Chinese New Year (and halfway for me)

My vacation in Thailand is over and I'm back in good old Beijing, hiding my tan under jeans and a hoodie and wondering if I'll see the sun again before I'm back in America (I might not). Vacation was great. The highlights include: riding an elephant through the mountains above Chiang Mai, snorkelling off the coast of Phuket Island, lots of time on the beach, making the semi-finals of a Settlers of Catan tournament (no joke--I finished 5th in a field of 30), great seafood, Thai food, Western food, Burger King, watching the Super Bowl at 6 a.m. in the morning with such commercials as "Golden Moments of Wimbledon" and ads for English Premiere League soccer (courtesy of coverage on ESPN World), a Steelers victory, One For The Thumb, used book stores, the aforementioned tuk-tuks, country reports at conference, and finally, crossing the half-way point of my year overseas. February 5th was the exact halfway, so I heard, and the 11th was 6 months since I left home.

It's a new year back here in China (for all of us born in 1982, it's ours--the Year of the Dog), and tonight is the final night (I think) of the two-week celebration. In a land where fireworks were invented (and in a city where their use was banned until said ban was lifted this year), the Chinese people give even the Zambelli's a run for their money. Since nightfall there's been a pretty steady boom of fireworks here in Haidian District, with the night sky ablaze at certain points. Down every street and across every city block, citizens are setting off their own private displays--and it's after midnight now without much slowing down. I'm wondering if it's been like this since the Lunar calendar flipped to 2006, and if so I'm thinking the Fourth of July's got nothing on this. Not a bad homecoming.

I've got a lot more to say about conference, Thailand, and the months ahead, and pictures. There are a lot so I'm thinking of starting a photo site, maybe using Shutterfly. If I do I'll let ya know. I've got this next week off before I head back to the office--and I probably won't teach for another week after that, so I've got plenty of time to work on my fantasy baseball scouting, write up something about the Pirates offseason and write more about what I saw of Southeast Asia and what I hope to see here until June 27 rolls around. And I don't just mean a blue sky and some stars.

Goodnight, and Xin Nian Kui Le (Happy Chinese New Year) !