vacation countdown: 47 hours

Yes, I'm excited about my upcoming family vacation, which I've already written a lot about. I've actually been waiting to post until I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the final chapter of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy.

As previously written, I was really looking forward to reading this book. The first book of the trilogy can really stand alone, but the second flows right into the third, having laid all the framework for the court trial that is the focus of the plot. (Don't worry, I won't give away any spoilers or anything.) After reading it, I actually think that the second book was the best of the three. Larsson started losing me about 2/3 of the way through by doing the same things that have bothered me in the other books--bringing in and thoroughly describing even more characters, and giving seemingly excessive and boring background on various socio-political issues in Sweden. HOWEVER, I read online that Larsson (who died after handing in the manuscripts for the trilogy) intended for the series to be as long as 10 books! Knowing this kind of softens my criticism, especially about one character in particular who was introduced with only about 40 pages to go. I also hope that had Larsson finished the series, Camilla would have come into play, I really thought that was going to pan out in the end. The stronger aspects of the series are present in Hornet's Nest, and I literally had to chuckle out loud as the trial was unfolding--if you are a fan of the second book and absolutely wanted to know what happened, this novel will make you so happy.

So now, I just have to bide my time for a day and a half until I leave for Beijing. I will be without VPN access for about 10 days, so no blogging or Facebook--piece of cake, after the first few months here in China. Gosh, I really can't wait! I know my mom and Keenan are excited, so at this point it's just everyone arriving and getting started with the adventure! My next post will certainly be full of stories of the Abners in the Orient...

"One foot in and one foot back-but it don't pay to live like that

So I cut the ties and I jumped the track

For never to return..."

official summer vacation

I feel like my summer has finally started, now that classes are over, grades are turned in, and all my good friends have moved home. The last couple weeks now have been a succession of naps, TV on DVD, and eating. My apartment looks like a moving explosion happened, since not only did I inherit various appliances and other goodies, but I also offered to hold some boxes for Jason and Julianne and send them later once they have jobs and more money. I am really enjoying the "new" toaster oven, George Foreman grill, and I'm probably going to break out the blender tomorrow. It's been kind of a dilemma on whether or not to unpack this stuff, since we may or may not be moving in a few weeks. All along this term, they'd been telling us that July would be moving month, but now that I ask if we can nail a date down since it IS July, they say "maybe late July". I'd rather them wait until August when I'm back from vacation, but you can only hit your head against that wall so many times. I should be packing and cleaning and vacation-planning...we're only 13 days out! It's a little scary to be that close, and I'm getting nervous about my capacity as ultimate trip planner and having to buy my train ticket to Beijing, especially. I might get an ex-student to help me.

Speaking of ex-students, tonight some guys from my favorite class--Thursday afternoon--took me out to dinner! Oh my goodness, we had so much fun! Technically theirs was the lowest level class, but the number of high-level speakers was very concentrated, and they were the ones who arranged this dinner, so there were no awkward misunderstandings. I taught them the word "tipsy", which they loved, and they made at least 10

toasts, with beer, but they didn't make me drink the whole glass-full like Chinese traditionally do. The restaurant was hotpot, and it's a famous chain in China called "Little Sheep" (translated, of course). This was real hotpot, where they put the bowl of flavored liquid on a burner in the middle of your table, and you order all different kinds of meat and vegetables which you then cook for yourself in the broth. We had a spicy side and a non-spicy side, and it was super-delicious. I wish hotpot would catch on in America! Then at the end of the meal, five of them walked me home through the park at twilight, where we

got to see lots of couples ballroom dancing and people flying epic kites. It was a really good time, but I crashed not long after we got back, so now I'm awake at 1:30 a.m.!

Around this time last night, I finished the second book in Stieg Larsson's trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire. I didn't think I'd be able to read a nearly-600 page book on an iPhone (that turns into 1300 little pages), but it was too good not to; it only took a week and a half, and sometime this weekend I'll probably go buy the third one because it was a cliffhanger ending.

I complained about the first book starting up too slowly, but that was not an issue with this one. It was fairly action-packed from the get-go, with much more graphic violence (I somehow managed to read the murder scenes right before falling asleep several nights)...well, I'll say that there was violence in the first novel also, but of a different nature. Like the first one, there is a web of characters to remember, but each of those characters plays a more important role in this book, so sometimes it was tough to remember all the connections. Lisbeth really is the focus of this book, and she is such an interesting character to read--she's not altogether likable, both to the reader and (especially) within the world of the novel, but I identify with some aspects of her character, like being independent. The climax of the novel tied so many loose endings up in such a way that it verged on hokey, but it's so well-written and the plot moves along so well that I can forgive that. I can't wait to see how the third novel ends all the drama, hopefully it will continue the trend of being even better than its predecessor.

I should probably get in bed now, gotta get my beauty rest before another lazy summer day!