Adjustments

The first day of work was like work anywhere. You read a bunch of stuff, meet people, and attempt to look busy. My Chinese co-workers are fascinating to behold. They are extremely disciplined, focused, and deliberate. They are huge into punctuality and consider it rude if you're even a second late. They realize they have a really good job and won't do anything to threaten it. They don't surf the net, talk on the phone, do the “water cooler thing,” etc.

It's so funny to contrast with American work life. I bought a really funny book before I left called “And Then We Came to The End” by Joshua Ferris. It's like the “Office Space” of books. I can just tell it's going to be made into a movie. It's about life inside a Chicago advertising agency. One of the characters checks out books at the library and then photocopies them at the office. He spends all day reading the sheets at work and it seems like he's working. Almost too true to be funny.

At lunch time, they took Scarlet and I down to the parking lot. They said they just usually pick some food up and go back to their desks. Lunch is an hour and a half here because they sleep during part of it. Apparently most of them pick up this little lunch tray from a lady in the back of a van. In any other city it would look like a drug deal is going down. The meal was extremely cheap, 6RMB – less than $1USD. It was pretty bad though. The few pieces of mystery meat had tons of bones. There was a little side salad and some vegetables and of course white rice. I started chuckling as I was chewing it thinking about my earlier refusals of going to Blake's Lotaburger because it's “not sanitary.” The portions were so small – and we wonder why they're so thin! Scarlet ordered two of the trays and we went back up to the office. Everyone was basically eating and surfing the net (OK at breaks). After they would eat (i.e. when the white rice rushed their blood stream) they would put their heads down on their desks. It was kind of sweet.

I think Scarlet's having a harder time adjusting than I am. Being a native New Yorker she's LOUD. She likes to talk a lot. When Scarlet yells out a question at me, they kind of look at each other like, “What is this creature?” One of them asked her where she was from and when she said New York they replied, “Ahh, New York” as if that explained everything!

After work we went to find a place to eat dinner. We stopped into an electronics store first. It was the first kind of “Best Buy” store I'd seen here. The products were all good. There were no customers and about 25 employees milling around the store. Very odd. I need an iron but I think that basement market will be cheaper.

We crossed the street and found a really nice restaurant. There were two doormen and they were really waving their hands around like we needed to go in there. I'm SO happy we did! It was great! It was a Korean restaurant that Scarlet said was “heavily Chinese influenced.” Some of the women in there were wearing those traditional dresses that Scarlet said had to have come from North Korea. The place was really big and bright with lots of orange colors. A woman sat us who spoke some limited English. When I asked her, “How are you tonight?” she seemed really embarrassed. She didn't understand.

This place had the best service of anywhere we've been and it was like they really wanted us in there. We looked at the menu and Scarlet knew all these foods, being Korean. Scarlet and I split this beef dish that you cook on the tabletop. They bring over a bucket of hot coals and lower them into the table. You can cook it at any temperature you want. I went well done! The meat was so good! They bring some lettuce leaves and you can roll the meat and apply some sauces. Yum. Scarlet ordered two other meals for herself, a rice dish and this pancake/pizza thing. We will definitely be going back here! Wouldn't it be funny if my favorite restaurant in China was Korean?

Morning rush hours are crazy here. What I could walk in 20 minutes takes an hour in a bus or a car. Riding the bus is really neat though. I love studying people on their way to work. There was a cute little Chinese boy on the bus who was balling his eyes out. I think he probably realized he was en route to school. His dad kept pointing at me and made the boy look at me. It made him stop crying but he seemed kinda afraid too. I kept saying “Hello.” Scarlet wanted to give him some chocolate that she had in her purse but I didn't think it would go over real well, you know?

When we got to the office and settled into our desks, Scarlet popped up in my Gmail Chat. She pointed out that all of our Chinese colleagues were wearing the exact same clothes as yesterday. It was true. It really broke my heart. As Americans we are so incredibly blessed with fortune and opportunity. And you have to figure these Chinese are some of the most advanced in their society. They are all college graduates, speak English, and have lots of skills. There's one Chinese girl who I'm sure thinks she's dressing “business professional” but it's more like a streetwalker. Imagine a purple miniskirt and the big black boots that Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman. Poor thing. Her name is Phoenix.

