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

Dancing lessons from God

By Anita: 

       Look out world!  I have a international drivers license!  I can drive in 179 countries around the planet  - from Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria and Azerbaijan  to the UK, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  But most importantly,  I can drive in Indonesia... well, I’m licensed to drive now in Indonesia.  We’ll see about the actual experience. 

       

That’s just one of the many details I’ve checked off my very long to do list.  Trip prep has taken up a lot of my time in the last few weeks.   The reality is that we’re leaving the country for two months.  We’ve done visas and immunizations.  What do we have in the way of travel clothes and what do we need?   Most of our suitcases have wandered off to Texas and China.   Do we need new ones?  What about phones, money, insurance, bug spray, contact solution?  How do we get Don’s “must be refrigerated” medicine (in needle topped syringes, no less) to Bali?  And the big question.... do I pack my running shoes? 

Then there are the practical matters on the home front.   How am I going to pay our regular bills while we're gone?   Who’s going to cut the grass - and how do I pay them?  What about my finicky ferns on the back porch?   Several friends will be vacationing at our home in Charleston and feeding Mike the cat so, of course, I’m in serious cleaning mode.  Details. Details. Details.  Not what I do best.  

But it will be worth it!  Kurt Vonnegut once wrote “Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.”  My unfinished to-do list reminds me that I can't arrange and manage every tiny detail for every minute that I'm away.   It’s almost time to begin the dance.

AF