Faster than the speed of light

Have you ever wondered how China could change at such an impossibly fast speed?

Exhibit A:

A dormitory is currently being built right outside my window.

Which means I get an up close and personal glimpse into the Chinese construction process. This might not be such a good thing.

I’m also learning that sometimes, construction projects will go on all night long. These pictures were taken around 9:30 last night. At 2:30 (that is AM, not PM), they were still pouring concrete. With two lights where the concrete went and a couple lights where the concrete was being mixed. The fact that the two lights below shine directly towards my window meant that I thought the sun was rising at 2:30. I was quite happy that indeed it was not time to get up yet.

In other news, I’ll be escaping the rapidly developing city in just a few hours. Last Friday, our Foreign Affairs office representative called to inform us that they were taking us to the countryside on Friday and we would return on Saturday. In my six years in China, this is the first time we’ve been whisked away to the countryside. We’re not exactly sure what all the trip will entail. The few details that have emerged in the past week are as follows: we’re going somewhere people pick vegetables, but it’s not a farm; we might climb a mountain (if you’d seen the topography in my area of the country, this would make you laugh), so we need to bring warm clothes; we will have a bathroom. If you don’t hear from me in a day or so, send out the search party. I’ll be in the vegetable fields.