Last Post (?)

Welcome to my blog's House-Cooling Party.

When I moved out of my last apartment before going to China, my roommates and I had a House-Cooling Party.  We thought it was a very clever twist on the traditional housewarming party.  Three years later, it doesn't seem any less clever to me, so I'm declaring it House-Cooling Day here at Life in the Middle Kingdom.

This is (I think) my last post for this blog.  I have dreams of adding a "Going-to-China Primer" page next to the "Qufu" page, and perhaps I might compile a list of favorite posts, but with those possible exceptions, I don't plan to write any more here.

I have always approached this blog with a purpose: to keep my family and friends informed about my life in China and to help Americans understand China better.  One secondary purpose has been for me to document parts of my own China life and communicate experiences that I seldom have a chance to share in person.

Since this is by design a China blog, I don't plan to keep it up now that I'm not in China.  I never have any motivation to write about China when I'm not physically there, and I don't want to change the purpose or focus of this blog to something different.

Those of you who come here because of your interest in China should make sure to check out Seeing Red in China, a daily blog that does a great job of comprehensively examining the life of a foreigner in China and also China as a whole.  I get my China news from ZG Briefs, a weekly e-mail summary of China news, and from the Sinica podcast.  There are also zillions of online resources for Chinese current events and language learning.

Those of you who come here because of your interest in me should make sure to look me up in person now that I live in America again!  I have been here two weeks and I'm checking things off my list:

• Phone: Check.  (Can I Have Your Number?)
• Car:  Check.  (Note to young professionals: If you go shopping for cheap used cars with your dad in August, everyone will think you're in college... or high school.)
• Job:  Check.  I'll be working at a brain injury rehab facility in Ankeny, starting at the beginning of September.  It will be interesting to see how well I can jump back into the world of speech pathology.

Here's the list that remins:

• Find Roommates:  I really hope that I can miraculously get hooked up with a Christian roommate (or roommates) in the Des Moines area, especially those that share my vision of having a welcoming home for friends, internationals, & whoever.  If you know of a way to make that dream come true, please let me know.
• Find Apartment
• Move
• Find Church
• Enjoy my first Iowa fall in a long time

Now that you've all helped me cool house on my blog (not that it wasn't cool already), I hope some of you can help me warm my new home after I get settled in Ankeny.

Thanks for reading here; I've had a fantastic time writing for you.