A friend of mine told me told me he had to talk with me about something that had been depressing him the last few weeks. He revealed to me he was gay. We talked for the better part of an hour, him telling me that I do not fit the typical mold of an American. I've known lots of gay men and women, and some of them are good friends. This particular friend is my classmate, and possibly the most popular guy in class because of his sense of humor and kindness; I didn't even notice he was down recently because he did such a good job of masquerading his troubles. I, on the other hand, where my emotions somewhat on my sleeve. I told him sometimes I feel like an outcast in our class (which to me is one of the best classes in terms of students in the entire program-between King Wa, the aforementioned friend, Ballin Guillom, Wife, Dutch, and the Couple). He told me what I've been told for a long time: don't think too much. The next day he told me he felt better than he had in a long while. I was glad, however the ironic thing was I felt a lot better to.


Last night a guy pulled a knife on me, told me never to learn Cantonese, that there are 500 RMB abortions that are perfectly acceptable here, and that dumplings are not good and he AND I certainly don't like them. I mean...this guy was crazy. Telling ME I don't like dumplings?