laundry, needs

Hi everyone,
there is laundry onsite. You can buy detergent here for pretty cheap.

Don't buy normal diapers, but preemie. Those are the only ones that they want, b/c there's an apartment, literally, full of diapers.

Don't buy endosporin, I bought too much of that already :)

Infant Tylenol is always great, so is hydralife oral rehydration powder.

Fer-In-Sol and Poly-vi-sol are vitamins that they use when they have it available to them, but they don't use it all the time.

I bought a bunch of hydrocortisone. But I didn't buy any balmex, so that'd be good.

They need shoes for babies, hit up some garage sales, lots there :)

Yeah, hope that helps.

see you soon!

Joan

Thanks for offering to wait up for me at the airport, I realize I land almost an hour after Callie, but if it's not too much trouble for us to get the same ride that'd be great. : )

Don't worry Ysabelle, I haven't started packing yet either! When I went to Beijing last summer for 3 months I brought enough clothing to last me about a week and a half to 2 before I had to do laundry. Speaking of which, another for you Joan: are there laundry facilities nearby and should we bring our own detergent?

Another thing I was wondering was if everyone plans on bringing items from the needs list. Room in my backpack may be sparing but I can always pack my carry on nice and tightly! Some good family friends of ours work closely with the Johnson & Johnson company so I'll try to get in touch with them to see if I can get baby diapers en masse or anything else that may be needed. Said family friend is very excited about my trip to China and super interested in the work we'll be doing, so I'm sure she'd be willing to help out. Any thoughts? I'll also see if there are any old movies I have lying around.

One more thing! I met a friend of my brother's last night who's been living in Shanghai for about 10 months working for an advertising company. He's from Montreal like myself and speaks fluent Chinese so it was great getting a bit of a refresher (and talking in code in front of everyone else... heh heh). It made me really really excited to practice my Chinese when I arrive!

Take care everyone and see you all soon! : )
-lb.

Towels, souvenirs from home, ARRIVAL details

Hi Everyone,
I found towels, not sure if you want to use them or not, they seem ok :)

________

Also, souvenirs from home... I visited some friends here in BJ and I brought macademia nuts... Other things that my family appreciates in Taiwan is coffee, though not everyone drinks it here. Someone at Tufts said that the Ai-ee's appreciate American candy (checkout aisle candy), I think they found that nice, and were quite surprised. But I don't think that's what I would have brought myself.

Keep in mind it is getting warmer, so if you go all out and get fancy chocolate, just be careful :)

Any gift is a surprise, and I wish I had prepared more gifts than what I had brought. Sorry I'm not much help in this area.

________

Also, I will be going with the driver to pick each of you up. I'm average height (in Asia) and until my friend brings my contacts, I also wear really thick glasses. I'll be either with a driver or by myself, we'll have a sign with the CC logo and hopefully smiles on our faces if your flight is delayer ^_~

There are ATMs in the airport that take VISA and one with MASTERCARD, but the instructions are in Chinese. Otherwise, there are banks that you can exchange currency with, but you need a Chinese person with you to do so. Lastly, there is an ATM nearby here, so you can walk over and use your VISA. Hope that helps.

________

Here is the order of arrival.

Tim - June 20 - 2:50

John - June 21 - 3:00

Anna - June 21 - 1:50

Callie - June 23 - 3:00

Lauren - June 23 - 3:55

** Callie, you are in terminal 3. Lauren, you're in 3 also, we'll wait for you :).

Ysabelle - June 23 - 6:00

Ok, I believe that's everything I have to share right now.
Ladies, need to tell you I have two cats that I'm babysitting for a neighbor. Looks like they'll be with us for a day or two but hopefully I'll get them back to her asap.

Okee dokee... SEE YOU ALL SOON!!! Soon you won't be able to check your emails and the blog!

reply to Ysabelle - driver, exchanging currency

Hi Ysabelle,
you DO NOT need to pay the driver who picks you up. Sorry if that was a confusion. A ChinaCare driver will pick you up.

As for exchanging money, my dad mentioned yesterday that Chinese currency is not open-market. I thought you could exchange money in America, but I'm not totally sure. Give it a shot, if that doesn't work, then bring American currency to the airport and exchange money there. DO NOT exchange money from any one except banks and the airport, otherwise, getting fake bills is a possibility.

For the last 2 weeks, I think I've lived on ~200-250 RNB at most, and that was including some gifts for home.

Hope this all helps!

