KFC has WiFi

It's coming up on 8am here, Friday morning. Bethany is meeting up with some women here at home in just about an hour. Which means I'll probably grab some of my things and disappear for a few hours. If this was any city State-side, the next step would have been easy. Hop in the car and head to Starbucks. Any Starbucks. And I could walk in, order my drink, plug in, and feel right at home and carry on.

But that's not so easy here. Outside of our home, I haven't found that getaway place yet.

It was interesting to hear recently from another expat that she spent her afternoon studying at... KFC. An ice cream with coffee dessert, some books, and a few hours of alone time. From what I hear, lots of local university students study there.

So who knows... maybe I'll head to KFC. Hmm, but at 8am? Are they even open? I might go find out right now...

The Elliptical Machines are So Scary!

Almost every complex has a public elliptical machine, but every time I see one, I cringe.

That is because, back in 2006, I got on one in the same city we are in right now, and it gave me a bone bruise. The machine was defective, and as a result, while I was using it, my left foot dislodged from the foot area, and then the metal leg thingy came back and hit me in the shin. It really hurt, and for a couple minutes, I thought I broke my leg. Eventually the pain went away, but now, to this day, I have a dent in my shin. It is about the size of half a dime, and only about 1 mm deep.

Here is a picture of one of the machines at our complex:


Right now, I can't even fathom getting on one of the machines. They scare me so much. Also, since I am in the same city as "the incident," I don't want to get on one of the machines, just in case it is the one that dented me.

I need to be able to find another way of working out without using the metal machines. Or, maybe I should just get over my fear and use them. Aaahhh!

Thankful for Skype

One of the many things that has made this entire overseas transition much easier/smoother has been Skype. We love Skype.

It's amazing to think that, 50 years ago, to get any communication from someone living on this side of the ocean to that side of the ocean, you would probably send a letter, carried by boat, which would take maybe 6 weeks to get there. And then, a return trip for the response. So, we're talking about something like 12 weeks just to have a conversation!

And then 20 years ago, I guess you could make long distance phone calls... but even then, it would be somewhat expensive ($0.50/minute?) and the quality would be pretty mediocre.

Nowadays, thanks to Skype (and yes, a couple other offerings of similar technology - but we really just Skype), I'm able to have realtime audio and video conversations with friends and family. Just turn on my microphone, turn on the webcam... and we can start talking. And the audio quality for high-speed-internet users is pretty good... often clearer than cell phones and landlines. It's been great to be able to see our family and catch up with them regularly (got to wish our dad's both Happy Father's Day - this time, we got the date right). And it's always refreshing to be able to see and hear from good friends.

Thanks to these modern technological conveniences like Skype, we don't feel so far away after all.

I Know Where Rock Music Comes From

Alvin and I went to this park two times last week, and as we were walking along, I thought, "what is that music?" I realized it was Chinese Opera sung in the middle of the park. But, the speakers and the microphone were not the best quality, and so it sounded very much like an 80's rock band, like Aerosmith or Kiss. When the operarist would go high, all the feedback in the mic would come out and sound like Steven Tyler at the height of his songs. I thought, man, rock music must have come from Chinese Opera fed through a bad PA system.

Well, when we finally got to the middle of the park, we saw that it was not a bunch of rowdy teenagers in a mosh pit.

Here is us trying to take a discreet picture:

Friday Night Dinner: Chinese Takeout

Bethany was out with the girls for Friday night, so I decided to have a quiet evening to myself. Oh, but what to do for dinner? I decided to go with Chinese takeout. Which means I walk down the stairs, out the front gate of our complex, and then stop in at one of the restaurants that is attached to our complex exterior. So convenient.

So I brought home 羊肉饺子 (lamb dumplings) and 凉皮 ("liang pi" is a spicy noodle dish served at room temperature - refreshing on a hot summer day!).

No wife at home to cook for me, but for the equivalent of $1.50 USD, I think I did alright. :)

Biking

I have been biking for exactly three weeks, and I wanted to let you know about my experiences and feelings about biking.

At first, I was really nervous about biking. In the last 15 years, I have only biked on very opened streets or on stationary bikes (not helpful to train to bike on these streets). So when purchasing a bike, the salesperson highly recommended me to buy a better bike than Alvin's. After purchasing the bikes, I immediately understood why my bike suited me better. It rides at a slower pace (which has nothing to do with my pedaling), and the brake response time is super fast. That means I can see that I'm crashing into something 5 seconds before I crash, and then I can brake up to the last second, and avoid the crash. I have had many close calls, but no crashes, yet. Actually, today, I by accident ran into the back of Alvin's bike wheel.

