Getting organized for the East

Today--now that I finally have DSL--I've begun to transfer some files about travel in China to delicious.com to my account there so that I can locate them quickly. As I shifted some, I was amazed at how many I had already managed to collect! The New York Times travel section has been especially helpful. Next I'll need to go back and re-read all of the articles and make some notes.

While I'm eager to immerse myself in the research and notetaking, today is probably not a good day. Another migraine has struck, this time with accompanying nausea. I'm excited about being able to do so much more and so much faster with DSL, but I just don't feel good. More than anything else, I need to transfer all of my Favorite Places to bookmarks in delicious.com, and that process will take some time. Once I complete that, I can cancel my AOL account, and will I ever be glad to be rid of it! I do, however, have so many files that it will undoubtedly take time to make the transfer, but once done, I think that all of the information will be better organized and more accessible, especially the files I need for school.

I also checked the time and temperature for Beijing today, and I discovered that the time difference is 12 hours. Predicted high for today is 101 F. Whew! I knew it was going to be hot, but this hot?

China trip

Today I've created my blog about our trip to China, which is about six weeks away. When we first starting thinking about and planning this trip, July seemed so far away, but now it's summer. I've begun some reading, mostly fiction by Chinese writers, set in ancient China that's helping me gain a better understanding of history. One of the guide books had a great list of suggested books that I used when I went to the library; some of the titles were available, and I'm working my way through them. One is a history of past and present that my husband is reading now. I borrowed the Cambridge History of China from a colleague who teaches history and visited China last summer; she prepared a timeline that's been helpful in understanding the various dynasties. I have this desperate need to be better prepared for this trip than I have been for some of the previous trips we've taken to foreign countries, because I know so little about China---or I think I do. Maybe I know more than I realize! Anyway, I have a lot of reading to do.

Last night I began to worry about what kinds of clothes to take for the hot, humid weather we'll encounter for the 16 days we'll be gone. I could hardly fall asleep while I made a mental inventory of what I have and what I may need. Do I need to buy more clothes? Yikes! I don't want to take too much, but I do want to have what I'll need. Mostly I don't want to have to stress about this aspect of the trip, but it IS important. After all of the stress about renewing the passports and obtaining the Chinese visas, I'd like to get the clothing thing settled as soon as possible. Shoes are a big concern.