Today I made arrangements for this month's prolonged outing. This Wednesday/Thursday/Friday I will be going to Huashan (华山). This is a 2200m mountain with views and scenery that is described by my Lonely Planet guide as “terrifyingly memorable, yet unequivocally beautiful.” It is several hundred kilometres to the west of Zhengzhou (near Xi'an). There are hostels at the top of the mountain which, if they are reasonably priced, I will stay at in order to watch the sunrise the next morning from 2.2 km up. I leave Zhengzhou by bus at 7:30pm Wednesday evening, arriving at Huashan the next morning, and will begin the ascent ASAP. It is supposed to take about 5 hours to climb, but the mountain is said to sport several refreshment stands, so fear not for my safety; American Economics are by my side.

The next two days are busy ones for me, owing again to summer camp. Those little kids are great, but I wouldn't want to own one myself. When I'm done playing with them, I'm done. My patience lasts only just slightly longer than my teaching hours, since all the kids do is roll around, sit on the floor, stick out their tongues, make crazy noises, pull down their pants and show their buddies what they have, fall asleep etc., etc.,....Okay, they're not ALWAYS that bad, but you can imagine what four- and five year-olds are like.

When are you going to visit me, dear reader? E-mail me soon and let me know! You're always welcome, just pick a date.

Chris