X marks the spot

well, i have been in xining for about 4 days now. this place is far and away different from anywhere else i've been in china. it's more like a frontier city. think old west, with dirt roads, people walking everywhere, general mayhem, and the interaction of two groups of people that don't always get along real well. that is my new home.

i am renting a little, and i mean little, room at the foreign students dorm at the local minoroties college. it actaually suits me quite well. i had taken some pics to post so that you could see what my place looks like, but it appears the internet cafe i use will not read my usb drive. perhaps later.

last night i attended a tibetan rock concert. it was actually a lot better than i would have expected. the bands, at least a dozen of them, varied in sound from lynard skynard-like, to metallica and heavier speed metal i've never listened to. but it was fun. i was the only whitey there, so it was like being a celebrity. tibetan rock might even make it into my research. imagine that, sitting in clubs and seeing shows as research. ha! we anthropologist have the world eating out of our hands.

not much else has been happening for me here. i pretty much try to meet people, talk with them, find old friends, and watch a few boot-leg movies. today i got spiderman. i'm only mildly excited to see it. things will pick up as time goes by. this is just a time to get back into the community and make friends.

i'll try to find out how to post pic's soon.