First, three reasons why coming back from China was a lot less traumatic than coming back from Australia.

1. The most important: When I came back from China, I came home to my wonderful husband and happy home. When I came back from Australia, I came back to my alcoholic mother.

2. The only way to communicate with my new-found friends was by letter, and it took two weeks from the time you sent a letter until the time you got a reply. Conversely, when I got off the plane I found two emails from students, one with a link to a Chinese cooking website. I think we can all agree that communicating at a distance is vastly easier now than it was . . . um, some years ago.

3. I had no idea if I would ever be able to return to Australia, and I assumed I wouldn't. On the other hand, I think it's very likely that I will go back to China, either next summer with this same program, or some time in the near future on other terms. (And as you might suspect, I'm thinking in terms of January or February, when the ice festival is going on.)

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On first acquaintance,I LOVE China. There are so many layers of meaning to everything there, it seems. China's is the oldest living civilization, going back over 3,000 years. And the people I met there seemed to feel connected to every minute of it. The language - spoken and written - seems positively filled to overflowing with the past. I can't wait to learn more about the characters.

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I can't wait to start Mandarin classes next week.

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Goodnight.