Joan

"Souvenirs from your home town"

anyone have ideas about what might be appreciated? I'm puzzled.

by the way, Joan, I like your email away-notification :)

movie nights! how fun! i'll try to see if i have any kids movies, but i think all my dvd's are in my apartment in austin (which is 3 hours away from where i live). but that's exciting!

i just got the e-mail from diana which had all our arrival days/times on it. i'm the last one to get there! sad. haha. i haven't even packed yet! how do you even pack for 2 months? i've never had to pack for such a long amount. i don't think i even have enough clothes for that amount of time.

oh! question: joan, you were saying something about giving money to the driver that picks you up? is that right? how much do i need to bring? and where can i get some money exchanged to RMB over here (the bank)?

take care everyone! and have a safe flight!!!

ysabelle

Movie Nights!

So some interesting things have happened in the last hour.

I spoke with the British English teaching woman and this is what I found worthy to share:

1) we're all invited to a (very shortened) version of "Sound of Music" performed by the older fostercare kids, June 26th.

2) Kid's movie nights are in the works! So if you have any Disney/Pixar, awesome kids movies/shows; that'd be great if you could bring those. I've asked my dad to send over VeggieTales but other stuff from you would be cool :) Maybe one movie night a week, either Saturday or Sunday.

3) Adult English class is over because the teacher is leaving. So I offered to do some of that, and I hope you're all interested also. Basically, it's "English Corner", which means that it's a time for people to practice English with a native speaker, colloquial kind of stuff or topics, w/e :)

Movie night for staff was also an idea brought up, but I think that American movies here are so cheap that bringing it over isn't totally necessary...but if you've got favorites, by all means :) Otherwise, slidereel.com (which I haven't visited) has American movies with Chinese subtitles, which would be good for them.

So yeah...some ideas to toss around.
If any one is very generous with sharing and happens to have a mini projector, that'd be kind of cool to have...but very luxurious :)

:D I'm just excited right now, :)

see you all soon!

FLIGHT NUMBERS

Hi Everyone,
I believe it has all been taken care of by Diana (who I'll send a separate email to) but for the driver to pick you up, he needs to know your flight number and therefore, where to pick you up at.

Thanks for posting the times of arrivals, just that last detail of # now. Thanks!

So excited :) weight, towel

Hi Everyone,
I logged onto bloglines today and was so excited to see everyone posting their arrival times!! It's actually real that you're all coming :) (minus Tim, who still hasn't posted!!)

So any ways, the driver will meet you there and be right outside of the baggage claim with a chinacare sign. I'm not sure if Ysabelle, Callie, Lauren will all be picked up at the same time, we're fairly close to the airport actually so maybe they'll drive twice? I'll let you know if I find any thing else.

John Speed, yes, a towel is good. I brought a really little towel, like the size of a cafeteria tray plus 4 inches on the long side. I think it's better this way because it dries faster and takes up less space, but it's your call. You can also buy one here for fairly cheap if you have no room in your luggage, we have stores near by.

I checked with someone, it is 44 pounds (20 kg). Plus your carry on and that kind of stuff. Where else are you going Anna?

see you all soon, keep an eye out for emails and postings from my end too.

See you soon, John Speed and Joan. I'll be arriving almost the same time as John Speed on Saturday!

Beijing or Bust!

The countdown clocked has started; only four days left for me. I leave on the 20th and get in around 3:00 on the 21st, so I'll be getting there a couple days earlier and will finally meet Joan, the answerer of all questions.

I have one more question: Should we bring towels for showering? (It's a petty question, but I'm curious)

JSM

watching my weight

Does anyone remember the weight limit on Chinese domestic flights? 1 bag of 44 pounds?

Beijing bound on June 23rd

Hey Callie,
Seems like you, Ysabelle and I all arrive on the 23rd. My flight lands at 3:55 so maybe we'll catch the same ride to the home!
Good luck to you to in this next week and i'll see you very soon :)
-lauren.

flights!

Thanks for the info Joan!
I'm flying out a week from today (yikes!), I'll be on flight United 851 out of Chicago-O'Hare at 12:40 pm - arriving in Beijing at 3 pm on the 23. Anyone else on this flight? or the same day perhaps?
good luck packing everyone!

reply to Lauren - conditions of living

So here it's really nice, the homes are great and the apartments are too. Great is relative, but what I mean is, toilets aren't squat style and showers are warm, washing machine, AC, etc.

