A friend of mine recently noted that I’ve been in a much happier mood lately. This is true. Here are possible reasons why:

• The weather. It’s warm and (at times) sunny again!
• Things to look forward to:
  • Family visit. I started getting excited around the one-month mark.
  • Upcoming trips. Bye-bye China, hello summer vacation.
• PMS. Instead of making me cranky, my hormones are making me silly.
• Sex. ‘Nuff said.

Beijing’s bipolarity is swinging to the other pole now. Beijing summers are completely different than Beijing winters. The city is in bloom right now. I’m spending a lot of time outdoors, in the sun and under a blue sky, at parks, reading Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, which so far is good in a bad sort of way. Whatever faults Beijing (and Beijingers) have, they got one thing right with their many parks. They’re all fantastic, beautifully landscaped and a great place to pass the time. Unfortunately, too many people seem to agree with me — but that does mean that it’s great for people-watching, and the Chinese do many interesting things.

The great weather also means another favorite past time of mine: beer and barbecue at my favorite beer garden.