i have not written in days. it has felt like the beijing years have become "revisiting college" years and i needed to put an end to that. i am reaching for higher ground even as i establish strong community. right this moment i am quite ill. i can't even drink water without it finding one of several incorrect openings to exit. i woke up almost every 20 minutes last night to run to the bathroom thinking, thank god i have a toilet and not just a hole. and poor B. we were supposed to be on a train to qing dao last night. but i can't be away from home until this passes. it is quite awful but i've got tons of movies. and a real toilet. and company. so things could be worse.

i'll tell you about the forbidden city and jingshan mountain later.

< yeah >