Over the last three weeks, I have started to become more comfortable with the bike. I realize that instead of cars avoiding bikes, over where I live now, bikes avoid cars. I really do feel like Frogger.

The nemesis to my biking is the west gate out of my apartment complex. The gate is quite small, and I have difficulty getting out without putting my leg down or once, putting my hand on the wall to brace myself from crashing. The forth time I went through it, I succeeded. So I thought, I am getting better at biking. But then, I had difficulty for the next twenty times. Every time I had to put my leg down, Alvin would say to me "没有成功 (mei you cheng gong）,“ or in English, "fail." I started to feel like a failure at biking. Yet, the last three days, I have succeeded 4/5 times. Yes, I go at a snail's pace when going through, and my foot has come off the pedal, but I didn't put my foot down.

Here is a picture of the gate. Looking at the white wall, I know I am not the only one that has not "cheng gonged."

Just-In-Time Language Learning

Whenever I have a specific task to complete (e.g. go and buy something), I usually need to have do a little bit of language research (Google Translate or dict.cn) at home on the computer first. This is so that I have the basic vocabulary for some key terms that I'm sure to use during my upcoming business transaction. This has led to language learning on a just-in-time need-to-know basis.

Here are few terms that I have come to learn, out of necessity, in the last two weeks...

无限路由器 = wú xiàn lù yóu qì = Wireless Router

宽带 = kuān dài = Broadband (literally "Wide Belt")

蓝牙 = lán yá = Bluetooth (literally "Blue Tooth")

存款 = cún kuǎn = Deposit (at a bank)

提款 = tí kuǎn = Withdrawal (at a bank)

电钻 = diàn zuàn = Electric Drill

螺丝 = luó sī = Screw

送货 = sòng huò = Delivery

Language learning is fun! Another language learning highlight for today was... I was flipping through various online-streaming Chinese tv stations... and I came across one that was showing A Few Good Men translated into Chinese. Having seen the movie a few times already (in English), knowing the context of conversations helped me to track with the Chinese translation. But I missed the famous courtroom scene - "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!" - I wonder how that would have translated...

For The Love of Cheeses

Guess what? I found cheese! As some of you may know, I really like eating cheese. I have found five different kinds of cheese here: grated parmesan, gouda, American slices, mozzarella, and cheddar. So I have bought everything except for the gouda. The gouda was very expensive. I took most of the cheese and froze half of them so I can use it later.



So because I have found so much cheese, I will commemorate this moment with the cheesiest poem ever.

How do I love cheese? Let me count the wheys,
I don't care if you are mozzarella or brie,
You are so very goud-a to me,
You may be yellow, blue, or gray,
But I love you most if you are sliced and put on a tray.
I am so fond-ue of you, you see,
Oh how I love, how I love my cheese.
I thank the one that fed the cows the hay,
Because cheese, when shredded, you are so very grate,
When I see you, my stomach must obey,
I am blessed to not be in a lactose intolerant state,
Cheese is great in every culture and prepared in any way,
Even with age, you look sharp at any rate,
I know I am milking it, but I love you cheese, and that is all I wanted to say.

So please join with me to celebrate cheese. Do you have any cheesy jokes? What's your favorite cheese?

Happy Father's Day!

In the last 10 days, I have... diverted a water pipe to install a washing machine, installed two new faucets, changed out some light switches, and installed three ceiling lighting fixtures. And I wouldn't have been able to do any of this... without my dad.

Although I may not have always enjoyed it at the time, I'm thankful now for the many times that my dad took me aside to fix things around the house or at someone else's house. I remember working with him to change out a leaky faucet, replace a toilet, replace a screen door or a window, and do random electrical work here and there too. Use the right tool for the right job... that's one of the dad's maxims that has stuck in my mind for decades now.

How else would I have known to wrap the plumbing tape in the direction of the threads? Or to twist connecting wires in the direction of the tightening wire splice caps (though they rarely use caps here... they just tape it up with electrical tape and say that's good enough)?

