We've started making good use of our back porch recently. The other night, we were sitting back there talking, listening to music, and enjoying the weather. Because it's staying light later, everything was cast in a sort of blue glow from the twilight. It reminded me of how the snow-covered ground in the winter starts to look blue after a few minutes.

Colin told me about different places in San Francisco. I've never been west of the Mississippi, so I've got to work on that. Apparently their China-Town is far superior to our own, here in Chicago. There's lots of open-air fish markets, the entire population is actually Chinese, and there's different menus for tourists. Also, most meals have some sort of cold fish and rice, regardless whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I was advised to read the Joy Luck Club.

Other places of note were the Golden Gate Park, wine country (in general), and Sausalito. I don't know what any of these are but maybe I'll get to San Francisco someday.

Brian talked more about Australia and seeing the road trains on the west coast. One way of transporting goods across the continent is by truck and trailer. Apparently, they've got semi trucks that drag along a series of trailers up to five or six, winding uncontrollably down the road. I've heard the best thing to do in a situation when one of these is headed your way, is to just pull off the road as far as you safely can.

Liz spoke of a guy named Giovanni from a small hotel in Rome. He was very nice, and he and his brother were concierges at the hotel where Liz stayed. Giovanni had his own restaurant, which turned out to be a few tables off an alley somewhere near his home. He cooked Liz and her friend an amazing meal with many different courses, and accompanied by a variety of wines. If I ever end up going to Italy, it seems like the kind of place I'd like to visit.

I still have a couple weeks of school left. It's weird to think if I'm never going to see most of these people again, or if we're going to stay in touch. Or where everyone will go when we part ways. Weird. But I guess it's all part of moving onto another chapter.