Last day at China.org.cn

I can't believe it. Today is my very last day working in China. I have time off for the next 11 days, which is awesome.

Wednesday night I went back to Lush, the bar we went to on the Fourth of July. Brian, P.A., Stephen, and I had burgers and beers and formed a team for trivia. We didn't win, but we did pretty well, and it was a lot of fun.

My piece about the Beijing Enamel Factory went up yesterday. I decided to make the story more of a photo story than a written one.

But yesterday got even better: I had a very positive interview with the editor of the Huntersville Herald, in Huntersville, NC, just north of Charlotte.

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Of course, there's nothing official yet, but the interview made me think that he was pretty happy with me, and he said he'd be in contact in a few days. I've also been in contact with Greenville, Williamston, Washington, Shelby, and Southern Pines. Southern Pines has offered me an internship. Of course, I don't want my last week and a half in China to be focused on getting a job, but I might have to be moving shortly after returning to Chapel Hill, which is exciting!

In the meantime, I'm going to Mianshan, and then to the Great Wall again. Fiona helped Brian and me buy tickets yesterday. The round trip is about $40. Today, she helped us book a hotel, which is about $55 for three nights. Not each night, but total. This trip will be so much cheaper than Mount Everest would have been.

This morning we had to give a presentation about what we've accomplished here in China, and what suggestions we have for the future. Celine kept assuring us that this was a very formal affair, but then during our presentations, the bosses were all whispering and laughing with each other. Not sure if our suggestions will make it through to implementation.

Also, on my last day the two articles I was given to edit were fantastically translated. They each took less than 10 minutes. It's been a great day.

Tomorrow we are having a party at Celine's apartment, Sunday I will go with Fiona to have dinner, and then Monday night I leave for Mianshan. I'm taking my computer with me just in case, but it looks like there will be no Internet in the area. I'll catch everyone up when I return, if that's the case.