* But of course, I've always maintained that my munchkins are geniuses, so: Every one of them passed. Many of them ranked with the highest scores in the prefecture. One of them was the second-highest scorer in Qinghai Province. (For context: The exam has about a 60 percent passage rate nationwide.)
* In other news: Two new additions to the family --
 |
| The disarmingly cute creature who turned out to be the spawn of Satan. |
 |
| The motorcycle, not the unscrupulous mechanic who sold it to us. |
**Note: Yep, that's my dad, reversing a lifelong ban on even the mere mention of me joining a motorcycle gang by helping me jump headlong into the perilous world of driving on the plateau.
**Note2: The cat has two interesting little quirks. One, she is perhaps the plateau's first transgender cat -- Initially billed as a female, she has since developed pretty compelling anatomical evidence to the contrary, but as both her Tibtn name (Dawatso) and her English name (Lady Gaga) are female, we have decided that in her heart she is a girl. And second, her diet of raw yak meat seems to have left her with a slight skew toward cannibalism which manifests itself on anything that moves -- namely, me.
* Visitors: I've been lucky to have a pretty steady stream of visitors this term, including my father, and my mother, Zach and Lauren. Huge love and thanks to them for helping keep me sane.
