I wrote the conversation below in Pinyin (basically Chinese writing spelled in the Roman alphabet) over my lunch break a few days ago.

Although it’s only a page, I feel like I cover a lot of ground here – the characters discuss their names, what country they come from, what day it is, and if they like Chinese food. I’ll admit, though, it ends rather abruptly. Person 1 asks person 2  what time the train comes. Since I can’t tell time in Chinese yet, person 2 replies “I don’t understand. Goodbye!”

I sure hope P1 doesn’t miss his train.

I’m not 100% sure which websites will be available when I’m abroad, but I’ll do my best to keep you all updated. Thanks for checkin’ in.

Thanks for hanging in there! It’s been so long, I feel like I should catch you up to speed on the new and old. Here’s what’s old these days:

-My nephew is no longer the size of a rutabaga, but is now a part of the world and the size of a real live human baby. So that’s cool.

-I received a snow blower earlier this winter through a vast network of intricate social connections. Thanks, Johnstons. Until just yesterday, it had done a great job of keeping the weather unseasonably warm and therefore snow off of the driveway.

-In their annual year-in-review email, WordPress informs me that in 2011, most people found my blog because they were (once again) looking for pictures of cantaloupe. And apparently my popularity is growing in Belgium and India – who knew?

Here’s what’s new:

-As you may have gathered, I’m headed to China in a few short weeks! I’ll be backpacking across Asia with my college buddy Craig. We’ll be there to celebrate the nuptials of our friend Joe and the soon to be Ms. Joe. The wedding will take place in a town 8 hours north of Shanghai during the several day long Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival).

We’ll fly into China about a week ahead of time to explore Shanghai and get accustomed to the time difference. Joe and Ms. Joe will get hitched that weekend. After the ceremony, Craig and I will part company with the honeymooners and work our way through Macau, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.

For those of you who don’t have a map of Asia memorized, our trip will look a little something like this:

Despite any glaring similarities this trip bears to the recent box office smash Contagion, rest easy – I’m not planning to shake hands with any casino chefs any time soon.

So yeah, the trip will take a little under 3 weeks in total. I’m hoping to blog about it while I’m there, but I’m not 100% sure about which websites will be available due to the Great (Fire)Wall of China.

Thanks for hanging in there, dear readers. More to come!

Here what we could file under “new stuff” -

Meet my new bike Floyd! Although Trojan is now gone, he is not forgotten.

I’m gonna be an uncle!

OK, you’re right. This isn’t actually a picture of the kid. But apparently the kid was about as big as a rutabaga last I heard. Yeah. Did you know that’s what a rutabaga looks like?

Following my trip to Kansas city, my employer sent me down to a business conference in Scottsdale, AZ. And although this is old news, but somewhere along the way I got promoted to senior number cruncher (instead of just regular number cruncher). This was how I felt.

I’m sure there’s more to talk about, but let’s not try to do too much on this first one back. Thanks for those of you who haven’t given up yet!

I better slow down…I’m apt to get ahead of myself.

My company has an office down in Kansas City. One of the things that everybody in Kansas raves about is this BBQ restaurant in a gas station. It seems my co-workers are not the only ones giving this restaurant two sauce-coated thumbs up. Chad Ochocinco’s been spotted there, Joe’s been featured on food network, and rumor has it that the Commander-in-chief himself orders carry-out from OK Joe’s whenever possible. I hear even pigs like Joe’s BBQ.

When I flew down to meet with a few of our Kansas colleagues earlier in the week, I had to give it a try.  After a short wait in a long line (thanks, speedy cooks) I was sinkin’ my teeth into the Z-man, an Oklahoma Joe’s classic. I used to think that all barbecue was created equal, but no longer. I’ve never been one to choose favorites, but I gotta say, Joe’s certainly gave Roscoe’s and Famous Dave’s a run for their money.

Of course, there was slightly more to the trip  to Kansas City than just eating at barbecue restaurants, but this was definitely one of the highlights.

Yep. You know what they say – there’s no better combo than reinsurance and barbecue.