Beijing - First impressions

By Anita:
My first impression of Beijing was the one I really wanted to see.

There they were...behind a large group of fairly somber Chinese people waiting to pick up friends and relatives at the air port...Alison and James jumping up and down and waving!    The real reason reason for the trip to Beijing!








Other first impressions:    *When you can see the pollution in the air,  it's a bit polluted.  *Don't ever complain about American traffic.   Beijing traffic, including cars, buses, motor bikes, bicycles, and lots and lots of people, is complete madness.  And they believe in car horns.   *There are a lot of people in Beijing.









*It's amazing how much you can communicate without knowing a  language by using gestures and context clues.  And pointing at pictures.
* You really only need to do rush hour in a Beijing subway once in your life.  It an incredible mass of humanity.  You're packed in like sweaty little sardines in a tin.

As Alison says, "You have absolutely no personal space."      

First day in Bejing, we toured the silk market, visited Lake Houhai, and shopped in a houtong. But the hugs and the stories and the love were the best part.

AF

It Really is Different!

It really is different!

As I mentioned in my last post, part of what I am looking forward to during this sabbatical is experiencing life in a different way.  China, Bali—the culture, the history, the life is different!

And so is this!  And this was sooooo unexpected!

Anita and I spent Wednesday (and Thursday if you add in the time and day change!) flying!  We went to Atlanta, of course, made our connection to Seattle.  One of the little things we learned from Alison and James was that paying the little extra to move to Comfort Coach is well worth it!  And it was!  We had a bulkhead seat where we could stretch out and it was wonderful.  Absolutely wonderful!

But we were anxious—note the word again!  We knew from checking in that our transfer to our Beijing flight was tight—very tight!  Even worse, we knew that the flight was overbooked.  They were already looking for volunteers to take a later flight.  AND, there was horrible weather in the middle of the country that meant we had to take a different route and were going to get in even later!

When we arrived in Seattle the gates were only a few apart—good sign; they were already boarding the Beijing flight—a sign.  But when we got to the check-in lady, she asked me to step aside for a moment!  Not a good sign!  Not a good sign at all!

(Wait!  I have my passport!  I have my visa!  I have my international driver license and my inoculation certificate!  I am still in the US!  You can’t say, “You go back!”)

Wait, there isn’t an AK-47 over her shoulder. 

She said, “There has been a seat change.”  Before I could protest I saw the boarding pass. 1-B.  Anita is given 1-C.

As we walk down the gangway Anita says, “Did what I think just happened really happen?” 

YES!!!!

We are in Business Elite!  And let me tell you—IT IS DIFFERENT UP HERE!

The flight attendant brought us a glass of Champaign before we left!  He brought us a menu to order supper!  He brought us a napkin, that wasn’t a napkin.  It was a small tablecloth!

And the seats!   They go flat and you can sleep.  All night!  Anita is currently in hour 7, which means that she has missed all the good movies available and will never get to sleep tonight—which is when we are going to arrive! 

This has been such a different experience!  And sometime different is good—even great!  It gives me a great feeling about the different to come!

And I could get spoiled this way!  But I don’t think I have been that good!