As Americans we are used to instant gratification. We want it now! In China you can't “have it your way.” For example, the tap water is undrinkable. This means that you have to boil everything first. Waking up in the morning to brush your teeth requires that you put a pot on the stove first (I also have a tea kettle type device). I was brushing my teeth last night and I ALMOST faltered. I was getting ready to rinse the brush under the faucet when I caught myself. I can't even imagine how sick I would have gotten. I'm sure I have lots of organisms living inside me know. As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

The sun rise and sunsets are so beautiful here. Since we view them through the prism of the pollution, they take on a fiery red. I've never seen any like it. When I see the Chinese wearing the face masks, I always think, “What do they know that I don't?” The air here is so dry. I've never really understood that when people have said that in the past. “It's so dry.” Well, I do know. Some mornings when you wake up you're skin has flaked over night. China's climate gives new meaning to the term “chemical peel.”

Without regular Internet access you can start to feel really disconnected. I understand more about the worldview that most Chinese must have. I knew that the government was able to block a lot of Internet sites but I'm surprised at how effective they are. They must have a team of people whose only job is surfing the web and deciding which sites to block. For example, I have no access to most blog sites and Wikipedia. I asked Woojung if people here were aware of the controversy that arose around the world last month when it was discovered that China had destroyed one of their orbiting satellites to test their weapons systems. She said that some American tourists told her about it. When she went to the CNN.com web site and clicked on the story she got the “Page Not Found” message. I tried clicking on a story about an advisor to President Bush who wants Bibles placed in all the hotel rooms in Beijing before the Olympics. The article was in Christianity Today. Same result: Page Not Found.

Remember those people I mentioned who walk around with the red arm bands? When I was walking back from lunch today a group of young Chinese men were marching in lockstep and they were all wearing the bands. Hmm....

Scarlet and I went to lunch on Wednesday. We just walked up the road and found a place. They were very used to Americans and just pointed at where we should sit. The menu had pictures. Yeah! As always, the server stands there and you have to flip through the photos quickly. Nothing really stood out as being great. I pointed to a picture of some kind of meat dish. Honestly, I've had such good food experiences that I thought this would continue. Scarlet ordered a meat type dish. It was very odd and like strings of meat. She started eating something that looked like a napkin. She thinks it was some sort of noodle or soy thing. Finally my dish came out. Uh oh. I started pawing through it with my chopsticks. “What is this?” I thought. Then it hit me. It was starfish! It was cut up and bright orange. Scarlet told me that the Chinese consider starfish to be a delicacy. Uh huh. I basically decided to pretend that I was on Survivor and this meal would be my meal for the evening. If you've ever eaten anything like octopus or starfish you know how rubbery it is! It took forever to chew. It literally had no flavor. It was like eating rubber. I managed to get three portions of a tentacle down and I had to stop. I didn't like it, and more importantly, I needed to get back to the office. Chewing each tentacle would have taken forever. I pointed in my translation book to the Mandarin characters for “I'd like to take this home.” I also said, “Me fan.” This means white steamed rice. I had green tea and white rice for lunch. Dr. Atkins would be proud.

The starfish had been broken up into two different containers. I didn't want to throw it away. There's a young man here who's been really nice to me. I explained the situation and asked him if he wanted it. I guess I spoke too fast because he needed someone else to translate. He ended up taking the container. I decided to offer the second container to a woman I perceive to be one of the office managers. I stumbled into her office and she seemed startled that I was there. I explained the situation. She seemed very perplexed. She told a woman in Chinese what I was trying to do and they both laughed. As if I didn't know, she told me that there were “rubbish bins.” I explained that I didn't want to waste it if someone else would eat it. She started shaking her head. “This not our way in China. Please do not do this.” I felt really bad. “So, it would be better if I threw it away?” “Yes, please throw it away.” Oh-kee-dokey. Now every child in America can know that they've been conned to finish their meals with the “There are starving children in China” guilt trip. Don't believe it!

