Special Guest Blogger: Brendon Shvetz

Today, Mom, Dad, and Other Welcome Readers of My Blog, you are in for an extremely rare treat: raw commentary, complete and unedited, from my second visitor in China, Brendon Shvetz.

You usually see China through my eyes, but here it is from a keen observer and great writer who appears to be immune to jet lag. This should cheer up those of you, like me, who were sad to see the end of the Georgetown Hoyas amazing run in the Men's NCAA Bball tournament. (A quick shout of congratulations to Kerri Hannan and her fellow Gators on their great game today, by the way.)

I will leave Brendon's contribution to stand on its own, except to note that he very kindly exaggerated both my Chinese language ability and my tendency to think and pay for my visitors.

Some thoughts on China and Fancy after being here one day:

Fancy lives in a truly fancy establishment. Her 3 bedroom/3 bath palace is wonderful, and she is a great host. Today we woke up early to watch G'Town receive a thumping and then go sightseeing. Some of the various sights I have seen already include: Chinese man spitting on street; Chinese man picking his noise; Chinese taxi driver almost plowing through crowd of pedestrians. We also went shopping where I had the opportunity to buy a watch, with a picture of Mao on it; a lighter, with a picture of Mao on it; a poster, of Mao; or a complete dish set, and every plate had Mao on it.

Her cat, General Tsao, does not really respect my personal space. He is constantly trying to break into my room, even though I am allergic to cats. I think my allergy combined with the dirty air here are setting me up for some serious respiratory problems. You don't breathe the air in Beijing so much as digest it. It is a meal filled with all the USDA required minerals such as zinc, iron, etc. I am one step away from putting on a surgical mask and just being one of those weird people who you sometimes sit next on airplanes. You know, the ones who bring a mask and an entire pharmacy with them.

In any case, I urge you all to visit. Nancy's Chinese is excellent, which means she does all the talking, thinking, and, quite often, paying. I wouldn't want it any other way.

One last note from your usual blogger: Brendon's visit gives him a point on the Visitors Point Tally. Updated totals in the first comment below.