This Summer

I got my Chinese visa today, so I am officially legally able to travel within the People's Republic of China. I leave in a little over a week. It is exciting and nerve-wracking. The summer has been filled with...

* new circus friends and play times: met some local guys who spin staff, drum, and twirl poi (sometime fire! oooh), and I ended up hanging out with them every Thursday evening. I also met some kzoo people who juggle and unicycle, so I ended up hanging out with a Unicycling Julian a good deal, and I practiced juggling with Dan during the more boring moments of work. I also leard how to pass clubs, and Julian and I practiced with paint brushes during work breaks. What fun!
* mind-numbingly boring work: half the time during the past week work has involved reading or just plain sitting around doing nothing. I have never encountered a lower quality workforce, and it just goes to reinforce my opinion that I will have to find a way to survive by doing things I love and enjoy.
* tons of fantastic reading: native american religion, Upton Sinclair, Zen, Aikido, Gandhi, and plenty of anarchism (Ishmael, Unjobbing, a great intro to the subject by Daniel Guérin, a philosophical text explaining the incompatibility of an individual's autonomy and a controlling state, a good anti-corporate text, and a fantastic anthology of historic essays).
* marital arts: not only did I get to take Jeet Kune Do classes as a local YMCA in Kalamazoo, I also got to teach some basic aikido/judo to some friends that were interested in learning some self-defense. I also got to learn some Philippino stick fighting, which was very cool since I ave done learned any weapons before.

Some of the summer was a little boring, but once I got into my patterns I don't have nearly as much time as I would like. It was nice getting to spend time with some of the people that stayed at K over the summer, but I am very excited for the next stage of my life, my next big adventure. One more week here in Kalamazoo, and then I am headed for Beijing.