I spoke with another volunteer coordinator who went to TY and she said that the staff there aren't very old, pretty young, our age and younger, and the care for these children is poor. Facilities weren't too bad, still clean, average. Not sure where people would live there in terms of vol and interns.

reply to Callie - arrival

Hi Everyone,
When you arrive, there will be a person outside of the baggage claim with a sign that says China Care. Make sure Diana knows when you arrive (she should). Some of you may be arriving around the same time :)

Money, I was lucky and had a relative take care of it for me. Another volunteer did traveler's checks, which she doesn't recommend b/c they can only be exchanged in the city. Exchange some in the US, it saves hassle later. If you need more later, then bring a credit card, and some ATMs will work (not sure which companies).

belated reply

Wow, was I ever in need of an update. Oh my! Work has been keeping me far too busy to think enough about our upcoming internship that it hasn't been uncommon for me to spend a few days away from the computer, then have loads of entries to catch up on (such as now)! but, that's awesome, because more questions = more answers and increasing excitement to meet all of you.

I finally got my visa (huuraaay!) Similar to you John Speed, I was pretty close to having a panic attack too. The travel agent at the agency here in Chinatown was super and made sure everything went through smoothly. As for other preparations, I took a trip down to the tropical disease clinic earlier this week to get updated on my vaccinations. All's left is to pack my bags and, of course, get mentally prepared for 2 months on the other side of the world. haha, yeah, that's all... !

Thanks so much for being our most prompt info messengerJoan, it's comforting getting a better idea of how things are over there.

Now, time for a question! Does anyone know if the homes/facilities we'll be staying in are more or less the same in each of the locations? Also, how do you suppose they go about placing us during/after our orientation in Beijing? Have you heard any information about that Joan?

I will most likely come up with more questions in the next few days and will make sure to stay updated this time. Excited to see you all soooon! :) Happy preparing everyone.

more ques :)

Hey Joan -
When you arrived at the Beijing airport, did someone from China Care come to get you / where?
Also, how did you get Chinese money - did you do it there, or before you left?
And thanks for the pictures!!

interNet

so internet is fast here, relatively. it's wireless

let me know any other questions :]

Re: girls dorm

hello everyone.

so far here in apt 27 the bedding has all been provided. I asked the girl who lives there now and she says that bedding is provided.

I did note that the beds in apt 15 were a little "flat" as in maybe not so soft looking. I'm fine with that but if you're not there will probably be some extra blankets to pad the bed with.

keep posting your questions and I'll try and get back as soon as I see them. see you soon! :)

oh no! another question

haha, sorry! my dad called me and wanted me to ask you another question. he was wondering what kind of internet you can use there at the Beijing Home..

and that's about it, i think. =)

ysabelle

everybody asks such good questions. this is incredibly useful.
thank you joan!

girls dorm

oh wow! thanks for the pictures, joan!
i was wondering, do we need to bring our own bedsheets or will those be provided for us?
i'll make this short and painless. =)

have a great day today!

ysabelle

A Preview of the girls apartment

I think we'll have one director living with us too, and Brent knows there's 5 girls, so something will be done about 4 beds.

reply to John Speed

Congratulations on receiving your visa :)

Concerning the stuff on the list, what I've noticed is that formula (the specialized type) is the the highest priority along with preemie sized diapers and Infant OTC medications.

I already brought over a ridiculous amount of neosporin, so please don't buy any more. Baby vitamins such as Fer In Sol and Poly Vi Sol are used when available, but not bought here on regular basis. So yeah, that's great if you bring them but not highest priority.

So basically whatever you decide to bring from the list is great but I haven't been told directly what's the best.

Thanks for thinking about bringing donations.

AND...SOMEONE PLEASE BRING UNO or PHASE 10 or DUTCH BLITZ or any other game that is highly amusing. Thanks!

Visa (Big sigh of relief) and supplies

I finally recieved my Visa - I was about to have a panic attack. I can't wait to meet everyone in just a couple weeks. I was wondering if anyone has an idea of what to do about bringing supplies. Are there supplies that are prioritized or should we just bring any on that list we got?

JSM

Cell phones

First of all, congratulations to all of you who've gotten the visa, and those who haven't, hope it's coming soon!

I talked with my dad about the cell phone issue that you asked about. If you are interested, he has 2-3 unlocked phones that he's pretty sure will work in China. They are the ipaq 6515 and the ipaq 510. If you're interested, let me know with an email to jblin@wisc.edu CC tlin1@facstaff.wisc.edu. Then this weekend my dad can test it out and let you know if they'll work or not.

