I haven’t updated this blog for months. Every day it nags at me. I see so much cool stuff, and I tell myself I need to blog. But it never happens.

Initially this was because my parents went on a cruise to the Panama Canal for 3 weeks. I figured there went over two-thirds of my readership, so what was the point? The cruise, by the way, had been in the works for decades. As long as I can remember, my father would occasionally talk about vacations and wistfully mention the Panama Canal with a far off look in his eyes. Conversations between my mother and father may or may not have happened something like this:

“Dan we need to get the camping equipment out of the shed if we’re going to go camping next month.”

“You don’t need camping equipment at the Panama Canal. It’s a series of water-filled locks that spans the tip of Panama to allow ships passage.”

“And the sleeping bags. Those are up in the rafters in the garage. You need to get those too.”

“It is impossible to sleep as you approach the Panama Canal. The engineering forces required to build such a feat of human ingenuity render sleep useless.  We will survive on the sheer wonder of the spectacle.”

“And you need to wear the tie-dye shirts I made you. The blue and green swirly one. I want everyone to see the tie dye shirt I made.”

At this point my father would clench his fist, and speak in a low, determined voice. “One day, Canal … we are destined.”

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So I guess it eventually happened, my dad and mom went to Panama. Part of me is a little upset. The one time my father and mother ask me to go on a cruise with them was to Alaska. I was 23 at the time, and Alaska cruises are not made for young, suave, charming, handsome, smooth operators like myself. It is designed for people who like to wear big jackets and take pictures of snow.

And actually, my 13 year old sister was more socially successful on the cruise than I was. Toward the end I was begging her to hang out with me, but she always had plans with the other 13 year olds, and the love of her life, Wacey, another kid on the cruise. One time I sort of stayed in the same room with the 13 year olds, to see if they would invite me to play hide and seek with them. They never did.

But Panama … it’s warm and sunny, they speak Spanish, and I happen to have a degree in Spanish literature. I could have ordered a Mojito in Spanish! (I’d like a “mohhheeeeeeto”). But that is all behind me now. I’m in Zhangye, China, where it is -1 Fahrenheit, snows, and I have to wear big jackets (and take pictures of the snow).

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The quick update with me is: I love it out here, I study Chinese at least 4 hours every day, and I’ve made friends out here. The food is a little boring after a while, but my students are great, and I live in a great apartment. I have a lot of stories, and I promise I will write more!

I went to the capital of the province in October and left my camera there. So no pictures for now … But I’m going back for New Years, and I’ll get it back.

Hope you are all doing well back home, and Merry Christmas!  Or as they say in China, 圣诞快乐!