Shipping

Today I was supposed to go to Tian Bao for the day, but some things happened this morning with the ride and I am going Saturday.  I really had almost nothing to do today so I hung out with james, my chinese friend all day.  He is 19 years old and starting his university career in English.  We ate breakfast together and then for the afternoon Joan and I took him with us to ship our packages.  This was the craziest thing I have ever done.  Joan and I were literally at the post office all afternoon.  We had to unbox, repack, have inspected, fill out papers in chinese and english.....you name it and we did it.  It was sure a hassle, but I think it will be worth the light load on the trip since we are traveling around China for ten days before leaving.  I had to walk all over the place for packing materials and such as well so I am extremely tired at the end of this day.  Joan and I had a great conversation about the intimacy of pottery versus other arts.  We also talked about communication of the artist through the pots.  It was a great conversation, and I am sure any pot head reading this knows how great conversations like that can be sometimes.  I am also getting so many great messages from home through e-mail.  It is very encouraging and uplifting and I am really enjoying it while I am so far away from the warmth of my friends and home.  Anyway...I guess that is all for now.  Sorry I did not snap any photos today.