He can also send the phones to you after they're tested for you to get more familiar with them. Otherwise, he can send them with my friend who is arriving in Beijing June 25th and she can give them to me.

So yes, get your phones unlocked - how, I don't know. But if any thing, Brent or some other staff can try and get it done.

see you all soon :)

Anna, Callie & Joan

HELLO LADIES! =)

______________________________________________________________

Callie,

Congrats to you and your organization for raising the funds to help this child. That is absolutely amazing! How're things going for you? When are you getting in?

______________________________________________________________

Anna,

Yay! You have your VISA, too. I know that on the morning that I was getting mine, I was talking to Diana and she said you just did yours, too.

Doesn't it feel great? Like, a great burden has been lifted off your shoulders?
It feels nice, haha.

______________________________________________________________

Joan,

Thanks for all the information! I don't know much about cell phones and using them outside the US. The only thing I know from my cell phone provider is that 1) I need to unlock my phone, 2) I received the instructions on how to do that from them, 3) But I need to have the Chinese SIM card in my phone in order to complete the instructions.

So yeah, hopefully Brent knows places I can go in order to get a sim card.

Can't wait to hear from you soon!



Take care, girls!
Ysabelle

Visa!

Got it. Yay.

And congrats Callie, what an amazing accomplishment. And now you're on your way towards him...

reply to Ysabelle

Congratulations on getting your visa! I hope everyone has already gotten theirs by now and without much difficulty.

So my cell phone is my dad's PDA. It's a glofish. The glofish can take a SIM card which you can buy here in China for pretty cheap ($15 USD ish) We ordered mine online on ebay so I received it in the mail and got the number to my friends and family before I left the country.

I'm not sure how to go about unlocking things, and I can't say I understand cell phones here. One thing for sure, cell phones are "cheap" here. Like, not expensive like home, but still maybe not something you'd like to purchase here. Brent knows a couple good places to buy one if you need to.
Otherwise, I believe that if your phone has "3 channel capability" or something like that, it can be used all over the world provided that you have a sim card and connection to a tower. The girls said that phones in America can take sim cards (minus verizon, which is what I use). But doublecheck with your provided on how to go about using your phone here.

I went with ChinaMobile as my SIM card (which is much like a debit card). There are a few text messages you can send before the end of the month to activate some discounts. Remind me to let you know what they are later.

Also, for home's information, cell phones here have no voicemail.

I went in the girl's apartment today, it's nice :) I'll post more about it later.

reply to Callie - CC kid

^_^ That's really nice that you guys sponsored him. You might get a chance to meet him. I'm not sure how we're being sent around and who's going, but you can definitely ask to go meet him :)

hi joan!

i feel like we are pen pals! haha.
don't worry, i can go with you if you ever need to get anything at the store! =)
i'm sure i will ask the same from you.

i think that my VISA finally came in from houston, so my dad will pick it up tomorrow.
i am from dallas and we thought it would be smarter to have a visa agency do it for us instead of having to drive to houston ourselves.

oh! i remembered that i wanted to ask you something.
did you bring your own cell phone, have it unlocked, and buy a sim card there?
that's the route that i'm hoping to do.
if so, how much are they there?

AND! shoutouts to lauren, callie, anna, john, and tim! haha yay!

China Care kids

Hey guys! I'm not in a China Care club, but just a China Club and we raised money to sponsor one of the China Care children for the next year. I thought you guys would be interested! His name is Tian Gang and he's in foster care in Shanxi. :)

reply to Ysabelle - ^_^

I'm excited about being homesick with someone :) The Harvard girls have been very independant but supportive. I hope I can be supportive for you all when you get here.

As for independant, I'm excited to have someone (from you 6!) to drag with me to the outside world when I need to get something.

It's ok about the Chinese. What kind of irks me is how people are really excited if you're clearly not chinese and speak chinese. Well, I'm just as American as the next American, but clearly on the outside, I'm Chinese. So I just feel expectations, and I'm beginning to learn to not try and meet everyone's expectations, and do what I think is right and good.

But, on the flip side, if I keep my mouth shut, everyone kind of assumes I'm a native that walks like an American, so maybe I'm a native, and you better not offer me a rip off price for whatever you're selling me. But more often than not, the first response is what I get.

