Safe and Sound

After 26 hours of traveling, I finally made it home safe and sound Saturday night. As much fun as I had in China, there's nothing like returning to the comfort of your own country. I had to smile when I saw the farms of Minnesota and Illinois as we flew in. Home at last!

China is so rich in history and culture, and I would love to return sometime soon to have the chance to see those things I didn't get to see on this trip. The 2008 Olympics will be really interesting, especially since this is China's chance to show the world that communism can be successful and to show off their mysterious country to everyone else.

In all the cities we visited, the pollution was a constant. At first I thought the haze was weather-related, but I came to find out it's the pollution. Everyone burns sulfur-rich coal, and natural gas is very rarely distributed to many homes. While our nation still has a long way to go to protect the environment, we're lightyears ahead of China. The next big thing, I think, will be for our government to help China with this issue, especially since they could potentially reek more havoc on the environment as they undergo their industrial revolution.

As I mentioned before, my new goal is to learn Mandarin. We used to think that Spanish was the most important/practical language for Americans to know, but after this trip, I'm convinced it's going to be Mandarin. As China becomes more and more capitalistic, and as more companies and firms open business there, it's going to be so important to know the language. The problem is, it's so difficult to learn and read. I heard it takes 1,000 hours to learn the language. I think that has got to be an underestimation.

I hope to post some pictures and video soon of the trip! Keep posted...