So, fittingly, Father's Day is here. Thanks, dad, for helping me to learn the ropes so that, now that I'm out here overseas, I can do some of those things that help to make our home a little bit more like home. Happy Father's Day!

[Ok, so this is how disoriented we still are with regards to timezones and dates. We just found out, after I wrote this post, that Father's Day is... NEXT week! Oh well. Early Happy Father's Day nonetheless!]

Do Not Fear, The John Is Here

Thanks for patiently waiting. Here are our pictures for our bathroom:

The shower is sectioned off by the curtain along with the toilet. The toilet gets wet, but if you shower in the evening, the toilet area is dry by morning.



The Sink


The washing machine has to be in the bathroom because of the drain. That means, in our shower, you can wash clothes, go to the bathroom, and shower all at the same time.


And here is my favorite part. Because the toilet area gets wet, we needed a toilet paper container. So I stumbled upon this mushroom. I think it is very cute. I also like how every guy our age that we show the mushroom to makes a comment on Super Mario Bros. and how touching it will make us bigger.

Friday is Day of Relax

For now, we're trying to make Fridays a day of not running errands. Instead, just a day to rest, perhaps adventure around the city aimlessly a bit, and enjoy time together. So, on Friday, after a morning of catching up with some friends and family on Skype, and then a quick lunch of yummy, spicy cold noodles from a nearby restaurant, we ventured out on our bikes to find a place to sit and pass the time for a bit.

About 20 minutes away on bike, we came to a small lake with an interesting bridge and platform built into it.





It turned out to be a little fishing/restaurant/bar business. There are tables lined up all around the side, and people sit at the tables with fishing poles over the edge. Meanwhile, they can order cold beers or grilled meats from the lao-ban (老板 = boss/owner) in the middle of the platform who runs the place. We asked if we could just sit for awhile and relax
(not ordering any beer or food), and they said that'd be fine. So, that's what we did.



We sat for maybe about an hour and a half. Bethany was drawing, while I was taking some pictures. We were both just relaxing under the shade and waiting to see if any fish would be caught.



All in all, we saw 2 fish get hooked, and one of them got away. But, when you catch a fish, the 老板 comes by, takes it, and goes and cleans it for you. They may even grill it right then and there for you to eat, but we left before we saw that part.

After stopping at the market, we biked home and got ready for date night. Date night, we've decided, consists of finding a restaurant with doors (thanks, es, for the great idea!). That means not going to a restaurant whose opening is made of a rubberized plastic curtain meant to keep bugs out. So, for Friday night... we decided to go... to KFC. It was delicious. Someday in the future, we'll probably shoot some pictures of KFC food and write another blog entry on it.

Then (and here's my favorite part), we walked through the night market, where the street is lined with people selling various things, including clothes. For awhile now, I've been wanting to get some shirts that would help me to blend in a bit more. We've noticed that all the shirts here have English on them. Well, kinda.

I bought these two shirts for the equivalent of $6 USD. Don't they rock?



I love how this shirt says "Engineered" and has a not-quite-the-peace-sign and not-quite-the-mercedes-emblem for a logo.

Comfort Foods

During the last two weeks, I have had my up and down moments during the transition, and I realized that when I am having my down moments, I have turned to one food item. Gummy bears.

Alvin and I weren't even planning on packing gummy bears, but thanks to Mama Lee, she surprised us with a couple bags of junk candy hidden in our suitcases. The last few years in the states, I have avoided eating candy because I was afraid I would get cavities. So I slowly weaned myself off all candy. But the last few weeks, when I feel I need a pick-me-upper, I grab the bag of gummy bears in the fridge, and start chomping. They are a easy treat because I don't need any language skills to get them and eat them, and they remind me of home.

For some reason, I really like the green gummy bears. They are my favorite. The other day, I was in a stressful moment, so I grabbed a handful of bears and put them on a napkin. I saw that there were three green gummy bears. So I was going to eat one to start, one when I was half way through, and one to top it off. But Alvin came over and grabbed a green one. Noooo!!! I freaked out. He had no idea why I was making such a big deal about the green one. So he grabbed the bag, and started giving me all the green ones. Noooo!!! Then the next time I have a stressful moment, there will be no green gummy bears to cheer me up. Eventually I explained to Alvin and he understood, but still thought I was being a little obsessive.

I guess I should find another way to destress instead of eating candy; also, I am on my last bag of gummy bears.

What candy helps you de-stress? Do you think green gummy bears taste different from the other colors?

