ahh! there is such thing as minnesota-speak! but i think only way out in the country. the woman at the gas station said "you betcha" after i thanked her. !!!!! don't think i've ever heard anybody say that seriously before. and people here say "yah" a lot.

leaving for china today. going to beijing for a day and then really really really want to take a trian to Chong qing and ride a river boat on the changjiang all the way down to hai nan dao. cept the parents and grandparents all think i'm too stupid and naive to ride the train and boat in the country in china. i don't. i mean, i realize that i may be a bit naive and i might not know what i'm getting myself into and there are all sorts of bad people out there that i can't even fathom. but i'm not that naive. i've been places, seen things...and i've read books with bad people! :) lots. and i know i just plain old look like a good person to rob or kidnap to ransom or prostitute out cuz i look like money. or just a plain old overfed peasant. maybe i should make myself look like a peasant. haha. if anybody tries to take my by force..."fat people are harder to kidnap", anyway. and i'm not stupid enough to follow strange men places. and i'm pretty sure i could figure out if somebody was scamming me. so there. but what an adventure! arg everywhere i go people will stare. it's not like going to a european country where it's obvious you're a foreigner. in china, people will be trying to figure out what the hell i've been eating to make me so gargantuous and why i just look plain old weird, and if i'm really chinese. so much staring!