my alarm clock didn't go off this morning. so when i woke up and saw it was already 7:08, i was a little surprised. however, i wasn't panicked. the key was i didn't need to use the bathroom, which usually takes up most of my morning because i don't like to be rushed when i go. that meant i also didn't need a shower or even shave for that matter. the only thing i did do was to brush my teeth (because i ate a lot of garlic last night with my rice porridge dinner). i was actually early, and for a second thought about frying an egg but decided against it (early but not that early). i brewed a cup of vanilla hazelnut tea and promptly forgot it on my kitchen counter when i left the apartment. almost perfect.

since for the next week there's only one shuttle bus going to the office, a lot of people were already huddled on the street corner when i arrived. everyday there's a bit less. zhangkai was there with his suitcase, maybe getting a ride to the airport because he's one of the managers (the company decided more than a month ago that they were no longer driving regular employees to the airport in an effort to save money; at most, maybe to the bus or train station). but even for those leaving now, the migration is already in progress. lihui messaged me from chongqing yesterday, where he'd been waiting 2 hours for his bus because it was so crowded. i can't wait to experience that myself! words i may later live to regret!

sometimes when i'm texting people here, i send them photos of what i'm talking about. the weird thing is nobody ever asks me why i have a nearly inexhaustable collection of photos at my disposal (i pull them from my blog if you can't guess already). ask me anything about my life back in the US, and i can probably show you a photo of it.

second nature finally called when i was at work. looking to pass the time, i took my new cellphone with me. a smartphone is the perfect bathoom companion. i managed to set up my e-mail accounts while i was occupied. i also played a round of candy crush, but for some reason the audio suddenly jumped to full volume and people in the other stalls could hear me. but so what? because i hear them playing with their cellphones as well!

having never had a smartphone before, i view them more as miniature tablet pcs rather than phones. maybe people who started with smartphones have the opposite viewpoint, that tablets are just larger smartphones. i haven't activated my new SIM card yet, so i haven't been able to get online out in the field, so right now i'm still using it as a tiny tablet pc. i look forward to being able to chat anywhere, and send live photo updates of my exploits (although only to my chinese QQ zone account).

to be continued...(it's midnight and i must go to sleep!)