I try not to use this site to whine about personal stuff (too much), but my shoulder is still a big issue in my life right now, and the doctor has ordered me to get an MRI tomorrow. He thinks when I fell I tore the rotator cuff of my right shoulder, which would require surgery. I wear a sling all the time now and still can’t lift up my right arm nearly two weeks after the big fall.

On a happier note, traffic to my site has tripled in recent weeks, soaring from 6 to 18 viewers, most of whom are sent here by google, thinking they’ll be able to find a recipe for Peking duck. Actually traffic is a bit better than that, and since I started posting about SARS there really was a big spike.

Traffic is sure to plunge again by the end of next week, when I start my 22-day holiday with my favorite person and in all likelihood blogging will come to a complete halt as we peruse South China. Then, immediately after the trip, I move to Singapore. It would be bad form to blog during my first few days at the new job, so the slowdown will most likely continue.

Singapore. It doesn’t quite seem real at the moment. I will be sad, in some ways, to leave Beijing, which I’ve come to enjoy a lot more as the weather’s improved, but I can’t deny that in most ways I feel relieved. In some ways, very relieved.

My big dilemma is this blog’s name. I’ve got a lot invested in the name “The Peking Duck,” but will it be appropriate after I leave China? What about “The Singapore Sparrow”? No, I don’t really think that works…. I’m open to any suggestions readers may have!