I am back in Seattle now, with clean air and familiar surroundings, able to see the sky clearly and understand what is said around me. How …refreshing.

There’s still a lot going on in China. The curse on the Olympic mascots, for instance. But I’m working a bunch in preparation for the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival. If you’re in the Seattle area, you should totally come!

I know I’m a bum, but I’ll try to get the last photos and remaining tales of China up. (I know you heard this story before, about my experience on a jury.) Adventures and possible topics of discussion include..

1. The Qing tombs trek (with much rain and silent cursing)
2. The making of dumplings
3. The International Conference on Environmental Informatics that wasn’t
4. All sorts of things in Yunnan (fruits, yaks, mountains, lakes, yaks, gorges, pancakes)
5. The Carnival/Aquarium City of Dalian (with Castles! and seafood and fog)
6. The Woeful Tale of Abducted Women
7. Delicious Vegetarian Buddhist Food
8. My Language Partner
9. Why Customs Wants to See My Noodles

and probably other things. But now I need to go and meet a friend to throw a frisbee and have some bubble tea. Contrary to what you might expect, I did not find bubble tea on every corner in Beijing; I only had it once, and that was pretty much by accident.