Since we last spoke

I am seriously laking in the quantity of blog entries, though I have been writing a lot my journal. Sorry you don't get to read it, but you can read this... my public journal. So I hope you enjoyed the effort I put into the writing my previous entries, because I have decided to compromise the quality for quantity. 

The picture is a at international fashion show hosted by the exchange office of City U. My friend Ivan, a local student with whom I studied with last semester at UNCA during his semester abroad, purchased the Uncle Sam costume for me at a large market in Hong Kong. It's funny because there are so many things to be found at this particular market, but I wouldn't have thought he would find this costume. Before and after the fashion show at least a hundred pictures were taken of me with local students, that I am sure are among the millions of photos on Facebook shared with friends containing various captions. 

It was quite an amazing opportunity to travel to mainland China this past week for 8 days over the lunar new year holiday. Arriving in Xi'an on Feb. 10, the ancient capitol of China, after 2 hour flight that turned into a 6 hr flight (almost landing in Xi'an, changing course to land in Chengdu and then back in the air to Xi'an). Here we visited an almost 2,000 year old Buddhist pagoda, walked along the ancient city wall, and most importantly accomplished one of my most anticipated destinations in China...the terracotta army. Build by the first emperor to unify China over 2,000 years ago, it is without question one of the 8 wonder of the world.