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I'm back in my hometown, which hasn't really changed. I wasn't expecting Emporia to change much, so I suppose it hasn't disappointed.

Most of my friends have moved on to bigger cities, like young people everywhere.

The picture is me with a couple friends. The guy on the left hid in my luggage and the inspectors didn't catch it until Chicago, which was really too late. I asked my mom if we could keep him and she said yes. It wasn't that surprising, because she's always happy to have another person around to eat her food.

It's hot and humid and incredibly small here, compared to China. Almost everyone I've talked to has said something about how China must be far less developed than the US. I guess that's true in some ways. But the the strangest thing about being back is how few people and stores there are. Based purely on hubbub, Emporia seems like a ghost town compared to a small highway rest stop in China.