Journey to the West (East)

All right kids, that about brings us up to speed.  We made it to Seoul in just under three weeks, a little less than what it took us last time and with far less frustration.  We're in top fighting shape, we've remembered most of what we'd forgotten about bike touring, and incredibly, we still haven't blown through our savings yet.  Not entirely, anyway.  Which means it's onto the next phase of this grand adventure: China and southeast Asia!

Previously, this leg was referred to as "Shanghai to Singapore," but seeing as we probably won't be going anywhere near Shanghai, we're now calling it "Beijing to Bangkok" for alliteration's sake.  Maybe we'll make it as far as Singapore, maybe not.  In any event, here's a bit of important news about the Gaijin At Large:

Unless we run out of money sooner than we anticipate, we will most likely be coming back to the ol' USA in May of 2015.  If we're accepted to a program to teach English in France, we'll be in the States until that starts up in September.  If not, then we'll likely be in the States for the foreseeable future.  Not forever, mind; there's still way too much world out there to be tied down to one place for more than three years or so, and though we're both fast approaching that most decrepit age of 30, we still have a few years left before we have to yell at kids to get off our lawns full-time.  But in any case, if you're looking forward to getting some Gaijin love in person, you'll get your chance starting next May (reservations accepted).

And now a brief moment of comic relief.

The next announcement: since we're going to be in China for the next two months (give or take), that means our access to the Internet will be...questionable.  I've read that, officially, Blogger and like websites are completely blocked on the Chinese internet, so even when we are able to find internet access, we may not be able to keep the blog updated regularly (or at all).  I've also read that bypassing these blocks is so regularly done that even a technologically incompetent cretin like me should be able to manage it.  In any case, if the next two months (or more) go by and there's no update to this site, don't worry about us.  We'll try to keep the "Where Are We Now?" section updated at the very least, but to repeat, if you don't hear from us, don't worry, we're totally fine.  Expect more amazing tales of questionable veracity in a few days or a few months.

So for now, we bid you 안녕히게세요, 行ってきます, a bientôt, and catch you on the flip side!