You'll all do great! I believe most of you are in a field with Chinese as a regular part of your curriculum, so it'll all be good :) And Ysabelle can stick with me, fitting into category two for those nationals that can't figure us out ;)

reply to Anna - gearing up

Hi Anna,
Thanks for your thoughtfulness :) It's ok being here first, it's different. I feel a little bored sometimes when they don't know what they want me to do, but otherwise, it's ok.

The only thing that I wish I had was my laptop, but not having one has made me freer and more open to talking to others. The Harvard girls here have been great roommates and have been a lot of fun. So it's not such a problem being here first. I'm still really excited about everyone arriving though!

I'm very lucky to have some people I know in Beijing to hang out with on the weekends and also hanging out with the Harvard girls. I'm well provided for physically by CC and kind of emo-mentally with everyone else.

I'm trying to think of any thing else that I should tell you to pack for your own sake. A lot of things you can just by here, but if you're kind of afraid of going out (which should be ok b/c someone will always be around to go with you), you can prepare ahead of time a small lunchbox for the "cafeteria", some utensils, a mug, and maybe a bowl and plate. I'm not sure what's provided for us at the apartment we'll stay in, but when I moved in my current one, nothing was provided except large appliances and water and toilet paper (which really is a blessing :])

Good to hear from you, see you all soon!

reply Callie - food

Hi Callie and everyone...

Food.

As interns, we are provided with lunch and dinner in building 3, door 2, floor 2. Food is authentic, usually vegetables with a little meat a day, and rice and man-tou (steamed bread) every lunch and dinner.

Food outside can be purchased at restaurants (I had lunch for 3-4 RNB) and sidewalk carts (1-2RNB for breakfast).

I've got cereal from a supermarket, fairly cheap. I've been snacking on bars if I don't have food. But you can buy snacks here too for our market value or cheaper (often).

To warn you, milk here is very creamy. Skim isn't terribly popular. So I eat my cereal cold.

There are plenty of drinks here. Maybe bring your favorite tea packets or some instant oatmeal, plenty of hot water in the containers they provide.

Keep posting if you've any questions.

Money, I'm not sure how much. If you eat out at least once a day, it's 7-10 RNB at most, and that's if you're an expensive big eater. But overall, however much you want to spend on food can be roughly calculated by taking 7-10 RNB and multiplying by the days you're staying. But that's my guess.

Money for gifts for home, if you can bargain, and you aren't looking for "high quality", "name brand" items, simple stuff...you can buy a lot for 100 RNB. I can buy 3 children's dresses for that much possibly. Or 5-7 glittery hairclips. Or 4 ipod-computer chargers. It's all how you can bargain.

food

Yes, thanks Joan for the updates! I hope things are going well over there! Have you been making food where you are staying, or buying food? I'm trying to think of what sort of nonperishable food to bring over, or how much money too.

gearing up

Joan, thank you so much for your updates! I'm so excited for every little bit of information. I'm sorry you have to be there for so long before the rest of us arrive...I feel like you've really taken one for the team. :)

Today Diana sent us last year's "Volunteer Handbook." I don't think you've missed out on any important information unless you were really curious about hotels where you could stay in Beijing. Otherwise, you've probably already had to figure out things like how to pack for the trip and make your travel arrangements, huh?

Also, if there's anything you realize you wish you'd brought (like breakfast food), let me know and I can bring it when I come.

Good luck! Hope the homesickness fades and you find some English speakers.

See you soon!

Hi Joan!

I'm very thankful for all your updates! I definitely will be able to relate to you about being homesick because I know I will be, too. It's okay. We can be homesick together! Plus, we will be there before you know it.

Oh my. I don't know much Chinese at all. I'm sure there will be many people frustrated with me.

Anyways, I hope that everything is going well for you there. I can't wait to get there so you can fill me in on EVERYTHING! haha. Take care and I will see you soon!


Ysabelle =)

internship, a less vague outline

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to fill you a little more in about what you can expect when you get here. I'm sorry if I repeat something in an older post, but I need to get my mind off being homesick.

So...

We'll be assigned three things.

1) volunteer with the infants

2) serve as a volunteer coordinator - you'll take turns carrying the cell phone (probably) and work scheduling in the volunteers if needed and being the "go-to" person for their questions.
OR - another job that Brent assigns (I haven't seen the list yet)

3) capstone project - Brent has a list, I haven't seen that either.

Right now some of the Harvard volunteers and the Tufts volunteers are here. We've been volunteering with the infants for part of the day, then the volunteers do whatever they want.

