你忙吗？

你忙吗？(Ni mang ma? pronounced: knee mahng ma?) It means: are you busy?  And yes I am.  Between work, school, house stuff, and all kinds of studying we're pretty busy.  Its good because I can't ever say I'm bored here.  It seems like I never have enough time.  Our bikes have helped out a lot.  We can get places in 10 minutes where it used to take 20 to 25 minutes.  I'm still leary about riding at night. Just yesterday I was riding my bike and one of the pedals came off.  How cheap is that?  I haven't even had it three weeks!  Fortunately I wasn't too far from home and there is a little man outside our building who fixes bikes.  He put the pedal back on for one kuai.  I told a friend about it and she said she knew a guy who would do it for free.  That's always the way it is here.  You may think you got a good deal on something but there will always be a chinese person who will ask how much you paid and then quickly tell you how you paid way too much. 

In other news, I got my first fat comment.  A friend said to me: "When you first came you were a little fat".  I think she was trying to compliment me by saying now I was skinnier but I quickly let her know that I had not lost any weight.  So... in essence I'm still a little fat. (In case you are wondering, my clothes fit the same and yes I did weigh myself.)  But here when they say things like "you went home and ate yourself fat" its meant to be cute and not an insult.  I however, will never feel comfortable with those kinds of comments.  Granted, it is funny to see them say it to someone else but not me.