Niels and I returned to Zhengzhou at 5am this morning.

One of the things I love about China is their amazing railroad system. Niels & I, along with the other foreign teacher L, were in hard sleepers, which made me feel like I was in summer camp. While not as comfortable as the soft sleeper (four people to a cabin instead of six), they're surprisingly nice. The downside is that if you're taller than 6'2" , like Niels, or are pudgy, like me, they can be a bit cramped. But they're a much much nicer way of traveling versus being stuck in a hard seat with five other passengers.

This evening we celebrated Spring Festival with one of our teacher friends V and her parents. It was a last minute invitation for which were very grateful. I had gone to the store too late this morning and came home empty handed so had it not been for V's invitation Niels and I would have had a very sad meal of noodles.

Dinner with V and her parents was really really nice. Her parents are very easy going, warm people. V did a wonderful job as our interpreter and we all had a wonderful conversation and delicious food. Niels drank a lot of baijio with V's Dad. For every shot he poured himself he would pour Niels two. So he's currently sitting on the couch getting his hurt on and quaffing lots of water so he's not ill later this evening, while we listen to the B-52s and the sounds of the various fireworks exploding in our neighborhood.

Happy Spring Festival!!!!