http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12 Tales of a year in southern China. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:18:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After several requests for the recap of this summer's travels, I have begun to undertake that task...and it has turned into nearly a novel, low-quality, but novel-length at any rate (okay, I might be exaggerating slightly about the length). Anyway, it's taking me longer than I thought, but there is ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/tackling-the-summer-recap.html Well, nearly three months after returning from Asia, I took the big plunge and brought myself to eat at a local Chinese place. It was kind of a hole-in-the-wall joint, but hey, that's how it is in China, too! This particular restaurant came after weeks of scrutinizing their t0-g0 menu ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/panda-express-is-not-chinese-food.html I promise I wasn't lost in a jungle in Asia. While I did return from Asia in mid-August, I've been traveling through another kind of adventure involving moving across the country, assimilating back into U.S. culture and oh yeah, getting used to the 9-5. In some ways it's a whole ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/annaree12/traversing-throughthe-us.html 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