More Things Food

I am positive that there will be many, many more entries in the future that pertain to all things food. There's just so much to share about regarding food... restaurants, street food, how inexpensive it is, what you can buy in stores, produce in markets, what results in digestive unpredictability, etc.

But for today, I just wanted to write another entry on food, even though Bethany's post yesterday was also on food.

First, Bethany cooked dinner at home again tonight. Maybe it's the fresh ingredients from the market down the street... maybe it's the super hot gas burner stove... or maybe my wife just rocks. Probably all three. But the home-cooked food has been so good. Here is a dish from tonight's dinner - it's kind of like kung pao ji ding, but without the peanuts and slightly less spicy. Nonetheless, it was delicious. Here's a picture to make your mouth water...



Now (and I'm sure there will be more posts on this topic), some quick snapshots of cool snacks that you can get out here in the grocery. I am a big fan of how they have cooler flavors for snacks and drinks out here. For example...

Sure, mint oreos are pretty good, and I haven't been able to find that out here. But, strawberry... that's pretty good too!



And ok, I haven't been able to find jalapeño kettle chips. But, on the average, the flavors out here are way more creative than "salt & vinegar" or "sour cream 'n onion." Here are some fun flavors for Lay's and for Pringles...





Looking forward to finding some other cool snacks that we enjoy out here... sodas, candy, chips, cookies, and other junk food. Will post pictures of any other cool ones that we find...

Home Cooked Meal

I really enjoy cooking at home. It is my way of relaxing and making sure that I get the nutritional value that I need. But this last week I haven't been able to cook a full meal because I didn't have everything that I needed to cook. Although I have cooked a dish here and there to accompany the take-outs, it was not until today that I was able to make a full home cooked meal.

The stove is a little different, but it can make the food taste more like a Chinese restaurant. First, it is a gas stove that ranges from "very hot to flaming." There is no such thing as a slow simmer. Second, the flames from the gas stove envelope the wok (the side of the wok has heat directly around it), and therefore the whole wok gets very hot, so I can flash fry the food.

Also, another difference is that in the states I would usually have to go to a specialty grocery store to find Asian groceries, here it only has Asian produce. I have to go to a specialty store to find produce for other types of cuisine. Also, currently I am shopping not at a grocery store, but in the open-air market. Quite an interesting concept, hopefully we can get pictures up soon.

Can you guess what dishes these are? The vegetable in the last one is probably not as typical in a US grocery market, but I will give you a smiley face if you are close.

Meet The Press

Friday morning was one that I was looking forward to for... weeks. It was my first morning in our new home... with hot water available. I was so excited to try out my new French Press. This was the beginning of how I would be making coffee for, potentially, for the rest of my life. So here it is, my Friday morning... in pictures...

The Equipment - all carefully laid out the night before.



Sugar - the basic white sugar here is a little bit wet and fluffy.


Milk - sold here, in boxes with about 18 pouches each. Unrefrigerated. Seems to be fine with everyone else, so it's fine with me.


Whole Bean Coffee - 1 Pound of Starbucks Komodo Dragon. Don't worry... I didn't brew the whole pound. But, ask me again in 2 weeks.


Hand Grinder - Made by GSI, purchased at REI. Had a lot of trouble finding a place that would sell inexpensive hand grinders. But I couldn't get one that plugged in, since outlet voltages are different here. But would you believe it... REI had one, for $15! For all those coffee addicts who go camping and have no electricity...


Hand Grinder mounted on French Press - The grinder is designed to be able to mount onto various size presses. Convenient, eh? Will be working to perfect the level of coarseness for the grinding. By my second half-pot on Friday morning, I think I had it pretty good. By my third half-pot on Friday afternoon :) I had the coarseness at about where I liked it.


Add Hot Water... and Wait - There it is. Doing it's magic. Doesn't it look so good and tempting? Caution - do not lick your computer screen.


Final Product - So good. French Press coffee is the kind that leaves you with a little bit of mud at the bottom.


All in all... awesome. Now I can't wait to start my morning this way every day.

Top 5

I'm alive, and I'm doing ok. And ok is good with me, for right now.

A friend once told me, when I was in a different city for training, that I should think of five things I like about that city. So I thought I would do that about the city we are in.

