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Well, I am back in Hangzhou after a great stay in Shanghai with my friend Luke. Of course after taking a complete memory card of pictures, now I cannot get my camera to work, so I will have to delay posting them until I can get that problem sorted out. My chinese is improving. In other news they are forcing us to take an elective Wushu course (which is basically Tai-chi with a fan). I am terrible at it. I have never been good at memorizing and synch-ing dance moves for some reason. I feel like they want me to perform like a monkey or something. I wish it interested me but it just doesn't and I feel like I am wasting my time- I would much prefer to be studying the language or working on my art!! (That's what I came here for right!?). Apparently all us newbies must give some kind of performance in the stadium in December. Its bullshit. Ok now those feelings are off my chest, I should probably try to remain more positive about it- since I do not know what will happen if I simply skip out on the classes. In other news I am trying to recover from some kind of nasty food poisoning that began to affect me as soon as we got to Shanghai. Allways have some kind of toilet tissue with you in China, or at least, as Luke tells me, wear socks. This is not to mention that it is a very good idea to carry disinfectant wipes since most bathrooms here fail to supply any soap. So while I will laud the Chinese on the modernity of their infrastrcuture, which I beginning to see as more advanced than our own, they have loads of room to improve general hygeine. Stomach problems= lost productivity in the end, right?