There's talk of interns working regularly with the older children (older than toddlers). I'm to speak with the managers of the group homes (education for older kids) about a session (Brent said an hour a day maybe) with the youngest group home children (3-5 years). It'll be an English hour with singing, maybe some stories, games, it hasn't been sorted out yet.

Now this is an idea that I recently heard, not much detail has been given to me. But a woman came into the office today to talk about the taking the group home children to the something olympics. I didn't hear her clearly, but if you let your imaginations run, you all may have a part of this, and the children could have a once in a lifetime experience.

I really look forward to meeting all of you. My Chinese is very limited and everyone around, literally, nearly all of the office staff are Chinese-only (and so busy that both of us in the conversation run out of patience quite quickly). It's been a little difficult talking with people besides volunteers and there's so much I want to ask and talk about! Please post about how your preparations are coming along, I'm very curious about everything and I'm reading English words like crazy ;)

reply to Ysabelle - visa

1) you don't need to know Chinese, they should know English, which granted may not be very good, but who knows

2) call CC in the morning to ask if you need to show them all the papers. I can't remember which ones I showed them.

3) Current and Former. So my parents are from Taiwan and are now US citizens. Their visas to China would say current: American, former: Taiwanese (or something like that). Mine said, "American" on both.

4) put down your school address. I don't think they'll really check any ways.

5) 13501270717 Address, there should be one on the papers, forgot which. but it's got a "20" in it. Sorry this isn't too much help. When you find the address with the "20", find someone to copy it over to the visa application. Or try your luck with the address Diana sent.

6) not sure what a financial guarentee is, I don't think so. Brent's papers will be enough to get the visa.

Be sure to make sure it's not perceived as an internship. It's sight-seeing (b/c non = business visa). Have a rough (fake) itinerary available just in case. I sent an email about that earlier.

Good luck, I hope this gets to you in time.

See everyone soon!

reply to Lauren - water bottles

Hi everyone,
dunno about Nalgene, I was never in the school sports and in that mindset of drinking water all the time.

use whatever you feel comfortable with. My aunt got me a small tupperware cup with a lid for water. it can fit in my bag.
the apartment has a big thing of water to refill with.

also, if I didn't mention it before, carry your bag in front of you when you're out.

wow! hearing your update about ACTUALLY BEING IN CHINA is amazing!
we're going to do such great things there. by making it real, i'm realizing what an opportunity this is and how we'll be making a great impact. so crazy!

anyways, i had a couple of questions about the VISA SITUATION again. haha.
my dad is finally off tomorrow, so we're going to work with an agency about getting my visa.
i remember from the emails about things we need to fill out, but i'm not sure yet if i have the information correct.

1.) I don't know Chinese, so...
2.) Do we turn in ALL the papers from the packet we received?
3.) What does 1.4 and 1.6 mean? Current and former nationality?
4.) On section 4 regarding our contact information, what does it mean by Employer or School? Do we put our school address there?
5.) About Brent's contact information, is all that listed in the papers in Chinese? Cell phone number? Address? Etc. How did you all copy and paste those?
6.) Did you need to show some kind of proof of financial guarantee? If so, what?

Sorry this is so much information at one time!!!

Anyways, good luck to everyone else on getting everything done for our trip!
I really REALLY can't wait to meet everyone.


ysabelle

side note: water bottles

Hey everyone,

Joan, thanks so much for the info updates, it's great to be getting a better idea of how things will be once we arrive, at least in the Beijing home. I'm glad you got there safely and hope you're having a super time so far :)

I just scanned through all the most recent post, and one thing that jumped out at me was the bit about the Nalgene bottles... this is actually just a side note and not essential but thought I'd pass along the fact that I recently stopped using my Nalgene because of the same plastic residue issue. I am no science whiz (ha, at ALL) so i can't go into detail about why Nalgenes aren't great for you in the long run, but I do know that Mountain Equipment Co-Op, a Canadian (North American maybe?) took all their Nalgenes off the shelves and introduced aluminum water bottles for safer long-term use.

so, that's all. hope I didn't bore you off your seats!

Something a little more relavant is that I finally got my renewed passport and was able to apply for my visa yesterday. I went through a very good travel agency here in Chinatown. Has everyone else been successful as of yet? I hope they don't run in to too many problems and that I'm able to get my visa for the 68 days I requested - from June 23rd to August 28th.
bye for now!