In the Home Country: I can't see my own blog

I was overwhelmed by the response to the start of this blog. I received so many emails of support and shared sentiments that I am really encouraged. Thank you all for being here for me.

The bad news is, while you can see my blog, I can't. I discovered this yesterday. At first I thought it was just my connection. But after further investigation I discovered that I simply can't get into anything with a *.blogspot.com page. I've heard about the Great Chinese Firewall; I just didn't expect to be impacted by it so soon. Here's a related article. http://www.danwei.org/net_nanny_follies/blogspot_blocked_again_after_1.php

So now you are officially reading material that the Chinese are not allowed to read, unless they have a proxy server and know how to get around the system. Some other main websites that are blocked in China include myspace, youtube, wikipedia, various news sources and almost any page having to do with a proxy server. A proxy server is a server that allows you to disguise your IP address and go around the Chinese firewalls in many cases.

Interestingly enough, to edit or create a blog, the web address is under blogger.com, which is a different server that is not yet blocked, so I am still able to add information. I just can't see the blog or any related comments once it is posted. So I will continue to post.

Also, I found an article that is pretty relevant to the issues described in my previous posts. http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1461208,00.html#article_continue

Lastly, I also wanted to share some pictures of my apartment with all of you. Enjoy and have a good weekend!

From the entryway...