came back from c.hina last night and am currently in s.eoul. my first thought stepping off the airplane was how amazingly clean and modern k.orea is in contrast w/ the p.r.c. having cool air blasting onto my face from the AC was probably a big factor in making that observation.

it's mind-boggling to think that i've set foot in 3 completely different countries in the past 3 weeks. and if i were thinking along the lines of e.chen, i would have taken 3 multi-national dumps. tomorrow i leave for my 4th country, the us of a, which will hopefully be home for the next phase of this lifelong journey. i'm excited yet scared because there's a myriad of decisions to be made in the next couple of weeks regarding these next steps.

incidentally, i picked up a f.ortune magazine yesterday on the plane. it was about making decisions. timely and insightful read with a business slant. here's an excerpt from one article:

great decisions begin with really great people and a simple statement: I don't know. kinda like trying your best but putting that final step into His hands. learning dependence.

highlights from c.hina that come to mind right now:
- eating. nearly quadrupling my caloric intake. and seeing the result in my gigantic stools. you really are what you eat.
- spontaneous & random moments of PR w/ brothers and peers, both local and ex-pat. great conversations late at night and PRing as if merely continuing the conversation w/ Gd.
- watching e.chen take the "forbidden dump" in the forbidden city. rooting for him to take the "great dump" on the great wall. mao ze dung would be so proud.
- naked ninja photos. almost.
- visiting the land of bad grammar and laughing at everything. there's a metro stop in b.eijing called H.eping Station. where you hep me hep you. that one never got old for d.shin and me. it's konglish humor. photos to come later.
- having a female tour guide for a day in b.eijing. and listening to her ask d.shin to take her back to tianjin. ch.inawoman was bold.
- watching e.chen & j.dai interact.
- taking advantage of the c.hinese entrepeneurial spirit and buying enough dvds to never have to visit b.lockbuster again.
- sitting on a rooftop in sh.anghai overlooking the brightly lit, almost garish sh.anghai skyline. realizing that the building on which we stood might not be there next year, given the pattern of development in ch.ina.

that's all for now. and if you're in southern c.alifornia this summer, look me up. i'll buy you a glass of water or something. signing off from the motherland.

tomorrow: uhmerika.