Wow ( Read more... )

Beijing is back on the menu.  It seems like I'm intrinsically connected to this magnificent city.  I just bought tickets for Amanda and myself for the Javelin Throw and Track portion of the Beijing Paralympic Games, held in the Birds Nest Stadium, on September 8.  I'm going to the Olympics!  Ok, the Paralympics, but still.

Speaking of the Olympics: ( Read more... )

So getting visas to communist and former communist countries is a b****.  For a Russian visa, I need to pay $35 for a "Letter of Invitation", have my hotel/hostel already paid for, and have some particular kind of insurance.  And there's no consulate in Chicago.  So all this crap (including my passport) is being mailed back and forth between Moscow ( Read more... )

Hey look at that!  I leave tomorrow.  That was fast.

My last week was filled with lastweek-esque stuff.  Getting little details worked out, seeing friends as often as possible, doing things for the "last time in China" (last dinner in China, last homework in China, last poop in China, etc.).  Things of that nature.  Had a last fun hangout in my room ( Read more... )

because then I keep reading and reading and thinking "man, when will these parenthesis close?", but they just forgot to close them.

I have 9 days left before I leave.  Things to get done:
- A final karaoke this Friday with anyone and everyone
- My 阅读 teacher wants the class to take me out for dinner (I guess I'm the only one leaving early)
- See the ( Read more... )

North Korea has eluded me twice in 2 months.  I'm not sure if it even exists.  The first time was in South Korea, when the South Korean president was visiting the border at the precise time we were there, so we couldn't see it.  And now this Dandong debacle ( Read more... )

Finally!  Done with a ton of homework.  Everything that was due tomorrow (a lot) and everything that was due Friday (a lot) I had to finish tonight, because tomorrow I'm leaving for Dandong!

Foreign Objects - Episode 5 <--Austin and Nick's Dandong episode

Midori started acting really weird around me last week, and I didn't really understand why.  ( Read more... )

I now have less than a month.
Work hard; no regrets.
Oh yeah, I'm feeling great!

真的谈话：
[情况就是我跟朋友在一家咖啡馆叫《爱上层楼咖啡》。我刚才离开了卫生间，但是没关门。]
服务员：blah blah blah 关门儿。
我： 哎？关门儿？对不起。
[我马上回卫生间关门]
服务员：哈哈哈你为什么关门了？
我：你告诉了我“关门儿“！
服务员：哈哈哈不对啊。
我：那，你跟谁说“关门儿”？
服务员：他 [一位老白人]
老白人： She was swearing at you!
我： What? She was?
老白人： I have no idea.
服务员：我们讨论他的公司。

Midori, WonJiye, Shin, Manuel, ( Read more... )

To add the my last family post:

Another one of my lines, from the 1600s, can be traced back to England to before 1066 (the invasion of England by the Normans), which would make me original Anglo-Saxon (how's this for a name: Turstin the Fleming De Wigmore), the "Whitney" family.  The Whitney family I guess is very distinguised, with some of my ( Read more... )

One of my hobbies is researching my family tree, my genealogy.  I've been doing this for a few years now, and have used my grandparents and great aunts as resources, as well as old Bibles and pictures and stuff that we've found, and some information on the internet like the "Social Security Death Index".  But the furthest I could go back in any ( Read more... )