Disclaimer:  Please remember that these first posts leading up to my current time in China are not in the same guise as they will be like once I start blogging daily from Beibei, China.  I am trying to catch everyone up on the past year and a half of my life and cannot help but do so in a more elaborate manner.  Once I have completed the time in the interim I will do my best to minimize the length of my missives to two-three paragraphs!