October Is the New June

Last year, we missed two different weddings during the month of October. Aside from the whole megaexpensive plane ticket thing, there was no way we could have gotten off work. And now this October, one of Joel's best friends from high school is getting married. Since we're coming home for Thanksgiving anyway, it seemed silly not to come back a little early for the wedding. The wedding is on the 20th, but we have to leave China by the 12th because of the 60-day limit on our visa. It turned out to be $500 cheaper to fly to LAX and then buy separate tickets to Des Moines, so we're leaving Beijing on October 6th and spending a week in Santa Barbara before leaving for Des Moines.

After the holidays, our plans are up in the air. Buenos Aires is calling my name, but so is a puppy, not to mention the Goid. One thing's for sure, though--we're not staying for the Olympics. Our original plan was to stay in Beijing until then, but any desire to go to the 2008 Games has disappeared, and I'll show you why.

When we came back from Mongolia, we went from this:

Fresh, clean air! Beautiful blue Mongolian skies!

To this:

Sadly, that's not fog. Yuck!

Beijing in August is hot and polluted. This picture is not an anomaly--there were maybe two clear days the entire month. On top of that, there's the little matter of the more than 1 billion people who are dying to go to the Games. After seeing the madness that is Chinese domestic tourism, you can count us out.

Anyway, now that it's September, the weather is back to this:

Finally, we can breathe again!

There are still a few smoggy days, but for the most part the weather has been clear and pleasant--perfect for all the sightseeing and shopping we'll have to do when we get back from Tibet. (Oh yeah, by the way, we're taking the train to Tibet tonight. We'll spend about two weeks there, and when we get back, we'll only have 10 days left in Beijing. Yikes!!)