Okay, continuing...

A lot happened on Saturday when we were out at the farm. I simply had no time to explain it all.

The get-together consisted of everyone who lives and works at the farm and was home at this time. There's two sides at the farm, divided by a small hill. On one side it seems that Holli's family and another American family lives. On the other side, there are animals and such, and I think that everybody else lives there. Now, there's three ways to get from one to the other. One is to climb up and over the hill. Another way is to walk on one of the terraces (everything is terraced here) around the hill. A third is to walk out one gate and walk in another. My favorite is the terrace route, though the over route is fun, too.

Anyway, at the start, they were still getting ready and Holli and I chatted up a storm about so many things. We compared "life in China" notes. She's had more adventures than I have, which I don't begrudge her, but I haven't asked her yet: has she ever fallen into a rice paddy? I have. It's way too muddy. I've also fallen into an irrigation ditch, and who knows? I may fall into the river one of these days. Anyhow, we chatted about our adventures and how mistakes our age (I had a girl who was, maybe my age or a little younger ask in reasonably good English: "How old are you?" "Thirteen," I answered. Then she's shouting through the whole bus, "Shi san!" which is thirteen in Chinese. Holli went to the doctor's and had a long stressful time, then they found out she was thirteen so she had to go to a different doctor and have another long stressful time!). We hung out for awhile, comparing notes. She didn't have to get evacuated. Anyways, after a time it was time for dinner, so Holli and I went over to the other side and she told people it was time for dinner. She introduced me to a few people, one being a young woman who spoke a little English. We sort of made a threesome. Holli invited me to sit with her and this woman and a couple others, and after awhile the others started moving off, but the three of us talked, like "Where have you been in China?" This city, Kunming, Guangzhou, Maoming, and Hong Kong. Oh, and Yun Xian. Holli argued that Hong Kong wasn't in China and I said, "Yes, it is, it's a Special Administrative Region." So we got into a mock-argument which ended with throwing grass at each other. Then after that it started to rain so we went into the house and some people played dominos, and some Uno. Knowing the hectic-ness of playing Uno with too many people and new rules explained in a different language, I opted for dominos. After awhile I got tired of saying "I don't have one" in English and when "may-yo" means the same thing and is easier to say, and everybody understands it. Then, of course, I had to re-explain that no, I don't speak Chinese. What little I do is probably Yunnan accented which I like. I do not like the Beijing accent. I mean, it's okay, but I'm not going to speak it unless I'm aware of it and I'm in Beijing. Why speak it here? I'd speak the dialect of this city to people who spoke it themselves if I only knew it and I had something to say. Why speak Beijing in Yunnan? I already have enough of an accent and can't say much. But I digress.

When people started going home, this young woman (I can't remember her name) gave me a hug and taught me to say something which I repeated in my worst accent and promptly forgot, though I wanted to. On the way home, Holli and her Dad drove us, and Holli and I sat together and text-messaged (okay, Holli did, but I made a few suggestions) a student that we both know, Sherri. She is convinced that Holli should be a fashion model. That's one good thing about being short and squat instead of tall and slim. She doesn't say I should be a fashion model and doesn't "talk me out of" being a writer. Oh, well. I have about four different occupation dreams, two of which I can combine, and the other two can be avocations or semi-occupations. I wonder how many different countries I'll be in...