The Latest...

Well, the moment that I'd been dreading came up this past Friday. A few of my sophomores asked me point blank, "Are you coming back next year?" The long pause answered their question, and they were not pleased with me. I wasn't planning on telling them until much later, but I just couldn't lie. I decided that I'd better tell my freshman before they heard it from other students. They took it even worse. It was guilt trip mania in Mr. Taylor's class. I feel horrible leaving these kids - they are incredible. The thought of possibly never seeing them after this year really makes me sad. That's why I've been trying to pitch Minnesota colleges at them - they aren't really taking the bait. I'll keep trying.

We visited an eyeglass market this past weekend. It was an entire floor of booths selling glasses - hundreds of them (billions of glasses - no exaggeration). After three hours of watching Mandy try on the same pair of glasses, she bought them. I didn't have too much luck until they began making Mandy's. I found a pair that fit and grabbed them. They made them right there in about 20 minutes. Mandy's were $20 and mine were $25 (mine are fancy). I never want to go there again...

Our favorite restaurant - a Sichuan place - is under reconstruction for the month. We came back from the States craving kung pao chicken (sp?) only to find the doors boarded up. We ate there at least five times a week - we're lost without it. The waitresses are all from the Sichuan province and are the nicest people. They all know what we want to order and try to teach us how to order in Chinese. We're counting down the days.

The future tallest building in the world under construction. That's it on the right of the Jin Mao Tower (the fifth tallest building in the world). It's the World Financial Tower and it's going up pretty quickly.

This is all that remains of our beloved Sichuan restaurant. It's under reconstruction for a month. We were craving this place while we were home in February - it's that good!

Yes, I did get a brand new pair of glasses for only $25, but as you can see from this picture, the experience really took its toll on me. I was a beaten man.

This is one of the hundreds of booths with glasses. It was a little overwhelming for me.