Last night a group of us decided to eat at the "Mongols." The Mongol place is a restaurant located close to our hotel and is really quite popular with most of the instructors. It is in a field, with several rounded-concrete huts spread around in a circle. Each hut (meant to resemble a yurt, the dwellings Mongolians live in), has a table and a sort of banquete-style seating around the table. The famed dish is barbecued donkey, and we did order it. I didn't partake, because I just couldn't, but everyone said it was good. We also had some meat kebabs and various other dishes, including the ubiquitous North American style sweet & sour chicken, which was really good. For only $2 each we had quite a feast. We are trying to avoid eating in the canteen more and more because we have discovered that although it is super-cheap, it is also super-low-quality food! Hopefully something can be done about it in the future. We have heard rumors that the company may be hiring a Western-style chef! (It sounds crazy, but after a month or so you really start to crave scrambled eggs, pancakes, spaghetti, baked potatoes, grilled chicken, etc....)

October 1st is China's National Day and many of the students will be leaving the academy to visit their families. The cities are all decorated with Chinese flags and tons of potted plants & flowers have appeared out of nowhere to beautify the place. The holiday usually stretches into a week-long vacation for most. All of us westerners here at the academy have to work, but the weekend after we are planning on going to Beijing. Finally I will be able to see the Forbidden City, Tiannenmen Square and the great nightlife and food that Beijing has to offer.