Yesterday was the best day of my life to be wearing underwear. I volunteer at an outreach center of the University of Minnesota for newly arrived Chinese students. The center is actually run by a NU alum, which is extra neat. But yesterday, as I squatted down to hoist yet another oversize desk, I heard a "RIP!" And then I had no seat in my jeans. Pretty funny.

Above is my awful route to China, except that it skips my stop in LAX, which I have denoted with a tasteful blue dot. I leave in about two weeks. I am in way over my head, yet again.