Update...

Things have been going well, except for the death cold that Billy seemed to be carrying with him.
The trip to Beijing gave me an all new perspective on things and the weather is slowly improving--the hot and humid days are a welcomed change from the dark and dreary weather that has plagued the region. As soon as my friends left, the crap weather arrived again.
Lily, from Germany, my newest love interest, is coming down in a few days for 10 days and it will really give us the chance to see if this relationship is really as special as it seems.
We will be in Chenzhou for a couple of days "resting" and then we will make the pilgrimage to the South China seas and Hainan island. I am very much looking forward to it. Our realtionship has quickly blossomed into something more than I imagined I would find in China, but then again, I didn't think I would ever find a beautiful german girl--especially in China...
Until I return, there will more than likely be a limit on the pictures as I am trying to catalouge all of them, which has turned into a tremendous undertaking. I also have a limited view of what I have sent and after looking at the pics for several hours, it is difficult to remember which shots I have taken and such....
So, for now, you have a big article to read and I will post a short story I have been working on for the last week. All is seemingly good right now :)
but... Decision time on the next chapter is going to be coming soon.
Although I miss the United States, it might be time to come back and live yet. China has not afforded me the luxury of savings, so it might be off to another job in another country. Korea and Taiwan both have good salaries which would allow me to move back to the states and not have to immediatly worry about money...
So we will see what the future holds. The next couple of weeks could be quite a decisive factor in this conclusion.....