February 1

February already? I'm up around 3 AM with more knee pain. It is difficult to get in a comfortable position. The 'net is good now, so I try to catch up on some correspondence. I am amazed to be reconnecting with some very old friends and a few distant neighbors through facebook. My sister is writing nearly every day, and I've got more sweet messages from my daughter and one from my youngest son. No word from my eldest so far.

Weigh-in time. 207.0 kg. I walk to breakfast with Nancy, but she always takes hers back to her room. René and Li join me for 'empty omelettes' (I ask for seconds), cabbage, millet & asian yam soup. It is Sunday, which is generally a day off, but we can get accupuncture and exercise if we choose. I choose not. I'd like to walk around the neighborhood today, but so far the air looks very bad. The skyscapers across the street appear hazy. I can't even see the sun. So I return to my room to relax and decide to catch up on news from home after several weeks of a self-imposed news blackout. The first thing I encounter from Blacksburg is the gruesome details of the murder of Yang Xin. I am devastated by the news and am really wishing I were home with someone to help me deal with this latest tragedy to hit my community. I shut my computer and lay in bed until finally motivating myself to head to lunch.

Lunch is the standard (but enjoyable) mixed veggies, mushroom egg soup, tangerine, and yi da li mien (Italian noodles) with beef, chicken and peppers. (Yesterday at lunch Chef Wang proudly showed me a bag of rotini he had found for us). I have been turning down noodles and pasta, but this time enjoy them and thank Wang. Su, René, Nancy and I talk about going shopping, which seems a better option than my idea of walking in the foul air. We stop at 'computer city' so René can get a computer. Suddenly I am the 'expert' and I am expected to pick the best laptop from among hundreds on display (with all details in Chinese) by multiple vendors. René wants a computer but can't tell me what he needs to do with it. After some prodding he confesses he hasn't used computers much and just really needs to go online. So we pick out a basic Lenovo (which actually makes many well-known American brands) but ensure they are able to install the English version of Windows XP. Everyone else waits for René's computer while I take a look around (I know how long it can take to install Windoze). Computer City is a large open area with dozens of computer vendors competing for sales. There is an escalator in the middle, so I ride up to the second floor, which is mostly cameras and accessories. The third floor has mostly computer accessories, and on the fourth I find lots of software, DVDs, CDs (all legitimate licensed versions - of course), plus gaming systems, iPods, phones, etc... anything a loyal consumer could want. I buy a 50-stack of TDK gold CDs for 65 yuan ($10) so I can burn music CDs for my new friends and our road trips around town. Back downstairs there's still trouble with the laptop build, so we go around the block to a huge supermarket called Carrefour, which René tells us is a big French supermarket chain.

Once inside, suddenly I am the 'former Alan' - hungrily eyeing the pastry display cases, the far-ranging bins of fruit, and I can't help but stop and drool at the sausage cooler. I am not the only one drooling. Su herds us towards the back of the store to go upstairs (upstairs? - this place is even huger than I first thought). There is even an escalator for shopping carts! Upstairs is mostly household goods, so for now we are safe from a frantic fatso feeding frenzy. Since I arrived, I've been looking for slippers that will fit me (a neccessity for the pool). The largest size (45?) almost fits, so I throw them in the basket, along with a shower brush, clothespins (for drying my laundry), tape for posting my reminiscences from home. I spend 55 yuan (about $8). The loudspeakers outside in the parking lot are blaring uncensored American rap music, but no one seems to mind the explicit lyrics. Back at Computer City, the laptop is still not ready, and Su's impatient side begins to emerge. We are all tired and weary of waiting, so we get a receipt, take a picture of René's laptop (in case we need evidence), and Su volunteers to return tomorrow to pick it up.

Back at Aimin, dinner is waiting - and a miraculous surprise after a stressful day - one of the staff has put a jade plant in my room. Just yesterday I had confided in a friend back home that I was unhappy about being so disconnected from nature here in Tianjin. I share the news of my good fortune with my 'shit list' - my closest friends and family to whom I try to send regular updates. My last thought after giving thanks for a universe full of miracles and before passing out - Don't forget to fast for tomorrow!

Next Page: February 2