学期的结束 (SEMESTER'S END)

Our final exams were held on Friday, thus ending my second semester of classes at IUP and marking the retirement of my very favorite notebook:

Here is the back-side:

Oh I do love me some bizarre Engrish translations! (even if this kind of sounds like it could have been spoken to General Stuharto by Vanessa)

I won't be shedding any tears over the passing of this semester. Honestly, it was a grueling one, and I wish I felt the gains I've made in Chinese were worth all the mental and physical exhaustion of the last weeks. It didn't help that there was only a one-day break between this semester and the last, and so all of us students are relishing the upcoming one-week vacation. Jessica and I are off to Chengdu, Sichuan on Sunday morning. Although it is a little cold there right now, I don't think I can wait much longer to see the Giant Panda Reserve. It seems it is prohibitively expensive (and really kind of foolhardy) to get close to a giant panda, but you can hold a red panda (aka "firefox"), as seen below, for a mere 6 dollars. I know it's kind of wrong, but I don't know if I will be able to resist...

cat (and turtle) of the month

熊貓 (bear-cat) of the month

I always did think Gene was the cuddliest of the bunch
(thanks for the picture pops!)

(not quite) cat of the month

I make the rules and I can break them too



I know pet stores are bad and animals in cages are sad, but puppies with mohawks and cuddly widdle friends are very, very good.

f- you, you f-ing foreigner -- I may look stupid but at least I'm cooler this way

Sorry the picture is fuzzy, but frankly I was afraid to get any closer

Less angry, more forlorn:


Elsewhere, I saw another innovative, if slightly vulgar, feline cooling method.

I, too, would totally swim for meat

This is kind of what it would look like if you were about to be attacked by a white Bengal tiger in a swimming pool.

Cougar Domination