A gchat status message that should tell you basically all you need to know about eminently hatable expats living abroad

There is nothing more frustrating as an American living abroad than watching 59 minutes and 55 seconds of the Superbowl and then the feed cutting out the last 5 seconds, forcing you to miss the last hail mary play

Developing country...

...meet developed country:

A dinner exchange with Mom

Me: Are these shrimps skinless?

Mom: Yes, in America, shrimps come without skin.

Have I already talked about HDTV?

U.S. of A: Free (and fast) Internet, HD TV and ... US Airways

First, I have to put on the record that US Airways is my new favorite airline, at least until I fly with Southwest again. I missed my flight from Regan National Airport to Kansas City TWICE within a span of 13 hours. Leaving aside the magnitude of incompetence required to accomplish this, I have to say that US Airways put me on another flight both times without charge.

The first time I missed it, on Friday night, was due to the fact that 1) I didn't know different colored trains share the same track in DC's subway system (and I was buzzed off America's actually-alcoholic beer), and 2) the subway train I was on (the wrong subway train) broke down as I was headed toward not-Regan. Then I switched trains and waited 30 minutes and then transferred (waiting 10 minutes) and got to the airport just as the flight was leaving the gate.

The second time ... well, there's no good excuse, really. I got to the check-in counter for my 9:20 am flight at 10 o'clock and told them I missed my flight -- again -- and the guy said, "You're making a habit of missing flights, huh?" I replied, "Yeah, it was idiotic." He put me on the 10:40.

*

Watching the US-Japan game on HDTV without drunk people next to me. Wow. When ESPN HD showed highlights of the '99 game, which wasn't in HD, all I could think was, HOW DID WE LIVE BACK THEN?

*

I can stream WWE Raw from Tudou.com without lag. To put this in perspective: I certainly can't stream YouTube (with VPN, of course) in China without having to pause the video every 10 seconds so that it loads.

American Internet is the thing I miss the most about this country.

And Paninis with bacon, bulgogi beef, grilled peppers and onions.

And my cat, Kiddy.

(Mom... goes without saying, I hope.)

*

Quick thought about this game that I'm watching on HDTV as we pass the 34-minute mark: I've never seen any goalkeeper layout as often as this Japanese keeper without being anywhere close to the ball. Poor keeper.

Picture of the Day: Pingguoyuan (Apple Orchard)

This is from Thursday, the last of four straight days of gorgeous skies in Beijing. Pingguoyuan is the final stop on the western end of the subway 1-line.




Happy Fourth of July!

Late words and pictures from Obama's inauguration

I got in on Tuesday night feeling sickly and exhausted, with one of my suitcases left behind in Minneapolis, but I wasn't going to miss this...

Pictures from Rickshaw, which was jam-packed with foreigners who had to shush up the Chinese bartenders who spoke during Obama's speech:



It's a proud time to be an American. Obama's unabashed confidence and optimism is contagious, and these uncertain times, our best defense as a collective may just be something as abstract as "hope." Then again -- and this is me writing three days after the fact, as opposed to the day after -- I think it's fair to say we should all be just a little more skeptical.

About the aforementioned sickness: I can't figure out if my current illness is due to some pathogen I bore over from the U.S. or the bug going around Beijing as we speak. I hope it's the former, otherwise I may get sick again, say, next week. Ugh.

POSTSCRIPT: This was a happy sight:

A special announcment

Three more days till this blog reboots. It will, per my former promise, be tidier, more focused this time around, especially since all my recreational happenings have been moved here.

A brief note from the U.S.

When this site returns, the content will be different -- more focused, relevant and interesting. No more random pictures, and no more self-indulgent cat stories. I have a personal blog for that.

As for when I'll write regularly on here again, that is still in the air. Trying to return to Beijing in late-winter/early-spring. Process may be expedited if I'm introduced to job opportunities before then.

Back in the U.S.A.

Where the Internet is free and the people are portly. And the skies... wow. Let the sunshine in, indeed.

Far from bringing this blog to a close, however, I'm going to keep it active indefinitely, both as a reminder that I should return to Beijing before too long (within half a year, I'm hoping) and as a way to keep up-to-date China happenings.

For now, however, I need to organize my life here and retrieve my luggage (it's still at the airport while I'm at home. Long story.) Will check back later.