I decided to walk home through Longtan (Dragon pool) Park on the way home. A ticket costs 2RMB, which is nothing. It was so worth it. It's this really quiet, peaceful place of tranquility in the middle of this bustling city. There were some traditional Chinese buildings. I can tell that it's going to be a “hot spot” during the summer. They have those little boats you can rent and paddle out on the water. There also some amusement park-type rides. I'm looking into getting a monthly pass. It's less than five minute walk from where I live.

I had an interesting conversation with this young Chinese woman at my office. She's probably in her early 20's. She wanted to know if Brown University was a “good school.” I told her it was one of the best. She said she has a Chinese friend who is going there. She wanted to know if I had ever seen one of her favorite movies. She had to say it several times because I couldn't understand her. Then I did: Legally Blonde. I told her that I also liked the movie. She said that Reese Witherspoon's character in the movie became her “role model” after she saw it. She wanted to know if it “was true. Could it really happen?” If you've seen the movie, you know that Reese's character is considered a “dumb blonde” and then gets admitted to Harvard Law. I told her that in America it could happen. I said it would be difficult, but everyone has a chance. She thought that in the United States in order to apply for college you had to make a videotape like the character did. I said that was just for the movie, and that the universities require you write an essay in order to be admitted. We started talking about Reese Witherspoon and another girl joined the conversation. She insisted that Reese was “German.” I explained that she wasn't; she's from Tennessee. The girl looked confused and said, “But her name – Witherspoon – is German.” I went into this thing about how everyone from America is from different parts of the world and that we don't have “purebred” Americans. I said that if we did, Reese Witherspoon would be it. So funny.

I wanted to open a bank account in China. I asked the office manager if the bank across the street is usually open during lunch. She said that it was and wanted to know why. I told her I needed to open a banking account. “I do it for you.” What? “You can open a bank account for me?” “Yes, bring me your passport.” I could hardly believe that someone could open a bank account for someone else. A couple of days passed before she was able to do it because she got really busy. Lo and behold on Friday afternoon she handed me my ATM card. She gave me the pin number (the passcode is literally 111111) and a receipt for my initial deposit. She also told me that she had copied the receipt for her “records.” Mhhm...I better change that pin! I am the newest account holder at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Scarlet and I had our first lunch with the coworkers who sit in our office. It was so nice. They took us to a really nice place. It was so great not having to look at the menu. They ordered a host of things. Scarlet made the mistake of asking if any of them had “brothers or sisters.” They politely reminded her about China's one-child policy. One of the girl's wanted to know if Scarlet thought the policy was “harsh.” She tap danced her way out of that one! The Chinese guy next to me was very concerned about my diet. He told me that if there I was anything I wanted I was to tell him. When the food came out he even put it on my plate. He told us where to go to be with the “other foreigners.” His English is actually pretty good but he doubts himself and gets tongue-tied. He wants me to go to his house sometime and play video games. Should be interesting. One of the girl's demanded to know if I was born in Germany. I said that I had some German ancestry, but I am American. It's a really tough concept for them!

Scarlet had a bit of a meltdown at work. I need to be a bit vague here. Basically, a Chinese man in authority over her had been really critical of her work product and habits for the past two days. To the extent that he took her to a conference room to have a meeting. After the lecture, he told her that he was going to the hot springs tomorrow (Saturday). She was like, “Oh, that's nice.” Then he told her that one of his “friends, a colleague” was going along with another woman. She still wasn't really following, when he asked her if she wanted to go. She was caught totally off-guard. She told him she would be “more comfortable” if I went as well. He explained that there wouldn't be room in the car for me, and told her he would pick her up at Noon the next day. She came out of the meeting and was really, really upset. She started e-mailing me and wanted to know what I thought. I told her that it did seem as though this were a kind of matchmaking thing.

We were in a bit of a quandary because what if it wasn't something inappropriate? What if it was just a kind gesture? The Chinese have this whole concept of “face” where you basically can't embarrass them. To make a very long, emotional story short, I advised her to e-mail the gentleman and kindly decline the offer “remembering” that she had a previous engagement on Saturday and didn't want that person to “lose face.” He wrote back and said it was “Ok.”

