Well, we’re back in-country; in Xining that is.  And it’s chilly!  This morning I crawled out of bed and scrambled in my closet for the long underwear.  The heat in our apartment doesn’t come on until the 15th of October, but with today’s high temperature of 46 degrees we obviously could use some warmth RIGHT NOW.  It even SNOWED in Xining a few days before we came back.  (The heating issue is really a moot point for us though.  We’ll be back in Jianzha soon and I’ll be shoveling coal!)

Layers, my friends, gotta wear layers.

The best way to describe Thailand this time around: it was just like…um…Thailand.  There were a few cloudy/rainy days (more sunny than rainy) but thankfully no flash floods and the weather was pretty warm.  Hard to believe I was wearing shorts and flip-flops two days ago.  We spent many a-day at the pool.  Anna and Sarah love the water and become more and more aquatic with each trip we make. 

The reason we went to Thailand this time was for a special conference with our company.  I am the first to admit that conferences usually drive me batty, especially when they involve a day or more spent on an airplane, but it was good to see some folks we haven’t seen since we came to Asia in 2005 who live in other regions of China.  It was fun comparing stories and experiences.  It was also good to step out of China for a brief period of time and gain some perspective on our lives here.  I could say more about this, but then I’d have to kill you.  And I really don’t want to do that.

I’m a little ashamed to admit (but not too ashamed) that my highlight was probably getting to watch some Major League Baseball playoff games on ESPN.  It’s these little things that sometimes refresh me the most.  But now we’re back and will be getting back into our routines forthwith (gotta love that word.)  Maybe I’ll even be back into the blogging swing of things soon.  Maybe.

** In case you were wondering about the title of this post it was taken from a T-shirt I often see in Thailand.  The front of the shirts says: Same Same.  The back says: But Different.  What does this mean?  Any guesses.  I’m still not sure, but in some way it accurately summarizes my current view of Thailand.  All the same stuff to offer, but each time maybe just a little bit different.