The Internet

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It's always so much fun going to another country...you learn about the similarities and differences between your culture and others, meet fascinating people, try food you never thought you'd try, etc. And then of course, there are those things you wish you could take with you on every traveling adventure. My list isn't too long, in fact, I could very easily trim it down to one magical device - the Internet.

The Internet truly is a remarkable thing - especially these days - you can find almost anything you're in the mood for online. The Internet, however, has a few obstacles. In certain countries, the speed of the Internet can be a bit of a problem - or inconvenient. Or maybe it's the Web sites you're actaully allowed to view that cause problems. In China, both of these tend to intermingle. I'm sure for some of you, by the time the homepage of whatever site you're attempting to view finally opens up, you're pretty much done with the Internet for the day. Correct?

My philosophy...it's the government so either live with it and be patient or go walk around or read a book instead.

It's a little difficult to adapt to in the beginning, especially when doing research. But...then again, like everything new or different...like how Facebook changes every week...you get used to it. Even if you don't like it. 😉

Special note to readers: If you ever visit China, don't be too upset when pandora.com doesn't work, because grooveshark.com does. 😊 Youtube is absolutely, 100% unavailable here, but then again...there's always the Chinese version called kootube.com. And for you bloggers out there...blogspot.com is not an option anymore (particularly in Shanghai) and neither is wordpress.com, so just a little heads up. Sorry if there are any broken hearts out there, but that's just the way it is. When I found out about all the the "issues" concerning the Internet I was surprised by my reaction. I said, "Ah, oh well." Chuckled a bit and went on about my day. Life's too short to get upset about the little things. N'est pas?

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