After the arduous journey of my life, I am finally back in Hangzhou. Happenings in the last week included taking several 8 hour bus trips, seeing Nanning's bus station, seeing Guangzhou, chilling in Hong Kong, visiting XinXing (because there were no tickets out to Guangzhou to home) and finally flying home. I wanted to kiss the earth like pope whenever he gets off the plane in a new country. My 16.3 kilogram backpack prevented me from doing so however.

When I came back from vacation last summer, my house was, as Jackie described it, a virtual refugee camp. With several foreign and Chinese friends setting up camp in my apt. for the last 7 weeks to watch my cat, I had no idea what I would walk into this time. I was surprised. The place wasn't a wreck. My dvd player, tv, and computer were all intact. Mysteriously, however one wastepaper basket was missing, one toilet brush, and one drying rack for my dishes. While sweeping under the bed this afternoon, I discovered that my missing belongings had been replaced with a gift. From beneath my bed I swept out a hand-painted oil painting of a can of Colgate shaving cream on the back of a discarded piece of cardboard. The piece is nice, but hardly goes with my living room decor. I am not so sure the trade was fair.