Last weekend a small group of us from work went to the Shandong province, which is home to our friend and collegue Xiao Yuan. We stayed with her family in the small town she grew up in. It seems that the major produce of the area is wheat. Down every steet was an endless pile of wheat that was being processed by the people living there. It seemed that everyone had their own allotment that they were responsible for. Groups of different families would be working together, racking the wheat and separating the seeds from the straw. To say the least, it was a surreal sight to see.

The most challenging part of the trip was getting there. We took and 14 hour overnight bus that was packed with people and had not enough beds. Two very fat and drunk Chinese men fell asleep ontop of me, as did others ontop of Chris. Normally I am very tolerant of the large crowds here, but on this bus ride I discovered my limit. In the middle of the night, one of the fat dudes sleeping ontop of me starting banging on my leg to get my attention. For whatever reason he found it necessary that I witness his friend rubbing his bare, enormous, and sweaty stomach. That's when I cracked. For the first time I yelled at a stranger while being here in China. The top photo is of us on the bus, but it doesn't do it justice. A friend took some photos herself, once I get them from her I'll see if I can find a photograph that better illustrates the insanity.

Despite the frustrations of getting there, the trip was wonderful. Again, the food was great and the people warm and comforting.

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