We met up with Woojung that evening at Starbucks. We told her the story. She said that in China a young woman traveling alone is often considered to be “OK” for exploiting. The perception is that either you don't have a family or they don't care about you. Woojung said when she gets into taxis the drivers will often ask her if she's “alone” in Beijing. She always lets them know that her family is with her. Honestly, for as stressful as this was for Scarlet, I think it was a good lesson to learn. She's only 21 and has never really been sexually harassed or put in a difficult position like this. While what happened would never fly in the United States, it was also a good lesson in Chinese culture and the male/female dynamic.

I should mention that a Chinese woman sat down next to us at Starbucks. It was obvious she was listening closely to the conversation. When Woojung got up to use the restroom, she wanted to talk to us. She spoke very good English and said she likes to come to Starbucks to practice her English (at one point she did she say “No defense” instead of “No offense”). She was adamant that the man meant nothing untoward by this offer – it was a good faith “friendship” gesture. She went on and on about how there are good people and bad people in the world and you had to use your mind to combat them. She said Scarlet was a “very clever girl” for conceiving the lie to get out of going (it was MY idea!). I noticed that she was reading an article in English about global warming. It turns out she works for electric company in Beijing. She wanted to know if we had seen the Al Gore documentary, and we said we had. She seemed genuinely concerned by Scarlet's reaction to the incident and gave us her phone number. She said she wants to take us around Beijing and next weekend take us to a “special resort.” We'll see.

We left Starbucks and took a taxi to an area of Beijing called Ho High. It was an area of restaurants and bars surrounding a lake. Outside nearly every establishment there were guys begging you to go into their place. I'd read that they have really tough jobs and on bad nights will actually carry people in. They make no salary and only receive commission for the people they can bring in. I felt bad because it was so cold outside! We passed one bar and this guy ran outside and yelled, “American! Come in here!” and then he pointed at one of those neon Budweiser signs. They think we drink lots of beer.

We found an OK restaurant to have dinner at. I've learned that you can't really judge the food here by the appearance of the building. Some of the grossest-looking places have had the best food. This was a really nice, colorful place but the food was only average. I did like the chicken and peanuts. It was tasty. We ordered a barley tea for the table but I didn't care for it.

We were going to walk around and find a place to get dessert. We walked around for a long time and it was just freezing. We finally ended up on a street that was mainly just bars. We went into one to get out of the cold. It was around midnight now. I ordered a cup of coffee at another outrageous price (25RMB) and it was terrible. I'm about to give up on coffee here unless I make it myself! Scarlet ordered this hot strawberry milk drink. It smelled like hot Pepto-Bismol. We had a nice visit and then took a taxi home.

The Chinese are more interested in Korean pop culture than American. While they know some of our movie stars, they are consumed by Korean television shows and movies. The rationale that was presented to me was that US and UK entertainment is just “too western” for them to truly appreciate. They don't like the Japanese, so that's not really an option. But the Koreans make decent entertainment. A lot of the celebrity endorsements that are on products like bottled water and chips feature popular Korean celebrities. I did pass my first movie theater here and the posters outside were for Babel and Flyboys.

On Saturday, Woojung called and asked if we wanted to go with her parents to an antique flea market called Panjiayuan Jiuho Shichang. We said sure. We took a taxi to meet them at a nice hot pot restaurant (she texted our cell phone the address in Mandarin and just showed it to the driver). It was so nice meeting Woojung's parents. Her father is on sabbatical right now from a university in South Korea where he teaches media law. Her parents were extremely elegant people and so friendly. They insisted on paying for the meal. The food was SPICY. There was a box of tissues on the table so you could wipe off the sweat and blow your nose. I had to get up from the table twice to blow my nose.

