Making Travel Plans

We have been home for 3 months now. Travel planning has started. Our latest thinking is to get a 6-month return ticket, Raleigh to Shanghai, since we still have some stuff (e.g. clothes, books) to drag back. We'd leave at the end of Oct/beginning of Nov.

Tentative Itinerary

Nov: China: In the south, most likely.

Dec: Burma: We have to return before the masses begin to descend. John wants to go to Myitkyina.

Jan-Feb: India: Can we last 2 months? India is still the most appalling and fascinating country for us.

Mar: Nepal: I don't think I am capable of trekking because of altitude and general fitness. Don't know how long we'll want to spend in Nepal.

Apr: China: Lijiang and Dali in Yunnan, finally?

Tibet Photo

A photo I took in Tibet in 2006 appears for about 3 seconds in this video: http://www.digitaldharma.com/. Look for it about 2/3rds of the way through.

The video is a "trailer" for a yet-to-be-produced documentary film.

Here's the photo:

Olympics: Good and Bad

Back when we lived Shanghai, people asked whether we were going to the Olympics. We were never warm to the idea. In fact starting with the Torch Relay I began to hate the Olympics. However, now that the Olympics has started, I am getting into the swing of things.

Bad:

• Flaunting the flame around the world and attracting Tibetan protester was rather unfortunate. During our travels in China, the multiple-channel around-the- hour coverage of the Torch Relay within China disgusted me so much, I cringed every time I turned on the TV.
• The Organizers did not seem to understand the priority of controlling smog and traffic, balancing security vs. letting people have a good time.
• We are blocked from online coverage in the US (we don't have Vista). Since we do not a TV, we went our friends' house to watch the opening ceremony and we are spending this week at John's parents' cottage at the Outer Banks where there is a TV. I want to forgive NBC, because they are doing a fairly good job covering the games.

Good:

• The much hyped Opening Ceremony did not disappoint. Putting politics aside and Zhang Yimou's most recent flop (IMHO), it was dazzling and flawlessly executed.
  
  
• I stayed up past midnight the last two nights until the end of the coverage, Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay and Men's Team Gymnastics. More than the athleticism, the humanity that came through truly moved me.
  
  
• The Chinese audience has been very gracious about cheering for everyone, showing true Chinese hospitability. I wonder how much brain washing has gone into that. I noticed it watching on TV, even before the commentators pointed out.
• My favorite moments are still those when someone from a small country, a non-favorite, scores a medal.

Reflections on a Neglected House

When we moved to China almost 3 years years ago we decided to sell all our vehicles but keep our house. We did not rent it out but kept it unoccupied and full of our stuff. We hired someone to clean for an hour once a month. Others were hired to clean the gutters and cut the grass, and 2 sets of terrific neighbors periodically checked on things.

The house is 25 years old and beginning to show its age. Some of the appliances and systems are also 25 years old. Since we came back to the USA, the work on it has been almost constant.

It's been quite an adjustment for me. In China, I hardly did anything that could be called house work or yard work or home maintenance. We lived in apartments in a city with very cheap labor. I guess I did hang a picture or two but nothing else.

Now Sun-Ling and I are tackling a 5-year - we lived in Florida for two years before going to China - backlog of home maintenance projects on an aging house. I won't bore you with the list, but the amount of work is significant both in time and in money. I began to thing that it was a bad decision to leave the house unattended for so long.

However, after a few days of stewing on this thought, I've moved on. Lots of work means lots of accomplishments; lots of items crossed off the to-do list; and the physical nature of many of the jobs is good for the body and mind.

After a few more months the house will be ready for another 5 years of minimal maintenance. :-)

Borax.

Trishaw Ride - Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma)

Trishaw Ride - Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma), originally uploaded by meckleychina.

Sun-Ling and I hired a couple of trishaws to take us from our hotel to Mandalay Hill. Take a look.