Wild Geese
Just wanted to share this poem with you: Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Mea

Paradoxes
I’ve been back from China for about 6 days now, and although the jet lag is over, the desire to share all I experienced lingers strongly. It’s hard to get a handle on it, and put words to the many things I saw. I should have kept a diary — it’s quite a blur now, and I’m afraid I’m forgetting some impressions and insights already. Looking at the photos is bringing some things back, though!

Sights, Smells and Sounds
What a whirlwind trip we are having! I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already, with only 2 full days of travel left! We haven’t seen the Great Wall yet, but we’ve seen the “Great Firewall!” Yes, many webpages, blogs, Facebook and YouTube are blocked in China. I guess the government doesn’t like the content, so they have somehow blocked all people from accessing these pages anywhere in China (we, of course, have a way around it). Don’t tell anyone, k? So, we couldn’t go to the Great Wall the other day because the h

Off the Tourist Track
There’s so much to say about what I’ve seen so far, it’s hard to know where to start. We’ve been here 3 full days and we’ve done some tourist things, but also visited some friends. I’ve drank no less than 35 cups of tea — most very small — and had 5 incredible meals. Last night, we went for “hot pot.” There’s a franchise restaurant that has a long counter top that winds its way through the room. There are holes in the counter in front of where each person sits, where the pot goes. Underneath, there is a shelf where the hot plates sit — this place must have a huge power bill! Anyways, you choose what broth

First Day in Beijing
We had a good trip, quite uneventful and the plane ride was not even that painfully long. I thought it was brutal, but I napped a little, watched a move, knitted a little, and ate. We had 2 meals (the flight was 11 hrs) and we were pretty tired when we got here, but it was all good. The airport terminal buildings are amazing — from the outisde, they look like prehistoric shelled creatures, and inside they are big, airy and just wow. Before we saw the first custons/immigration person, we had to fill in a short questionnaire on our health, which we gave to a person who quickly looked it over and then stamped it. Then we walked past the “fever cameras” which are