Jet lag is a hell of a drug.

2012 has been a pretty incredible year for me. I spent the first half of it in beautiful Quebec City, then returned to my native Halifax, Canada, only to spend the summer preparing for a bigger move--to Beijing. I arrived there with my wife only two nights ago. We will be working in a English language high school just a short walk from The Forbidden City.

We're still getting adjusted to the 11-hour time difference and have been hard at work getting things done to get settled. We haven't done any touring, or even made the walk to nearby landmarks. The air in Beijing is humid, and there is much less wind than I am used to.

Right now I'm using the (not very fast) hotel wi-fi. I am quite pleased that I can access the sift, though my experience will be crippled by the Great Firewall. Many of the websites I frequented before are also a no go. The blog I had set up to document my year here is blocked. We may try to find a way around all that, but not before we have an apartment set up. At least I can still use instagram...

Last week, we flew from Halifax to Vancouver, where I was faced with the beauty of the Rocky Mountains kissing the Pacific Ocean. I was sad to leave that place, but excited to take the sky-train back to the airport. One 8,500km flight later, we walked off the plane, through Chinese customs and spent the night in the hotel set up by our school. The next morning, I woke up, and I was in China.