Brief Update

Sorry I haven't been posting! Life's been hectic and a little different recently, and I got behind blogging. This is partly due to the fact that I like to post long, interesting (I hope) posts, so sometimes I just don't post anything because I don't have the time or motivation to write what I'd like. Also, I'm giving up on the whole "it has to be in chronological order" thing.
With that out of the way ...
Thanksgiving was great! I had a really nice day, though I hadn't been sure what to expect ahead of time. I thought it might be really hard to be away from my family, but the Father took care of me. I really will try to blog more about it soon.
The semester is winding down. I have finals left to give and grade, but that's all.
I just got back from a trip tonight. Recently, dad emailed me about getting together because he had a meeting in Japan this week. Originally, he wanted to come to Beijing, but the logistics worked out better for me to go see him because we could spend longer together. We weren't sure it would work out, but it did, so last Friday I took the train to Beijing to fly to Tokyo. I did some sightseeing on Saturday and dad arrived that evening. We traveled around Tokyo sightseeing Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I flew to Shanghai on Wednesday and back to Beijing today because my direct flight to Beijing was cancelled. It was a fast, busy trip, but it was great to see dad. I'm not going home for Christmas, so getting to see someone from my family this week was like Christmas (and only partly becuase he brought me lots of things from the US). I also really enjoyed seeing Japan, which is very different from China in many ways. It was a fascinating contrast.
Christmas is coming quickly and in January I'll be leaving to travel around Southeast Asia with some other teachers. Before that happens, I'll try to fill you in on life in QHD (and Tokyo) and I'll post some pictures.