So, five months after my China trip, I’ve decided to blog. Now as I said in my previous post, the entire time I was there, I made notes about things that I’d like to write about. Unfortunately, I just haven’t had the time to sit down and type. What have I been doing all these months? Well, we’ll save that for another post.
My China trip began on Thursday, July 2. My mom and I hopped on a 6:30 AM flight to Newark, New Jersey. We were on a very small plane (Continental Express), seated in the back…by the bathroom. That was the only down-side. Cause let’s just say the early morning flight didn’t seem to interrupt the daily routine of the men on the plane, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, after arriving in Newark, we changed planes and headed to China. Of course, it didn’t happen all that quickly. We had a 3.5 hour layover. So twenty-one hours (or so) after leaving Louisville, we were walking off the plane in Beijing (well, after their health department people took our temperatures to make sure none of us had the Swine flu). Oh and I should mention that we were fully fed on the plane. I was surprisingly pleased with a) the number of times we were fed and b) the quality of the food. It was actually pretty tasty!
It was intimidating to walk through the airport of a non-English speaking country. But, at least I had a travel buddy!
We made it through immigration and customs with ease and were greeted by two beautiful red-headed girls. Oh and my brother and sister-in-law were there, too.
After we said our hellos, exchanged some currency, watched Ella be mobbed by Chinese girls wanting to have their picture taken with her, we decided a coffee break was necessary. So, we stopped in Starbucks…
Then after caffeinating ourselves, we left Beijing and headed for Tianjin. Tianjin is about two hours away from Beijing. It was during that two hour drive that I was immediately educated on Chinese driving. Horns are used quite frequently to alert folks that you’re coming. And lanes are pretty much irrelevant. I’m just glad I didn’t have to drive anywhere.
Once we got to Ty Kat’s apartment, I toured and laid down for a nap. I may have napped before I did anything else. I can’t remember. I was tired. It was during my nap that I discovered central air conditioning was an American commodity. Apparently, people who use their ac are considered irresponsible spenders. I just don’t like sweating. And my hair certainly doesn’t like frizzing. But that’s just me.
After my nap, well after my sister-in-law woke me up, we ate some dinner. The food in China is almost nothing like American Chinese. Their meat quality is much better, and the flavor is much stronger. And, it’s not as salty! I could also eat my rice with chop sticks cause it was sticky…which was great, since I didn’t have a fork. Oh and the food is insanely cheap!
All in all, it was a good day. It was really more like two days. But, I never lost the sun…so it seemed like one day. Up next I’ll share about the more touristy things we did. Until then…
Tags: trip to China
