Happy Year of the Ox.....Bang Bang!

I am glad we were not in China for the new year. Fireworks are still going off everywhere, even 5 days later (although we have heard fireworks every single day since we got here).

We miss Thailand. China is depressing. We are quite literally very alone here, as there are maybe 5 other people on this entire campus that is our home/prison. The restaurants nearby are all still closed so we have a 45 minute walk to get anything to eat or go to the grocery store. And we are not good at making our own food here because the grocery store is jam packed with all sorts of disgusting unidentifiable things and nothing we would ever want to eat. (That might be different if I knew how to carve and cook a whole duck...not that it would help Liz any). So after 3 weeks of gorging ourselves on familiar food and wonderful Thai cuisine, we are back to pancakes, cereal, Snickers, and ramen. And spaghetti from time to time. And the occasional grilled cheese, which isn't the most filling our nutritious meal. We start teaching again in 6 days. We would've stayed away longer, but plane tickets doubled for the return trip the day after our return flight, I assume because so many Chinese are flying home then too.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time in Thailand and will write a detailed account of our whole trip soon. Here are our pictures while you await the accompanying stories.