Stumped at where to begin

It is to be expected, but I can't believe how much has gone on in my life since I indulged in Marmite. Perhaps I'll do a tour of the last week and a half in a succinct and sweeping photo summary of some events that led to me publishing this update in my Beijing hotel room. Please feel free to ask me for details if you would like. I can't promise a hasty reply, but I'll do my best.


Joel, Heather and I traveled to Oban on the West coast of Scotland

I ventured out to the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow

We ate a Scottish breakfast the morning before I left (Joel's birthday)

I made it to Beijing on Sunday afternoon and I visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City on Monday


In my last full day in Beijing I went to The Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan - Garden of Perfect Splendor ) where I was pleased to find that there are mountains in China and I got lost in the maze (that guy is on top of the maze, sweeping off leaves)
The last 10 days have also given me a lot of conversation, growth, perspective, and insight into relationships. I would argue that these tools are arguably much more valuable even than the cornucopia of scenery I have experienced.
Now, I am off to do some pre-packing before I go to bed and wake up to fly off to Chengdu (the plan is for me to do language study there for a month or two at the Sichuan Normal University).
p.s. I had a dream last night that Mt. St. Helens was Erupting again....