all the noise, Noise, NOISE!

February is definitely a busy month for holidays here. Spring Festival and Chinese New Year occur this month and as such it's a reason to celebrate....with fireworks. Everyday. Firecrackers during the day, fireworks at night and loud explodey things anytime day or night. The first few days I was back, opening up my curtains to see fireworks was pretty neat. Now it's old. I feel like I am in part of a warzone here with all the explosions going on until the very early morning. Everyone else, having been here through the thick of it, is used to it by now but it's annoying the heck out of me.
Imagine doing your day to day activities during the middle of a July 4th celebration and you get the picture. I'm starting to sympathize with the Grinch on at least one of the reasons why he wanted to get rid of holidays.

Back in Beijing

After a few flights and an endless succession of timezones, I am finally back in Beijing. My trip back to the US was different than I expected it to be, but in the same respect was a success. While there were some problems I did not foresee, including four feet of snow in Pennsylvania and some issues in Missouri, it helped me to reaffirm my reasons for coming to and staying in the People's Republic of China. The best roommate in the world, Geoff, picked me up at the airport and has been helping me unpack lately. I missed the guy as well as the rest of the staff here and I look forward with renewed vigor to the upcoming March session.

Visiting Moberly

The second part of my trip back to the US has begun with flying back to the Show Me State and visiting some good friends and enjoying the great hospitality of the Amirault family. It's been good to see how some things have changed, but most of the things have stayed the same.

So much SNOW!

When I left Beijing...it was flurrying.
When I arrived in Tokyo...it was flurrying.
When I arrived in Chicago...it was a wintry mix.
When I arrived in Baltimore...it was a snowy, wintry mess.

Then came the snow.

Over the past ten days, it has snowed an incredible three and a half feet.
I only wish I was exaggerating.

That's a van, believe it or not, in the background. The car in the foreground was dug out and then promptly buried again the next week in the formerly cleared out driveway. Didn't The Shining start off like this?

Back in PA

After nearly 30 hours of travel including going through security in three countries on two continents spanning 13 timezones, I am finally back on US soil at my parents in Gettysburg, PA. Right now the biggest "reverse culture shock" is that the commercials on TV are in English and that Facebook and Blogspot aren't blocked. That's just weird.