Something fishy

Fun story: I just got back from 沃尔玛 (walmart) after successfully finding a few school supplies. While waiting in line I put my basket in the pile of baskets, which was very precariously balanced, and being one who likes to make things orderly I tried to straighten the pile up so the baskets all fit together nicely. However the bottom basket just wouldn't fit so I lifted up the whole pile to try to fix the problem. And then I discovered that the reason it didn't fit was because there was a large fish in the bottom basket. Yes, an entire fish about a foot long sitting in the basket. And then I wondered how long has this fish been here and how long will it sit here until someone starts smelling it and removes it? Ahhh, China. Most large stores have curious piles of abandoned items at the cash register- items that people have decided not to buy right before then pay. Often times there are bags of food or vegetables just left there to wilt, looking sad and uneaten.
Aside from that we've mostly been attending orientation sessions about things like how to sign up for classes online (we need a 2 hour session to explain this because it is evidently very complicated), and how to do a fire drill. The American (international) faculty also introduced all of their classes today, which was nice partly because it was all in English and partly because all of the classes sound really interesting and the faculty as a whole are a very impressive group. I think at least two were involved in writing constitutions for countries such as Kosovo and Albania. I wish I could take more than one class in English.
The fire safety session was fun also: a man from the Nanjing fire department came and spoke about the dangers of fire and showed us multiple video clips of fire disasters that have happened in the past. He was very difficult to understand due to a thick accent, but he did suggest that if we need to jump out of a window we should use an umbrella- Mary Poppins style. After the talking part we did a fire drill and about a dozen soldier-y looking guys came to administer the drill. We all went outside like a normal fire drill, but then they lit a pile of wood and newspaper on fire and had brought put about thirty or forty fire extinguishers for us to practice putting out the fire. The fire went out almost immediately, but they advised us to keep spraying until the stuff in the extinguishers was all gone. When we left there was a small pond of while liquid in the courtyard. Great use of resources.
I finally got a tour of the library as well. It is very nice and new and shiny looking and has many, many books in Chinese and in English and also subscribes to a number of English language magazines and newspapers. There is a wonderful terrace on the fifth floor with benches and tables and nice plants and a nice view of the city. It looks like a good place to study when it doesn't feel like one is swimming when outside.
I am very happy to report that we have access to very modern washing machines and dryers (!), which is a relief in this fog-like humidity. Nothing seems to ever, ever dry here. And it only costs 3RMB for each machine. 好便宜!
Well, we're off the the public security bureau tomorrow morning bright and early to get residence permits, so that's all for now.