It's getting nice again and I've got a cold

Nothing serious, just the standard runny nose and/or congestion, but
it's as annoying as always. It has taught me that a lot of the
Kleenex they use here is scented though. It's kind of weird, and I
don't think it helps my nose.

It is good that the weather finally getting fairly nice though. I
don't usually need a t-shirt under my taiji clothes any more and can
comfortably walk around without a jacket.

But although it's warmer, it's still pretty foggy most days. A few
days ago the whiteness was so thick that we couldn't even see the
outline, couldn't even see the shadow, of the big hill that's right
across from the school, just beyond the buildings that line the
opposite side of the street.

And then yesterday it wasn't quite as foggy, and in the middle of
class suddenly there was a hot air balloon dropping past that same
hill, behind the buildings. It actually went all the way down out of
sight before it started rising again, eventually disappearing around
some other hills. I'm sure it's great scenery to see from the air,
but at the same time it seems like awfully dangerous scenery to fly
around, especially in a hot air balloon. Not really any lateral
control, just up or down, and these hills rise too fast to avoid
easily.

Anything else? Not too much, although we've got three teachers
finishing in the next week. Brad, from Australia, officially his
contract ends Tuesday, but it looks like he's done teaching today, and
will probably leave for Shenzhen with his girlfriend on Wednesday,
which he's happy about. Ben and Laurie actually extended their
contract slightly, and will be leaving at 4pm next Friday, heading to
Krabi, Thailand, and they are counting the days, ready for warmer
weather, beaches, and some friends they have there. I think there're
teachers lined up for the week after next, although I'm a little out
of the loop on that.

Oh, and next week I'm going to get to start learning taiji sword. So
far I've learned the basic 24-movement progression of the Yang style
and the basic 18-movement progression of the Chen style (which
eventually goes up to 74, I think) and been practicing those. It's
going well, my legs are in excellent shape and it usually feels good,
although I've still got to figure out how to do the waist-twist thing
that is part of throwing a good taiji punch.

Okay, that's it. For now.