T-minus 10 hours

T-minus 10 hours until we (Josh and EB) take off for the first part of our journey. Our first stop is Shanghai, where we will stay for just under a day and then off to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam for about a week. After that, we'll head back to China and meet up with Jon and Amy (fresh off of her domination of the California bar) for several weeks of fun and food in Beijing, western China and Shanghai. Next Josh and I hop to Tokyo for a couple of days of sushi and then back home to New York. And then finally off to Cambridge, our real new home, at least for the next three years or so.

To lay a few ground rules about our blog:

1. This is a group blog. So the "I" will be some combination of me (EB), Josh, Amy and/or Jon. That may be very confusing. Like when the blog says "I had a great time making everyone walk 12 miles through every interesting neighborhood in Beijing today. It was thrilling and everyone loved it." (Josh) is followed by "Today we went on a forced march through the hutongs of Beijing forever and I never got the foot massage I was promised and I am exhausted and hate this trip." (Jon) Just think of it as the real world, only the confessions are published on the Internet instead of shared on video in the closet.

2. This is a blog that will talk about food because eating is ALL that we do when we travel. So if you are looking for an interesting tour of historical China, I might suggest you pick up Jonathan Spence's "The Search for Modern China."

3. Please comment. We would love to hear how life is going back home in the States and what you think of our adventures.

4. Do not feel you have to read this blog. We are writing this so that I (EB) can add "international blogger" to my resume and have something interesting to tell my Harvard Law School classmates in a month and because we know people hate those oppressive giant e-mails about foreign travel. So please read or don't read as you'd like.

I'm off to finish my final bit of last minute clothing weeding out (perhaps 2 t-shirts per day for a month is excessive) and packing, but before I do I want to shamelessly announce the most exciting event kicking off our trip--the arrival of Josh's nephew Sam Olken, born today at 3:09 PM. Ni Hao Sam!! We promise to bring you back a baby panda as a playmate.