September 13, 2008
I started classes this past week. I went to school on Monday and found out that they gave me my ideal class schedule, which means I only have classes on Tuesdays through Thursdays. On these days I will go to class all morning, and also for a few hours in the afternoon. But this will give me 4-day weekends, which is ideal for traveling out to the countryside as often as I like to do. So I had class on Tuesday and then they told me that classes were cancelled for the rest of the week, for various reasons. So my first week of classes gave one one day of class.

I traveled out to the countryside for a short overnight trip. I had lunch with Lisa, my new friend that I first met when a group of people from Oklahoma were here visiting me. We hung out at her store after lunch and then met back up in the evening to play badminton. It was too dark to see the birdie, though, so we just went to dinner and then to another place for ice cream. Throughout the day we had a lot of time to talk, and I'm so glad to be developing a real friendship with Lisa. That will be even more valuable to me after my roomie goes back to America in a month and a half, and I'm here by myself. Lisa is a cool girl, and we had some very good conversations together.

I also stopped by BinBin's house for a visit. Last time I saw her, she pointed out my sunglasses and wanted to try them on. She told me that she wants to buy her own sunglasses. Considering that her family is so poor that they currently can't afford to send BinBin to school, I know that sunglasses for a 3 1/2 year old are not in the budget, so I bought a pair for her and her little brother, Didi. Didi was napping when I dropped by, so BinBin promised to give her brother his glasses when he woke up later. We did some modeling with our new sunglasses and had a great time together. BinBin had fun pushing the button on my camera to take pictures of her dad and her house.
 
     
   

I made a total goof of myself during this visit to BinBin's house. I often want to think of something I can do to help this family out, because they really struggle to sustain a basic lifestyle for their family. The husband has been out of work for months, and the mother sells vegetables for a miniscule profit. This weekend is Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, so there are moon cakes for sale on every street. When I got into town I thought it would be great to buy the BEST moon cakes I could find and bring them to BinBin's family for a little gift, along with the sunglasses for the kids. When I came to visit, only BinBin and her father were there to greet me. The mom was out working, as I expected she would be.
I presented BinBin's father with the special box full of moon cakes and he graciously accepted them. Then he told me that BinBin's mother is currently out selling moon cakes at one of the stores on the street. He was chuckling as he told me this, and as it sunk in how ridiculous it was that I just gifted them with the very thing they're trying to sell, I became so embarrassed. The least I could have done was buy a ton of moon cakes from their store, but instead I spent my money with the competition! What a fool I am!
So later that day I went out to find BinBin's mom at her moon cake store. I went with the intention of buying some from her too, and then giving them to other friends later on. But when I arrived she insisted on giving me the moon cake for free, so I only took one.
So that is my story of how I majorly put my foot in the moon cake!

This morning I took the early bus back home so that I could meet up with a friend for lunch. It's my old friend, Sunny, who used to be a student at my school. She has graduated and now lives in a city about an hour away from me. She's in town for the holiday, to visit her relatives. I enjoyed our lunch together and afterwards she came to my apartment to sing some songs and talk to Dad together. I am so glad to see that she is still reading her good book and doing her best to live as a child of the King. It's not easy for her because she still understands very little about what that means. She pretty much understands the bare minimum. But she's doing her best and it really encourages me to know that.