Above:The Baha'i House of Worship of Asia. Below:Life and times of your fellow World Citizen, Kolya

Last Tuesday during my first attempt to get the work visa, when I went to the visa office I was told that I would need to get my medical test here.  I had assumed that since the school hadn't said anything about it, I'd be able to do it in Xi'an, which is what the school apparently also expected... but no... so I went straight to the hospital that they directed me to, found my way to the right place and, praise God, was just in time to get the test done (general prodding, height, weight, eye test, blood test (HIV etc), urine test and chest x-ray).  It took 5 work days to get the results (tests for bad stuff all negative, summary: "In good health but recommend to drink plenty of water to avoid urinary tract infections").  Anyway, so it was too late yesterday, so first thing this morning I submitted the work-visa paperwork and picked up my Z visa this afternoon.  Yay!  God is Great!  I treated myself to some Häagen-Dazs ice cream in a Big cone on the way to my friend's home, where I'm staying, and I finished reading Bill Cosby's "Love and Marriage" and continued reading "Men are from Mars, Women from Venus"--both from Alex's bookshelf.  Tomorrow afternoon my friend Brian, from Baotou, and I, will take the bus (they're still constructing the rail line) to Guangzhou where he will fly to Inner Mongolia and I will stay a few days to visit my friend and her husband.  On Thursday or Friday I'll get a plane ticket for Xi'an and fly there on Sunday.