I’m with you, buddy.

I realized at work last Friday that it had been exactly three years since I was in China. That was my first real international solo trip, full of ups and some meltdowns. I can’t believe it’s already been three years. Here’s to many more travels, some solo and some with dear friends. Next up in 2011. Maybe Vietnam? London? Berlin? Egypt?

I went to Baltimore with Peggy in April. The impetus was her prospective student orientation day at Johns Hopkins Public Health School (you gotta lingual-train to pluralize “John”). It’s no surprise that she got into the #1 program in the country.

We tried the famous jumbo lump crabcakes at Faidley’s in Lexington Market (a rough n tumble place), saw Edgar Allan Poe’s grave, hung out in a scotch bar owned by a tough older Asian lady who likened her rescue dog to Cujo, and Peg had her first authentic east coast blue crab meal.

It was a whirlwind handful of days filled with nights of reality TV I’d never seen before, and we were so lucky to be able to crash in Jenelle’s ultimate bachelorette pad. Was lovely spending quality time with her. Walking around Old Town Alexandria, VA in perfectly comfortable, sunny weather was just unbeatable. Colonial architecture, a clean and sane waterfront area (only one portraiture artist!), and an old torpedo factory converted into a sensible art center…topped off with my first Five Guys experience, and almost even better, the most incredible, dreamy collection of vintage jewelry I’ve ever seen .

I’m still at work getting personal stuff sorted as I leave tomorrow for Seoul! They announced my five year anniversary at the staff meeting this morning. Coworkers were sweet and kind bestowing me with congratulations through out the day. It made me feel warm and fuzzy. Was it bad that I likened the five years to a (dysfunctional) longterm relationship? But I meant it in a good way.

The Tsingtao beer factory/museum (in Qingdao) was kind of fun, and the tour culminated with pitchers of free beer and delicious beer nuts (I would’ve preferred if THOSE came in a pitcher). It was a bit awkward since both my guide and me were complete lightweights. That, and the fact that he was shamelessly hitting on me during my day or two in Qingdao, made for a peculiar time. BTW — did you know Qingdao has a history of German settlers?

The creepiest/best part about this fantastically scary marionette is its jutting out leg. So much sass!

Scenes from the Great Wall’s simatai section. Known to be more isolated and challenging, and less Disney-fied. I was extremely lucky to have gotten a ride all the way out there.

I’m getting my overdue haircut tomorrow. Finally, I will have bangs again.