In general I am conservative, and if you are conservative Republican, you may really enjoy this book and learn from it.  I suggest you check it out from the library first though.

I’m sitting in my hotel room at the Chinggis Khan hotel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where it is currently 11 degrees at 4pm.  The sun is shining and the air pollution cloud hanging over the city isn’t too awful, I mean I can still tell there are mountains to the right.  I was going to post all my pics on picasa but it was blocked in China.  of course, who am I kidding, so was FB and I’ve just been putting everything there.  I’m trying to ease off and use this more often but FB is a hard habit to break.

Too bad it’s 1am in Colorado and 2am in Liberal.  Thought I’d call the folks.

If you want the WHAT story check out FB.  I’m going to try to share some of the rest of the story here.  I’m also going to have time in Cambodia, I think, and will try and finish my scrapbooks for China and Mongolia and have them shipped home so they are waiting for me when I get there.  How awesome fun will that be!?!

I have 2-3 hours before I’m picked up for the New Year/Spring Festival celebration that begins tonight.  It’s eat, eat, eat, until you may burst.  I’m not totally certain but it is something about eating to ward off hunger for the coming year, I think.  Hoping to learn more tonight.  Not sure how much I’ll even understand in the 5-6 hours I’ll be there but it will be good.

Please, if you hear nothing else, hear this.  LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE! AND LEARN IT WELL. It makes travel so much richer when you know what’s going on.  At least it does for me.  I find when I’m in a new country I just go around observing for the first several days.  I relate thing to what I already know and I just want to soak it all in.  I’m not really much of a talker at that point in my travel.  I know it may seem contradictory to what you know of me but it is true.  I’m happy to talk but it’s as if I don’t know what to say and need the host to lead the conversation.  That’s certainly where I am now.

I’m tired.  I feel like it’s a long time until I sleep again.  Need to try and get everything packed.  Then maybe a nap before it’s time to leave for the celebration.  5 am check-out will come awfully early tomorrow.  sigh.

1. Daughter from DaNang – This was well done but a hard story to watch unfold.  I saw the pain and frustration of cultural shock alive and well and recognized it from my own experience.  I wish she had had some sort of orientation and think that may have helped her.

2. Waiting for Superman – Saw this on one of my flights over to Asia.  I think it was SEA/TAC to NARITA.

It is currently 6:13 Saturday morning in Colorado and 2113 here in China (the whole country is in the same time zone) (Vietnam is an hour behind us, if you care).

Trivia: When did Peking become Beijing?

There’s so much to see here and so much I want to know.  I wish I had a local Chinese friend to explain things to me.

I did learn this today.  It is not uncommon to have Chinese young people come up to you and ask to go to tea to practice their English skills.  However, it could also be a scam where they bank on you knowing no Chinese and they take you to a fancy tea shop and order the most expensive tea which I’m told could cost 1000 yuan ($100) per cup and they stick you with the bill.  Not happened today .

Hitting the Wall tomorrow!

Facebook is blocked here so I’m trying to keep up.  Love to you all, my friends!

Mom received a Kindle for Christmas and has decided to go back to the classics.  She’s loving it, especially since Dad cheated and gave it to her several months in advance and they were sneaky and just didn’t tell us (we all gave her accessories for Christmas).  I remember the local public library doing the summer reading program.  They would have a drawing contest for a bookmark and I won one year.  I can’t imagine since my drawing skills are far from awesome.  It was a worm wearing a mortarboard coming out of an apple.  I’m sure it’s in a scrapbook somewhere.  I remember Mom suggesting books and me finding myself lost in the worlds of Romona Quimbly or a Mexico I’d never yet imagined.  She may not realize it, but I would bet my love of reading is part of the basis for my love of travel.

The last few years I’ve set a goal of how many books to read, thanks to my friend, Rachel, who has done the same.  2009 was 40 and I made 36 1/2.  2010 was 30 and I made 46.  2011 had a goal of 25 with the addition of the goal to watch 15 documentaries.  I almost have 2 on the list thus far.

I thought I was doing so well until a friend posted on FB that she read 130+ books last year. Awesome!  I’m content with my small number and am certain I will pass it but it’s fun for me to have a goal.  I’m competitive with myself and so read I shall.  I have a variety of things on my list and keep it updated as I go on FB.  I shall post it periodically here as well as on the new site another friend, Lora, suggested – www.goodreads.com.  I’d love to hear about your reading, any suggestions (as long as they aren’t scarey, I am a chicken) or any memories you have of reading and why you read.

I was saddened one day to hear from a coworker how he and his wife use reading as a punishment for their children and I pray that someday the whole family will see reading as a joy.

What are you reading right now?

Now I’m back on my couch where I’ve watched some more NCIS, done some facebooking, emailing, BBCing and such.  I checked to see if I needed to mail any cds or dvds from my swapa accounts (really cool if you don’t know about them).  On and on.  I think I’ll do some blog catching up now and then move along to more NCIS before I put it back into the mail this afternoon.

Nothing exciting here.  Looking at making a second cuppa tea and washing dishes.  Yup, that’s exciting as it gets as I await what I hope will arrive in today’s mail – my photo order so that I can start scrapping like a maniac.

So, as I try to get back into blogging, I wouldn’t say this is one of my better entries, but sometimes you just have to get out there and do something to get back into the groove.  Look out groove – here I come!

sigh.

I’m going home.  I’m trying to blog more.  Push myself to write, to journal, talk to God, find my center in him, not in late night texts or dreams of what ‘could be.’  Right now I appear to be at the high avoidance stage.  Perhaps collapse and caving will occur this weekend?  Until then I’m off to home to get up early to be on the radio at 7:30 tomorrow and again Friday (different station) at 7:40.  Love that I’m friends with both deejays.

all times are mountain.