Day 5 - Run For Your Life!!

The title probably sends your mind into overdrive, but don't worry, we'll get to that later. :)

Yesterday I was too tired to write so I'll tell you a little more about our arrival. We landed at the brand new airport. It is BEAUTIFUL and has only been open a couple of weeks. It is the largest in the world and the detail is amazing. I didn't get any pictures but I'll take some on the way out next week. We went through immigration and then took a tram to the baggage area to get our bags. I was really surprised at all of the English signs. There are two languages on every sign, Chinese and English. Their English is a little different at times, but they try. While waiting in front of the glass doors the sign said 'Mind Your Fingers' instead of 'watch your hands'. We found that funny.

Once we grabbed our suitcases we went through customs and were released into the city. It was amazing to see all of the people waiting and looking for family or friends. There were probably about 300 people all crammed behind ropes holding signs with names. It's amazing we even found Monica's friend Stella.

The rumors are true - the air is TERRIBLE! We walked out of the airport and you could smell the smog. It smells dirty and your eyes feel gritty. I could see the smog when we were landing and it did not make me excited to get off the plane. There is such a thick haze in the air that even though yesterday was a cloudless day, the sun looked like it was behind a thin cloud.



Zhong is Stella's driver here in Beijing. He drove us to our hotel after we dropped the ladies off at Stella's house. I am so glad he was doing the driving! They have signs and rules, but I think the people around here just take them as suggestions. They are crazy drivers, cutting each other off and honking ALL the time. As I type I can hear horns outside.


We walked into the hotel and standing in the lobby were 5 of M's classmates. I can't tell you what a relief it was to see familiar faces - faces that speak our language! We dropped our bags off in the room and ventured out to find something to eat for dinner.


I told M I felt like a little rat poking my head out and looking around to see if the coast is clear. Finding something to eat was our first adventure. The hotel is connected to a mall. A very high end mall - Coach, Tag, and lots of other familiar names. They have a food court and the only thing we recognized was the KFC. Not a place we would normally eat, but familiar. When we walked in it feel like an out of body experience. We were the only foreigners in the place and all eyes were on us. Conversations stopped and we were on display. We walked up to the counter and looked at the menu. When we had decided what to order (the entire menu was in Chinese and parts had pictures) the girl looked at us and whipped out a menu filled with pictures. It was such a nice sight! We pointed to things and then she would try to find the words to confirm what we were ordering. Then she asked about the side and I pointed at the french fries or chips as she called them. We got a soda with ice - which we threw away. We paid and then she asked "Eat here or take away". We both answered, "Take Away". There was no way we were going to sit there and be on display any longer. It did make me feel good that she tried to communicate with us and even said 'Thank You' as we were leaving.


Last night was not a restful as I had hoped. My body was completely exhausted but I was almost too tired. Then at 3 am I rolled over to find M reading. That is 2 pm Texas time so it's no wonder he was wide awake. I told him he gets Tylenol PM tonight, even if he doesn't want it. :)



This morning we ventured out with some friends. Safety in numbers. We started our adventure at the People's Cultural Palace and Tiananmen Square. You'll notice in all of the pictures that they look a bit fuzzy - that is thanks to the smog. There are signs everywhere with the countdown to the Olympics. I found that pretty cool.

They have a subway system here but I'm not sure if they are like our subways. We've only used them to cross the streets and by that I mean underground. There are soo many people walking around that it would be impossible for everyone to cross in a normal crosswalk so many times you have to go underneath the street to cross. This was a sign on our way under the street.


Our final stop was at The Temple of Heaven. What a beautiful sight that was! The picture of us was taken just inside the entrance. I wish we'd had more time there but at this point we were all hungry for lunch.

All in all we learned some a very important piece of information today. See this sign?

It means walk, right? In Beijing it doesn't just mean walk...it means run for your life! Pedestrians do not have the right of way and cars sometimes don't stop at red lights. They only slow down to make turns and that is simply because they have to. Every time it the signed turned to walk, our group of six formed a tight group and RAN across the street.

And sidewalks? Not just for walking. Also for driving or parking your car.

And this man made me feel like the hill in San Fran were a piece of cake compared to what he was hauling.

Our day finished with the Welcome Ceremony here at the hotel. All students have arrived and tomorrow begins our seminar week. A few of the wives are off to spend their husband's money while the husbands sit in a session all morning. :)

Stay tuned for more Adventures in Beijing...