the color of its countries

This may prove more satisfying to some of you:

We—that is, Drew and I, along with half a dozen other close school friends—have secured ourselves a month-long contract teaching an activity-based English immersion program for preteens at the Meishi International School in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. At the students' urging, the program has been named Panda Quest. We are presently securing visas, pondering immunizations, and catching up on family time in anticipation of a July 5th departure. Our ticket is one-way. We are not without ideas (half-baked and otherwise) or opportunities for the months that follow our first in Chengdu, but suggestions will certainly be appreciated.

Although a great deal of hilarity is already unfolding surrounding communications and the planning of our curriculum, I am dubious of the diplomacy of posting any direct quotes here. Suffice it to say that we can no longer claim not to have been warned of the odors in Chinese public bathrooms.