And on to this week's news:
-I finally broke down and bought a pair of quilted pajamas. It's just too cold in my house to not own a pair. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of seeing what these look like, they are made out of the same fabric that the comforter on your bed is. They are thick and stiff, and fit well over any article of clothing. They're ugly but warm. In a nutshell, they're perfect. We don't have heat, so we spend most of our time at home in bed on top of the heating pad. The cold usually makes my nose run, and I can see my breath in the house. The showers are especially brutal: the hot water is no where near hot enough, and the pressure is next to nothing. The open window doesn't help things either.
-I bought some margarita mix and "Pepe Lopez" tequila. I think it'll go good this weekend when I'm sitting in the hot springs. We probably won't have ice, but I hear there's already snow, so we'll be having "snow-garitas."
-Christmas planning is moving slowly. My roommate and I are talking of hosting a Christmas brunch. What we'll make depends on what we can find. I want to make french toast, but finding anything thicker than wonderbread is proving difficult. We may end up just having eggs and sausage. Maybe a sno-garita on the side.
-Got my hair cut at this place:
It was the only place I've ever been that was literally a hole in the wall. You can see it there behind me in blue. The next photo is me walking up the stairs and through the "door."
I brought with me a couple of pictures to show the woman, but I was still nervous. Sarah and I were ushered into the salon where we were seperated for the hair washing. I was brought back to a dimly lit room where I was asked to lay down on a specially designed hair-washing seat. It was great! I was comfortable and warm, and the woman washed my hair for a good twenty minutes. I sat down in the chair next to Sarah, and tried to calm my nerves. Here's the after picture, I think she did a good job. Let me know what you all think.
By far the highlight of my week was a trip to the newly opened IKEA. Several weeks ago, I heard from one of my classmates that the new IKEA had just opened. Someone had a brochure that had pictures of the IKEA cafeteria, and it looked like they served real hot dogs. When we saw that, we had to go if only for the food. 
Several of my classmates took a preliminary trip to see what all they offered, and whether or not we could afford it. They found out that IKEA has a courtesy bus roaming the city everyday. We made our way to one of the purported stops and waited. Twenty minutes later the IKEA bus pulled up and we piled on. The ride was short; IKEA is located just outside of the city center in the middle of some fields. Next to the monolith furniture store stands the Chinese equivelent: a large open-air market. One side of the parking lot was crowded with butchers, people pulling carts of fruit, tables spread with spices, and fruit salesman. The other side was full of Chengdu's young and hip, on their way to a day at IKEA.
The store was full, absolutely packed with people. We made a bee-line for the cafeteria on the second floor, and after ordering some Americanized Chinese food sat down to enjoy our surroundings. The food and furniture was cheap, everything had been knocked down to prices that are affordable to middle/upper middle class Chinese. This meant that we would be going away with a full load. You don't know what you don't need until you go to IKEA. I ended up with a blanket, a french press coffee maker, a picture frame, and some scented candles. I also ate a hot dog, an ice cream cone, some Americanized Chinese food, and a cup of coffee. It was all wonderful, and in the midst of my eating binge I discovered that IKEA sells some of the cheapest bagged coffee in Chengdu. I'll be back soon!
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