Greetings from Singapore

Okay, from the Air Asia plane to Kuala Lumpur EnRoute to Singapore actually. Did we mention that we’re not going to be in China for a bit? MPC (our sponsor organization) has its anual winter retreat in Chaing Mai, Thailand, and we’re bracketing it with a bit of family vacation: first to Singapore, where we’ll be seeing a friend of Jane’s from college, and then to the beach in southern Thailand before heading back to Chengdu in early February. Internet access, as well as our blogging motivation, may be sporadic, so don’t be to surprised if the news from Slow Boat gets even slower...

A few newsy things to report before we land - in the fine Zawadowski Wells tradition of booking ourselves solid before leaving on vacation, we (and by we, I must give most of the credit to Jane) managed to:

• see a partial solar eclipse that had the good sense to happen on a rare cloudless day in Sichuan.
• work with a group of students to start collecting donations for earthquake relief in Haiti. Many of our students come from areas devastated by the Wenchuan quake of 2008, so the news from Haiti has generated a lot of sympathy and desire to help on campus.
• meet up with our Australian friend Olivia at the Chengdu Oceanarium, then go onward to a friend’s photography opening at a newly opened Swedish cafe, finally lugging our sleepy kids upstairs at about 10 pm.
• Have some of Xander’s Chinese friends over for an early seventh birthday party on Sunday, complete with a homemade train cake and an expertly crafted game of pin the tail on the donkey.
• oh, and print out a few chapters of Singapore guidebooks . We’re reading those right now on the plane...

Update - we'll I'm pleased to report that I have a great first impression of Malaysia. Well, the airport, anyway. We've shed about 15 pounds of clothes and I'm now on free airport wireless waiting for the boarding call to Singapore. Wow, I'm going to miss this country...