Patterns and useful phrases jotted down as I watched 中国式离婚 ("China-style Divorce") last night:

差点忘了

Means "I almost forgot". I used to say 几乎 a lot; this might be a more earthy alternative.

挂了啊

Talking on the telephone is still nerve-wracking. This is a good way of saying Goodbye; literally, "I'm hanging up, eh."

Another language note. At the amusement park last weekend, I took a picture of Ice while she was walking across a rope bridge, and she thought she looked really bad in it. Jodi just laughed and told her that she writes very standard characters: "你字写得很标准！"

At that point I cracked up, and had to explain that the phrase she had just said had been the last sentence in Chris' book, Making-Out In Chinese, and that I hadn't believed that people would actually say such a corny thing. It's basically the Chinese way of saying "she has a great personality", as in "but she's lacking in the looks department."