big hugs to everyone who came out sat night for my 1st birthday in China. need to get some pics posted!! now i'm off to London, Boston, Atlanta, Orlando before heading back to Beijing in a couple wks.

...the scene doesn't change much; the street 2 stories below me, the green trees-tops, the dumpling making place across the street, old 25-story apartment buildings, the new 35-story apartment building (which are suspiciously mostly dark at night)...but tonight a new addition: Hostelling International has opened a place in the red building. So new it's not even on their website yet. I'll have to check it out tomorrow. Anyone wanna visit??

In case anyone was wondering what opportunities we are chasing down here in China...here's a synopsis put out by the US Dept. of Commerce

went out to Nanjie Bar, then across street to Vicks. Twas ladies night and hip-hop music, many westerners there. got 16 people in for half price. Then left and went to babyface. met a girl from Kazakstan who, after 10 minutes, said she loved me. umm...ok, goodbye. not shopping, sorry. and give my drink back!

played basketball for 3 hrs at the Nike Dongdan courts this afternoon. held my own; some of these kids are really good!! gonna hurt tomorrow...now off to a friend's going-away party at Nanjie bar for some cheap drinks!

...decided to start another blog using bloglines.com to comment on news and current events. It's really cool!! U have to set up the RSS feeds but can actually blog on anything. Check it out

Wow, a whole month has gone by since my last post. That's because I've been too busy/lazy to update it :) The highlight of the month was the Great Wall Party, a week's vacation afterwards which included the beach at Bei Da He (well known to PRC officials) and some touristy things around Beijing.

Guess I'm not quite sure how to use a blog yet. I mean, who wants to read my inane thought fragments when you've got plenty of your own? Plus, I'm not sure i like the idea people knowing my random thoughts that well!