Here is my top 5:

5. Living life here includes exercising. When I was in the states, I would constantly be planning out my week to make sure I get all the workouts I need. Over here, whenever I go grocery shop, or go to our friend's house, we hop on our bike or we walk. Also, since we live on the fourth floor, it is kind of like doing stairmaster. Eventually we will start putting in more exercise routines (like going to the yoga place on our road), but for now, running errands makes us bike a lot.

4. We are the Koreans. When we go to a store and start speaking, the store owners automatically think we are Korean. The reason is because we look Asian, but do not speak the language well. Since there are also a lot of Koreans here, we get called the Koreans. This is cool for Alvin because he always pretends he is Korean when we go to Korean restaurants, and orders in his Korean accent.

3. I really like my apartment. It is bigger than my place in Dallas. It has three rooms, and wood-like floors. My favorite purchases for the place so far are my bedroom curtains and my toilet paper dispenser, which you will see in the bathroom post.

2. The food is so yummy. This past week, when we visit other ex-pats, we have eaten spaghetti, burgers with swiss cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, banana bread, salads, cookies, chocolate cake, etc. I am shocked that we have eaten so much western food. Yet, Alvin and I were starting to crave Asian foods. Good thing we are in East Asia. So we have gone out to eat a couple times, and really like the food. There are a lot of noodle dishes here and most of them are very very spicy. Mmmm, so satisfying. We made a funny mistake the other day. I pointed to an item that looked like the word for beef, but instead it turned out to be beef luncheon meat (spam!). When we got home, we looked up what I was trying to order, and it turned out it was beef stomach lining. I'm glad we got the luncheon meat instead.

1. Everyone here has been so nice to us, well at least me. Even when we don't buy their stuff, they still help us with directions and want to know more about us. Alvin says an old woman yelled at him, but I was an eye/ear witness and I think Alvin was somewhat at fault for the interaction.

Home At Last

We have moved in to our place!

Sorry that we've been somewhat internet-awol in the last 72 hours. Last night was our 2nd night in our new place, and now we finally have our wifi network setup and going.

You'll hear more from us in the next few days, for sure... but probably what you really want to see for right now... are some pictures of our home!

So, here you go...

The View - We live on the 4th floor.


Our Living Room - Not quite furnished yet. We're taking our time.


The Kitchen - Still have some kitchen essentials to buy, along with some shelves and other storage helps, etc.


The Bedroom - With bed and closet (to the left, not really shown in picture)


The Bathroom - Haha... I know you really want to see this one! But you'll have to wait and come back. Bathroom pictures... in a few days. ;)

成功!

I learned this term yesterday. We've been having a little trouble getting cash from the ATM because we didn't notify our bank early enough to open up our card for international use. All good now, but yesterday... we were trying various ATMs to see if maybe the release request had gone into effect yet.

So, I went to one ATM where the bank worker came up and stood behind me. I know that he was kinda trying to be helpful, but you kinda need your space when you're at an ATM machine, you know? So anyways, I made my request for cash, and then I got a request denied message, my card returned, and my receipt, which basically said I was rejected.

The bank worker looked at my receipt, and he said, 没有成功 (mei you cheng gong). I don't know what that means, so I say, 设么？(shenme? = what?). He says 没有成功! again a few times... pointing at my receipt, at the part that tells me that I got rejected. I say thank you and walk away.

I say to Bethany, "That guy keeps saying 没有成功. What does that mean?"

Bethany says, "Oh, that means unsuccessful. He's telling you your transaction was unsuccessful."

Uhh... yeah. I noticed that when I walked away from the machine without any money. 没有成功? You're telling me, buddy.

But, what a great way to learn a new term! So now, at the end of any attempt that Bethany or I have at a task, we proclaim to each other whether or not we were successful. 成功！ (cheng gong = Success!) or 没有成功. (mei you cheng gong = Fail.)

Monday was a day of 成功. What a good day. With a friend's help, we were able to sign up for cell phone plans, get me a cell phone (Bethany will get a different model in the next day or two), and sign up for phone/internet for our apartment. Then, on our own, working as a pair to communicate in a new language, we were able to order food at a restaurant (成功！), bargain for a bed/dresser and setup delivery to our apartment (成功!), and then go bargain for curtains and work through the details of measurements and deposits, etc. (成功!).

It has been a good day. Rewarding through and through. Not all days will be like this, sure. But it's nice to receive the grace to be able to have day full of 成功.