As some of you may know, I will be travelling to China for a month from June 18 to July 15. I am traveling there through Dutchess Community College as part of a history course.  It's going to be an interesting trip.  I've been thinking about all of the things I should bring and all of the things I need to do to prepare for the trip.  One of the things that has been on my mind is the best way to stay in touch with Frank and the girls while I'm so far away.  I have a Skype account and so does Frank, but we have never really needed  to use it.  I have been nagging the hub to do a "test" run before I leave which we finally did on Friday.  We skyped a few feet away from each other in the same room and it worked well, though the video was a bit laggy.  We'll see how well it works from 6,000 miles away.

The other thing that I felt I needed was a better carry on that I could fit my laptop in.  So I ordered this one from ebags.com:  http://www.ebags.com/product/jansport/driver-8/20186?productid=402877&lastSearchTerm=jansport+driver+8.

It's a lot bigger in real life!

It arrived a few days ago and it looks good and it should do the trick.  I don't like having to check bags but I guess that I will have to for this trip since I will be gone for so long.  We are flying on Aeroflot out of JFK and stopping in Moscow, comrade.  We have a six hour layover in Moscow.  I'll have to wander the airport and see what kind of fabulous stuff I can find.

We will be staying in Beijing and Tianjin.  I hope to update this blog frequently while I'm there.  For now, I will leave you with this quote from the materials that were mailed to all of us that signed up for the trip:

WHAT CHINA EATS

It has been said that the French will eat anything once for the experience, but that the Chinese will eat anything out of necessity.  Creatures and items considered totally repugnant in Western culture, such as sea slugs, snakes, bears' paws, and saliva extracted from birds' nests, are featured as delicacies in Chinese culture.  And unless you're put off by the knowledge of what you're eating ahead of time, there's every chance you'll enjoy them.  (Even to sedate Western palates, slugs or paws can be quite palatable.)