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Today during our one-on-one lesson, Jiang laoshi was helping me do a vocab exercise similar to the Sesame Street sketch "One of These Things Is Not Like the Other." I was doing all right, but this one was a little tricky:

receptionist minister janitor ghjhalhfduy construction worker

I dimly recalled that the fourth one was some sort of job, so I took a guess.
"'Minister' is not the same," I said, "because it is a white collar-job and the others are all blue-collar."
Jiang laoshi gave me a funny look. "I don't think 'human smuggler' counts as a blue collar job," she said. "But that is a good guess."

One of the interesting things about living in China is seeing how much the Chinese still love Chairman Mao. So much! I never studied Chinese history (isn't that shameful?) but I always had a vague idea that Chairman Mao was a totalitarian dictator and that Totalitarianism Is Bad. But every Chinese person I've talked to thinks he was the cat's pajamas, which would actually be a nifty pun in Chinese, since "mao" (second tone, like in Chairman Mao) means fur and "mao" (first tone) means cat. Anyway. In Xi'an, I came very close to purchasing a Chairman Mao alarm clock, and only didn't because I didn't have any money. I'm not all "Chairman Mao is dearer than Father and Mother," Cultural Revolution-style, but since I've been in China I actually find myself developing a soft spot for Mao Zhuxi. I find this somewhat disturbing.

I'm at the gym, where they play a lot of somewhat dated American pop. Their selections are very amusing, because they absolutely love the most vile and disgusting songs, like "My Neck My Back" and I don't even know what all. "If they realized what they were humming along to," said my roommate once, "they would actually die of buhao yisi [embarrassment]. They would buhao yisi sile." We ACC students love "sile" - it means "to death" and people add it to everything, including "pang sile" ("fat to death," popular among girls who are not fat at all) and "cha sile," which means "of inferior quality to death" and always makes me laugh.

Lately it's been lengsile (cold to death) in Beijing, and the constant shivering is not helping with my insomnia. Last night I slept in my woolen winter coat, but my legs were still freezing. I imagine that at any moment it will become unbearably hot, however, and I'd like to get to the Silk Market or something to buy some summer clothes. The thought makes me a bit tired. Also this weekend I believe Lili and I are going to go to the Forbidden City, since she has less than a month left in China and hasn't been yet. I am informed that there is a Starbucks there.