China and "The Great Firewall"

An additional reason as to why I haven't been posting very much as of late: MyEducAsian.blogspot.com is blocked in China. Actually any blog being hosted by blogger.com is currently unavailable due to the "Great Firewall". I researched which blogging sites were accessible, back when I was in the states, and blogger.com checked out, I'm unsure of why things have changed. I hope this will be a temporary hiccup, and not a lasting burp, so I can get back to cooking up stories for dinner(don't worry, I don't even know what I meant by that). To circumvent the situation here, I have resorted to using proxies to get around the Great Wall. Unfortunately the only proxies I have been able to successfully use are often unreliable and too slow, not to mention my browser 'times-out' with content-rich websites. Sometimes I can write the post, using a proxy, but am unable to update the index file to reflect a new post (meaning nobody on the outside sees anything new). To summarize: Blogging has become a slow and tedious process and the blame of not updating lately, rests on both my shoulder and a top the great wall.


I've been in China for over a month now . .

Classes are going great, I'm learning a lot. I can understand a lot of words in spoken conversation, I am able to say a lot, even though I know very little - it's amazing how by switching up the order of words, you can make so many different phrases, thus conveying many different thoughts even with limited vocabulary.

The other day I read a paragraph in Chinese characters, then I had to answer some questions relating to said paragraph... THEN reality hurled a big wad of wet-napkin through a funnel shaped rod,with the words "AHHH" etched in the side, and smacked lopsidedly against my forehead - dripping with shock I realized, "Whoaaa, dude I can read Chinese". If you want to see where progress happens, feel free to swing by apartment # 1501 for a look-see *grin*.