Wenzi chuanr...

so i'm in Kunming! i arrived today around 4 and Norma picked me up at the airport. i think i need to share my thoughts on chinese airplanes though.

they suck. i don't know what it is, but every single domestic flight i've taken this summer has been unnerving. the planes just don't feel right. today, for instance, the seat was too short. i mean my head went too far above the head rest to be comfortable. what's with that? and when the landing gear goes in and out you'd swear the plane was getting ready to launch missiles. beyond that, i've experienced more turbulance than i ever have before. there are enough random bumps and drops and turns to make anyone religious, atleast for a minute or two. this also leads me to believe that GE sucks. here's my reasoning. besides my whole Rolls Royce turbine engine education from the comm school, this is what i know (we had a GE company visit in Shanghai): 1) GE supplies a crapload of engines to chinese airlines/planes whatever. 2)chinese planes SUCK. therefore, GE sucks too. ok i'm done with airplanes.

on a happier note, i'm really happy i came to Kunming, it's going to be a really nice visit. the Hemmats are close family friends. their son Kaveh was friends with my brother Stephen from like 6th grade and they introduced my parents to the Baha'i Faith. i used to go to their house on fridays when they had firesides and hang out with their other daughter Michelle (she's a year older than Andrew i think.) anyway, i hadn't seen Norma in a very long time. her husband Amrollah's in Istanbul until sunday, but i'll see him when he gets back :)

Norma made some noodles with tomato sauce that was really good and we just talked for awhile. the more Baha'is i meet over here the more inspired i get. every one has an amazing story as to how they found themselves here and then have so many wonderful stories to tell about the people here and how receptive they are. if nothing else it's making me rethink my plans for what to do when i come back next year to live (hopefully).

We went to "English Corner" which they've started to meet local chinese people and help them with their english. it seems like they've all become pretty good friends and invite eachother over for dinner and studying and other things a lot. We talked about dreams we'd had and sang some songs (Norma and i even busted out some Red Grammer!). Norma had bought this new crazy invention which looks like a badmitton racket, but when you press a button it become electrically charged and you can swat at flies and mosquitos (wenzi) and kill them instantly... charring them like a kabob (chuanr), hehe. anyway, after a little Chinese speaking ("Chinese Corner") for us foreigners, we parted ways. fun evening though. tomorrow one of the friends (Jack) is going to pick norma and me up to go to the Bamboo Temple outside of town. should be fun. i'm really excited to go exploring. Kunming seems like a big city, yet different. it's right in the middle of a bunch of mountains and there's a nice big blue sky and even the people are different. this province is home to 25 of China's 50something minority groups. makes for an interesting mix. anyway, off to bed i guess! wan'an, ya'll.