Rain

Rain is good:
-cools things down
-takes the pollution out of the air

Rain is not so great:
-makes all the benches wet so I'm forced to wander for hours without sitting down
-China doesn't exactly smell better when wet


Today's other notable features, besides rain:
-last Sunday at my Beijing church
-lunch meeting with migrant school people. Discussed goals for program; realized that promoting things like creativity, imagination, leadership, and self-esteem are pretty much alien concepts in the Chinese educational system. slash society.
-long mission out to the other side of town to pick up my suit, which I discovered needed more alterations. Couldn't leave market because it was raining, so I wandered around for a couple more hours and let some sweet little Chinese gals at the food court talk me into ordering twice as much food as I actually wanted to eat. Resisted end-of-day laziness and made the hour-plus trek home using only public transportation and my own two feet. Cabs are for wimps. Consequently, currently cannot move/feel feet so well
-read 183 pages of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and the Damned because it was lying around Casey's room. Remembered that I like to read books for fun
-stayed up past 3 am for no discernible reason