around lunchtime i was mr.popular, going from table to table letting people try my korean kimchi. there was zengfei and her table of warehouse folks, then the contract department (they gave me a duck tongue), then all the girls from document control, followed by the procurement department, and finally several tables of korean managers. i noticed the koreans already have several different varieties of kimchi on their table. they said my kimchi was good, but maybe they're being kind, because koreans are the foremost connoisseurs of kimchi, and even mr.lee told me that the best kimchi is aged 5-10 years. by the time i got back to my own table, i only had a little bit left of kimchi in the jar.

it's finally friday, which for me is the start of the weekend even though i still have to work on saturday. i bought a ruipe-brand black shirt, one size larger than the one i currently have (so a size L). i figured if it's the wrong size it won't be a big deal since i'm only paying RMB$39 for it. i'm using this weird kind of payment where lihui actually pays for me with his credit card while i pay him in cash.

i caught the medium bus which for some reason left at 6:00 today instead of waiting until 6:10. we made it back in town by 6:17, which is pretty crazy, even beating the korean bus, which normally leaves a few minutes shy of 6:00. i came home and changed into my running outfit and headed to the track field. from a distance i saw mahui walking with this guy i've seen her hanging out with but who's not her husband. i sped up and caught up them, surprising mahui in the process. she invited me to have dinner with them but i declined.

after some stretching i started running, counting off the loops in my head. since it was raining a little bit earlier in the day, there wasn't that many people in the stadium. i was actually a little worried that the place might be closed. i did my 10 loops for 4000m then took off my shirt for a topless walk around the track before going home.

i didn't want to eat rice porridge again so i ended up making some ramen for dinner. afterwards i took one last look at my taxes, and added some utility bills, property tax, and homeowner insurance to my home office deduction to shave off the final amount i'd pay the IRS by a few hundred dollars. i e-filed my federal taxes (a payment) but have to wait on my state tax because i need the routing numbers for my bank back at home.