Thursday.

We’ve had a lot of sitting/listening activities lately (which aren’t so bad because they usually involve air conditioning) and I’ve learned a ton. Yesterday we went to the US Embassy and talked to some political and media experts about all sorts of interesting things to do with journalism, politics, foreign policy, and passports. P.S. If you ever get stuck in China, the US Embassy is not a bad place to wind up. The building (more like compound) is badass. Our tax dollars at work, people, but it is N-I-C-E.

Today we met with a lawyer and some consultants to his firm, and they gave us some great background on the legal and political (everything in China is political) scene. And fed us some excellent Sichuan food in compostable bowls. My kinda peeps.

Then we were briefed (you like how I threw out that term “briefed”? Sounds like I’m fancy right?) by an environmental expert from Beijing University. He was clearly very knowledgeable, but his English was not great and I think he was nervous to the point of near paralysis, so we didn’t get as much out of that as I would like. I’m interested to learn more about those issues while I’m here.

Now I’m sitting in a coffee shop near our hotel so I can use their wireless. I’m typing on a laptop and drinking an iced tea to a soundtrack of Air Supply and Phil Collins. What country is this again? I think I’ll go next door and get a Big Mac.