Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. I am doing quite well myself as I have discovered the secret to the very noticeable lack of obese people in this town. That, however, will have to wait for another time.

Today, I would like to share with you an experience I had a few weeks back in a place much different than here. Though our tale begins in this charming city while I was walking underneath the roadway on one of the two non-floating bridges.

On this particular evening, I had two companions. One had a cell phone (my love for them has not increased any). It rang. It was for me. I hate that. Everyone else always knows what I am doing and where I am while I remain totally clueless about everything; often including what I am doing and where I am. The caller, with very few pleasantries demanded to know if I would be going to Macau or Hong Kong to take care of switching from a tourist visa to a working visa.
"Is this something you must know right now?"
"I need to know immediately."
"Can I have five minutes?"

And actually I was given an hour or two to look at my travel book and check online using a colleagues computer. I have discovered that asking a few questions can return valuable results. "Why do you need to know right now?" "Because someone is going to Nanchang to tell someone else, and they need to know." "Has the first someone reached the second someone yet?" "No, not yet, but she will be there in a few hours." "Oh, well that is different than immediately, so I will see what information (I could have been researching days in advance had someone seen fit to tell me about long-distance travel I would be performing in the very near future) I can find in the next few hours."

The preceding paragraph is one of myriad examples why I was looking forward to my little foray to Hong Kong. A few weeks after the phone call, I was told on a Thursday that I would be leaving that Saturday for Hong Kong. Great.

My constant supervision in this city had begun to wear on the nerves a little bit, so the prospect of refreshing them with some time spent obscurely and alonely was quite appealing.

On the bus from here to Nanchang, Xu Lu accompanied me, and he stayed with me to the train station to help make sure I boarded the proper train in the proper direction.

Though he is pleasant company, and reading this, I released a long-pent sigh when we parted ways, because I knew the next few days would be mine to enjoy as independently as I wished. I shuffled along in the horde of humanity so prevelant in this country toward car number six where I would make my nest for the overnight journey in bunk 42.

I really love trains. You always meet the most interesting people.
Sometimes I really hate trains, because there is always a story. Nobody had their neck chopped off or had their teef busted out of their brains, or even had such actions threatened in an alarmingly evil tyrade at two o'clock in the morning as sometimes happens when you ride the rails with Amtrak.

No, this story begins in a much more subtle manner; a few words spoken in an even tone at a normal volume with a hint of a foreign accent;

"You must be Tyler."
mmmmmmmmm (a closed mouth gurgle with accompanying head twitch)

Who ARE you people, and why are you following ME?

-More next time-

I hope you are all doing well. I am. Still. -Tyler