well the Chinese New Year is now behind us and in no time at all it is almost the end of the month! the mini mandarin orange trees lining many streets and symbolizing fortune and prosperity for the new year have mostly been taken down (unlike our mini Christmas tree which is in fact still sitting in the corner next to our rarely watched TV) and students are back in Macau to start classes again. everyone is a little lazy after the long break and the many huge New Year meals but slowly and surely we are returning to a busy work schedule once again.
a minor misadventure: during the Chinese New Year my computer decided to call it quits... must have gotten sick of the traveling after all this time. thanks to my fantastic roommates and coworkers things have somewhat gotten themselves sorted out and i am so thankful! it is amazing how much something like a computer means when i am so far away from home and all you lovely people back home...
our latest adventure: this past weekend Allison and i took advantage of a still light work schedule to take a ferry across to Shenzhen in mainland China to visit a friend of mine from UNH. we had a wonderful time as she showed us around the city! we saw a village where artists paint and sell their work on the streets, a wholesale market where stores buy clothes to sell elsewhere, delicious food from various provinces in China, huge buildings, the new metro ... and of course we had to take a peek in the Chinese Wal*Mart just for fun :) after all our adventures we promptly fell asleep on the ferry returning back to Macau Sunday night...
next adventure: Malta in March! we will leave early on the 5th for a week in Malta for a conference through MPI. doing the paperwork and getting things ready now is keeping us busy and we are super excited for this opportunity!
and that's all for now, folks!
i'm sending along love and smiles- hope you are all doing well! :D
pictures top to bottom: New Year mandarin tree, hanging incense cones, a grey day in Shenzhen, Qinglan Allison and me, and a visit to wal*mart!
