http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12 Tales of a year in southern China. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:46:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The daunting task of packing has begun. It's a two-part process. One for going home and the other for my upcoming month-long backpacking trip. In both cases, all odds are against me and I'm pretty sure that everyone who knows me well is sure they're going to make some money ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/itsy-bitsy-teeny-weenyluggage.html I'm offiicially finished with school!! In a weird way, it's kind of like graduating all over again...except of course I wasn't a student this time and oh yeah, I was in China. Everything went a lot smoother than I imagined. No cheaters. Hardly anyone failed my classes. Bizarre. Miracles do ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/schools-outforever.html Well, the semester that was supposed to be the “easy” downward spiral has more or less spiraled out of control instead! First off, Spring Festival was amazing. It was great to see my family and Ryan, Beijing was freezing and Thailand was awesome! The day I left for the break, ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/months-of-adventuresand-misadventures.html Okay, I am alive, for those of you still checking up on me and those of you I don't know who just read my blog (I know these things thanks to the cool tracking device that tells me who looks at this!). Anyway, Spring Festival was GREAT!! The return to ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/updates-coming-soon.html Yes, the "to be continued" updates, as promised in yesterday's post. Alright, well we left off at Thanksgiving where I proceeded to catch a very nasty cold and also where the realization hit that finals and grades were rapidly approaching. I swear that from Thanksgiving until now, the only thing ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/when-last-we-left-off.html Well, the madness of finals has been upon us...and for some of us it started right after Thanksgiving since we missed the memo that keeping up on grading would be a wise choice. Anyway, just a short update for the moment to say that I officially survived the IBS classes ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/liberated.html So much to recap! Let's start at the beginning. Dali was a good trip out of the city. Of course, with lots of amusing tidbits along the way. First off, the "bus" we rode in resembled the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo and doubled as a delivery service. We made ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/ding-dong-the-wicked-witch-is-gone-and-other-tales-of-the-usual-pandemonium.html MIA again. But I'm trying to keep a low profile. Of course the usual array of mishaps and trouble have found me, but I've come to believe my purpose in China is to be an unintentional rebel. Sweet. But, having been here over two months now, I think the initial ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/and-in-other-news.html Greetings from my not-so-subtropic climate. It's sad and true. All you have to do is mention Kunming and people instantly rave about the climate and its nickname as the "city of eternal spring." Well, evidently we're not having spring this year...because it's chilly!! Our local paper also determined that this ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/its-like-camping.html But yes, there were some days when I wanted to jump off it! :) So, no posts and MIA. What's the story? Well, the last week of September we had a double week of classes to make up for the ones that we wouldn't have during the October holiday. Not cool. ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/no-i-did-not-fall-off-the-face-of-the-earth.html