Springing It Up

I've decided the blog here was suffering from a serious case of the February bleaks, so I've punched up the color. It's still not as colorful as I had hoped (I could not find a suitably sunshiney yellow), but it's an improvement. You all can register your approval or disapproval in the usual manner with the usual lack of bindingness. Not much is going on here, we attended the local Lantern Festival which was rather sedate. I should have some pictures up at the end of the week or so. Ellie leaves for Hong Kong tomorrow to apply for another visitor visa so she can stay for another two months (and work illegally). She's nervous because the last teachers who did that were held in Hong Kong for five days before being approved. Apparently being stuck in Hong Kong just doesn't appeal to her. I keep reminding her of the bright side, being deported still means going home (well, to Belgium at least). Don't worry too much about her, her grandfather has made "arrangements" with his "Italian" business acquaintances in case of trouble. (That's really how she said it too, though "Sicilian" is more accurate, if we're going to be pointing fingers.) Besides, those are the best "arrangements" to have--they work!