Time with the rents (part 2) and update

Ok, so I'm finally feeling caught up enough to write some more.  Technically I just had a big break over Easter, but somehow managed to fritter the time away with ease.  I have become quite skilled at procrastinating this year.  Not sure how I feel about that, except that it makes me worry I'm getting old since I feel like I'm doing less but don't have any more time or energy to show for it.  I did make a nice dinner for Easter though, so that's something.  Pictured below is a small ham with pineapple, some asparagus, my Auntie Jackie's cheesy hashbrown casserole (slightly modified out of necessity) and Beth made shrimp and grits.  Yum!!!

In any case, here's what's new.  First and foremost, I am not able to come home in May as I told some of you I would.  :(  I was misinformed about the departure procedure, and so now I'm hoping to come back to Cali on June 8th.  I plan to spend about a week there to get over my jet lag and visit loved ones and eat, and then I'll head up to MN for a while to see the fam.  Then I'll come back and spend some more time in the Bay Area later in the summer.  And after that?  Not sure yet, but at the moment I've got my eyes fixed on South Africa.  Those of you who know Carol Toppe and her wonderful family will understand why I'm putting all my energy into trying to get a position near them in Pretoria.

See?!?  Aren't they a good-looking bunch?  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

What else?  Only 8 days of class left.  I'm totally ready to be done, even though I still have a truckload of marking to do and I am feeling a little sad about not seeing my favorite students again.  I'm also starting to feel a little sad about leaving Macau.  The weather today was unbelievably gorgeous, so I took the time to go walk around the reservoir nearby.  I'm making a mental checklist of all the things I want to see and do and photograph before I go.  That's one nice thing about the extra time I'll be here.  I won't have to rush my closure and can enjoy the weather before it gets insanely hot.  As you can see in the photo below, spring is well underway and so leaves are replacing flowers all over Macau.  I really enjoyed seeing how someone had decorated the Sun Yat-Sen statue on my way to work.  (You can see a detail of this at the top of the right sidebar.)

Also I'm going to do some traveling in May.  Another teacher named Monica has offered to travel with me and has kindly arranged a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam.  I'll be there for 8 days and then afterward I'm going to visit Beijing with Beth.  Those will both be really fun trips, I'm sure.  A, B, C, and I will all spend a weekend on Lamma Island in HK after school gets out just to chill a bit and that will be fun too.  So I'm looking forward to all that, plus trying to figure out what to pack and what to ship home.

Thanks Gina Solares for another fabulous hand-written letter.  Loved it!  Some of you may remember Gina (Mauss) from my days at Morris - fellow art history major/Italy traveler/radio dj/hair experimenter extraordinaire. 

And speaking of hair experiments, I think mine is going pretty well.  It's nice to have it short now that the temperatures are climbing high again, and the combed forward thing is definitely helping with the thinness.  I think the red has to go though - it's fun, but it's too much work and it's just not quite doing it for me like it used to.  So, I think once school is out I'll buzz it down to the blonde roots and start again.  Hopefully the sun will get it brightened up during my vacation.

That's the news from Macau.  Here are some more photos from my parents' visit.  These are not perfectly chronological, but they're close.

As I mentioned last time, Mom and Dad jumped right in to using chopsticks and did quite well.  This was one of their first meals testing their skills.

We're out with A, B and C, and you can see Angie and I doing the customary dish rinsing ritual while Carol decides what to order.  Most places here give you a little tub of hot water to rinse all your dishes in before you use them.  I'm not sure if this makes me feel better or worse about the cleanliness, but I've never gotten sick yet and it's been 8 months already.  (knock on keyboard)

 Here's what Carol ordered for us: fish cooked three ways over fried noodles.  The orange one is sweet and sour, the middle is fried and the white one is a veggie stir fry.  All the same fish.  We get this one quite often because it's so great.  Also behind it in the basket are some little fried pork ribs that are to die for.

 Since some of the best restaurants don't have English menus, I have to improvise.  This is the best dim sum place in Macau and so Carol was kind enough to fill out an order form in English for me so I could use it as a cheat sheet and order by myself.  She marked one item as "very good, just try".  So I did and it was a little pastry with durian inside - the notoriously smelly fruit that is popular here.  Gross!  (but hilarious)  Mom and Dad ate theirs with no problem.  I didn't.  :)

 This is a shot from the reservoir.  As you can see, Dad couldn't resist trying out some of the exercise equipment that is provided in all the parks around Macau.

When we got tired of walking or had downtime between events, Dad always had his phone on hand for a game of digital Scrabble.  

 On the weekends I joined Mom and Dad for breakfast at their hotel.  It was quite a spread: eggs made to order, flaky pastries, fresh fruit, hashbrown patties, a variety of meats, homemade jam, all different kinds of tea and juice and more besides.  A very nice way to start the day.

We wandered through the outdoor market a few times just to look at stuff. 
Chaotic but fun.

 This was taken at a park in Taipa.  It's a very popular photo spot for obvious reasons. 
They are really serious about their landscaping here in Macau.

 This is the same garden.  I really love these walls - red and turquoise together is one of my favorite combos!

Dad showed off his gweilo powers by receiving this glass as a gift at a pub we visited.  (Actually he asked if he could buy it from them and they said he could just have it.) 
It's a Carlsberg glass, whose slogan is "Probably the best beer in the world".

We made it to several different casinos during their stay.  This is at the Galaxy and Mom enjoyed the drooly blue lighting while I was more interested in this chandelier made up of colored glass balls.

And speaking of great chandeliers - isn't this a nice one?  There were a bunch of these at a restaurant we went to in Hong Kong.  Love it!  (Jackie, this reminded me of yours.)

Mom and Dad both took a ton of photos during their trip, so I barely took any.  I really like this one of Mom's.  Her arms are clearly a little too short for this type of shot, but I think the cropping turned out to be pretty accidentally cool.  A happy little accident, as Bob Ross would say.  This is a view from the Peak and that's HK in the background.