liking china to another home

Evidently the Uyghur woman who was caught with gasoline in a can on a Beijing-bound plane confessed to attempting a "terrorist act" yesterday. As of, what was it, March 6?, liquids are not allowed carry-on, meaning I had to check my small bag from Chengdu. Reports say as of this week airplane passengers have to remove their shoes at security. Yep, China is almost as fear-filled as the US.

On the other hand, it's still so NOT the US, and that's why I live here. Walking back from good Indian food the other night we passed a truck collecting food waste for pigs. About eight of the five-foot-tall black garbage plastic bins were lined up on the truck bed, and lined with the gathered grease of the nightly collection. It always disgusts me a bit to pass these trucks, but I'm also slightly relieved to know that the great amounts of uneaten restaurant food gets eaten (even if it is by pigs getting significant amounts of, well, pork for dinner.) I asked the visiting US restaurant owner what they do with their waste. Throw it away, he said. Can't even give it to the homeless; there'd be liability if they got sick.

It's hard to believe that Justin will go soon. The month has flown away. We'll get in a few more movies on the big screen at work, eat some "beer-roasted-duck", and if it's nice tomorrow, maybe buy tickets to be tourists on the mountain.