31 hours, 5 airports later...
6-23-04 (copied from notebook)
First let me say that this computer is frustratingly slow. I had another message to post about the plane flight, but i can't get to it. Maybe later.
We arrived in Beijing around 1 a.m. local time. They took our temperature as we went through the terminal (a precaution against SARS I think), but I guess the customs officials had gone to bed; no one checked our luggage. I was relieved to find both my suitcase and the Lotus representative at the airport. I rode with Ms. Sheng, the Lotus lady, to my host family's house. My host dad, Mr. Lee, met us downstairs, and (bless him) lugged my suitcase up to their second story apartment. His wife and daughter were asleep. He showed me around and gave me all of his phone numbers--along with a short 'please be careful' speech that reminded me a lot of my own dad, minus the Chinese accent.
The next morning I met Cheng Cheng, my host sister. She's 15 years old and very polite, but was a little shy at first. She's very pretty, (Miles, I'll have to send you a picture) and about as tall as I am. We had lunch, and then her mom came home from work. Host mom is just as kind as host dad. The whole family speaks english, and is just generally adorable.
We toured the BCLU campus this afternoon; it's not that big, but it's a pretty mixture of garden/park areas and buildings. Host mom had suggested that I take a taxi home (she had to go back to work), so after wandering around for a while I got into a taxi...and ran into a true communication barrier. I couldn't understand a word the taxi driver said, and she didn't know how to get to the address that I gave her. I got her in the general direction of the housing complex by pointing and nodding, but then we had to pull over so that I could call host mom for directions. It was indeed a grand adventure.
First let me say that this computer is frustratingly slow. I had another message to post about the plane flight, but i can't get to it. Maybe later.
We arrived in Beijing around 1 a.m. local time. They took our temperature as we went through the terminal (a precaution against SARS I think), but I guess the customs officials had gone to bed; no one checked our luggage. I was relieved to find both my suitcase and the Lotus representative at the airport. I rode with Ms. Sheng, the Lotus lady, to my host family's house. My host dad, Mr. Lee, met us downstairs, and (bless him) lugged my suitcase up to their second story apartment. His wife and daughter were asleep. He showed me around and gave me all of his phone numbers--along with a short 'please be careful' speech that reminded me a lot of my own dad, minus the Chinese accent.
The next morning I met Cheng Cheng, my host sister. She's 15 years old and very polite, but was a little shy at first. She's very pretty, (Miles, I'll have to send you a picture) and about as tall as I am. We had lunch, and then her mom came home from work. Host mom is just as kind as host dad. The whole family speaks english, and is just generally adorable.
We toured the BCLU campus this afternoon; it's not that big, but it's a pretty mixture of garden/park areas and buildings. Host mom had suggested that I take a taxi home (she had to go back to work), so after wandering around for a while I got into a taxi...and ran into a true communication barrier. I couldn't understand a word the taxi driver said, and she didn't know how to get to the address that I gave her. I got her in the general direction of the housing complex by pointing and nodding, but then we had to pull over so that I could call host mom for directions. It was indeed a grand adventure.
posted by Mike and Jean Anne at 10:27 PM
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