Some things . . .

Here are a few things to catch you up on life here in sunny Chengdu!

We have a small circle of friends (some of Joe's work colleagues and spouses and friends) that we can enjoy dinner with. We enjoyed margaritas and decent Mexican food Wednesday night. I actually enjoyed my chicken fajita dinner!

On Thursday, we also met friends at a bar called Shamrocks for Oldies Night. Michael (a work colleague) has been into Elvis since he was a small boy. Although he doesn't go the whole bit with the Elvis costume, he does have a pretty good handle on the voice and moves. Pretty good drinks. Be sure to bring your passport, this place has a reputation of being raided by the local police to check credentials! They even have warning signs on the tables.

On Friday, we had dinner at the newly opened Hooters. It happens to be in the office building where Joe will spend his days. Needless to say he's glad to have them there. We met some girls from the states who have been here training the Chengdu Hooters girls. We also had the opportunity to meet and have as one of our waitresses Miss Hooters World, Suzie Fu. She was crowned at the Miss Hooters International Contest in Ft. Lauderdale FL in July. She's a beautiful girl and very friendly. We had a most enjoyable evening.

On Saturday, we went to look at our potential new home. We're still in strong negotiations with the landlord but hopefully are making headway. We hope to have some resolution this week. The rest of the day was spent going through a furniture market getting ideas of furnishings for the house. Just the way Joe wanted to spend his Saturday. I've promised him golf next Saturday!

On Sunday we shopped some more for things for the house. This time in a store like Home Depot which Joe loved and another like a small Best Buy. Our greatest barrier is the language but otherwise we do pretty good as long as we have pictures.

Things are getting a little crazy around our hotel. They are busy frantically preparing for the Olympic torch run through Chengdu which will end up here at the hotel. They are going all out with banners and signs. More to come!

Oh! I almost forgot! I experienced my first earthquake Friday afternoon. Joe and I were in the hotel's executive lounge when we felt shaking. I was sitting and reading when I felt my chair shaking. Silly me thought it was Joe messing with my chair until I spotted Joe's beer on the table shaking. I have to say it wasn't what I expected! We later learned that it was a 6.1 earthquake. People in some outlying areas beyond the city were injured. Go figure. So much for my first.