'Merica!

So, I never actually took the blog down like I planned to. I was going to do it at O'Hare, but their internet is evil, so it never happened. Anyway, I'm back. There's a lot to tell, so for this post I'm just going to list a bunch of firsts. These are things that happened to me for the first time in the Chiner.

1. Sat in a train for 4 hours without it going anywhere (the tracks were flooded)
2. Rode a train (a week after sitting in one for 4 hours)
3. Ate at Subway (Seriously. I had to go to the Great Wall to eat at Subway for the first time)
4. Watched 5 movies during one plane ride (Wall-E, Up, War Horse, The Incredibles, and Shrek)
5. Ran through 6-inch deep water and pouring rain while carrying a 6-year-old
6. Sang at KTV (the Chinese version of karaoke) I went with some Enrique, and later joked that I was "trying to win me a little Chinese bride"
7. Rode a chair lift that didn't make me nervous (I know, riding the one at Adventureland freaks me out, but riding one over a deep valley and up the Great Wall is okay. I'm weird)
8. Saw a sunset at over 30,000 feet above ground--and far enough north where dusk never ended, and sunrise came again before dark
9. Ate lamb

I'm sure I'm forgetting some cool things, but whatever. More info to come in later posts.

Bye (for now)

Well, it's less than a week (counting travel to the airport) until I leave for China. I'm going to be taking this blog down while I'm there, so if it disappears, sorry. If you're reading this for the first time after I get back, hello again! I'm sorry for the disappearance.

But yeah, minor update on my klutziness. I played basketball with some friends on Tuesday night, and I was fairly sure I broke my finger for a while. The swelling and discoloration have gone down since Wednesday morning, so I think it was probably just jammed badly. Then yesterday, I was cooking something in the oven, and when it came time to take it out, my thumb somehow bypassed the potholder and hit the oven rack. So now I've got injuries on both hands.

And while waiting for China, I've been packing a little bit at a time. I've got a fair bit ready now, but I'm still a while from getting it all done. The main thing left is clothes. But yay! only a week left!