Cymraeg

Cymraeg. That's "hello" in Welsh. Yes, I am in the land of Tom Jones. I'm in the middle of a two-week visit to Wales, home of the world's largest second-hand bookstore. This is actually a working trip so I'm by myself. It's my first real business trip since we moved to Shanghai. I did take a quick trip to Korea back in August but it was so short, it doesn't really count. This time really felt different from other trips I've had to take. It was weird leaving Kristi and the girls back in China. And it's also weird to be looking forward to returning "home" to Shanghai.



One good thing about this trip is that I get to drive again. We're not allowed to drive in China and have to rely on a driver to take us everywhere so it's been great to be able to come and go as I please. It's a little unsettling to be driving on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the car but I'm getting used to it. I think it has helped that I haven't driven at all for a few months. I still haven't figured out the rules for the roundabouts but I'm not so sure there are any. Everyone handles them a little differently but it works. I must be doing alright though because no one has gotten too upset with me. However, there was one guy who was so impressed with my roundabout skills that he honked his horn and told me that I'm #1, if you know what I mean.

I had some free time Sunday so I spent a couple hours driving around the area. Once you get away from the towns, it's nice and peaceful. In fact, some of the land here looks a lot like home. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing hills and trees with all the fall colors, and cattle, and horses, and birds, and farm land. It wasn't easy to drive and take pictures but I did manage to get a few. You can find them here http://picasaweb.google.com/baamick/Wales.