Woojung's father has been traveling to Beijing for the past 40 years and he said the changes he's witnessed are incredible. He said there are increasingly new services being offered and the city is getting cleaner. He said the only thing that has gotten worse is the traffic gridlock. He said that China is extremely low in business productivity because of the amount of time it takes to make decisions. I had the opportunity to witness this myself. On Friday I was asked to attend a meeting with the Minister of Information at the Department of Foreign Affairs. I was only asked to attend the meeting because we wanted a large group present to show our respect. The Minister didn't attend the meeting, but it was his receptionist and what I perceived to be his chief-of-staff. Each side would speak for about 20 minutes, uninterrupted. They wouldn't stop and ask questions. They each listened to the other very, very intently. It's my understanding that the Minister had initially agreed to something big and was now asking to make the event smaller because he was scared of stepping on the President's toes. The meeting lasted about an hour and a half. Some kind of resolution was reached. The Chinese aim to make both sides satisfied in these types of negotiations. I think it's safe to say that an American meeting of this sort wouldn't take nearly so long.

After lunch we taxied over to the flea market. It was extremely crowded. There were rows upon rows of Chinese calligraphy, jewelry, ceramics, teapots, ethnic clothing, Buddha statues, paper lanterns, Cultural Revolution memorabilia (including Chairman Mao wristwatches), wooden boxes, furniture, pipes, etc. There are some real antiques scattered among the junk, but you'd have to be an expert to pick them out. Antiques made before 1795 cannot be exported out of the country. No one bought anything but it was fun to look.

On the way home we ran into a “vendor” on the sidewalk selling pirated DVDs. We had to look. Scarlet started freaking out because he had that new movie, 300. She really wanted to see it before she left the States. He was selling each movie for 7RMB – about 80 cents in USD. I was amazed at his collection: The Queen, Night at the Museum, Zodiac, Prison Break Seasons 1 and 2, and tons of other American and Korean titles. Scarlet bought 300 and I bought Blood Diamond. We had no idea what to expect of the quality. Blood Diamond was in mint condition. It was a dub of an Academy Awards screener disc. These are mailed to Academy members in the weeks leading up to the voting for the nominations. Twice during the movie text would come up on the screen saying that this was a movie intended for Academy members for private home viewing. I wonder who sold it? The DVD boxes were extremely professional looking – even sealed in plastic. They had the original movie art, critical reviews, and even a “proof of purchase” label. The only flaw I found was in the smaller text that lists the cast and production team. According to the box, the cast of Blood Diamond is Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Regina King, Bruce Campbell and Lily Tomlin. Were these actors EVER in the same movie together?

Scarlet's movie was filmed with a camcorder in the theater. She could hear people coughing and at one point the camera left the screen when someone obviously came into the theater. By the way, her DVD case lists the cast of Lady in the Water. Nonetheless, she got to see the movie. In order to ease our guilt, we have each pledged to buy the real movies when we return to the States.

I spent Sunday afternoon roaming the streets alone. I'm still trying to get a sense of my neighborhood and where everything is. It was the worst day yet for pollution. It was also slightly misty. Can you say acid rain? I found a park and went in. Lots of older people huddled in little groups, talking. I left after a few minutes because I got a feeling telling me to leave. Always trust your gut! It's rarely wrong. I also discovered something else by being out alone today. People aren't looking at me in most cases just because I'm an American. Most of the time it's because Scarlet is talking so much and is so damn loud. It's really jarring for them. When I was out alone today, I was just another person on the streets. It was nice to have that anonymity again!

My boss called that evening and wanted to know if I wanted to go to a pub. We said that we would go with him. We met him at our office. He brought his wife and another woman from work. We stopped first and had some dinner at a noodle place. I ordered what was essentially spaghetti. It was good though. We then went back to the same area where we'd been Friday: Ho High. Clearly, this is viewed as a must-go for Americans. We walked around and found a quiet place. There was a table of about eight Americans near us. I think maybe they were from Colorado because one of the guys had on a Broncos sweatshirt. We had a nice, casual conversation. I practiced some of my Chinese on them.

I found out that in the Spring our office will be having a retreat near the Great Wall. We stay with a local farmer who prepares a meal for us and we stay at his home. It sounds like it's going to be really fun and beautiful. Apparently, everyone sleeps together on concrete beds. Huh. And I thought Udall-office retreats were bad! At least I got my own hotel room. They said the retreat will allow everyone to get to know each other (I'll say) and we'll craft out an agenda for the next few months. Another retreat will occur in a different part of China in the Fall.


I have a feeling that I'm going to be giving Scarlet a “reality check” soon. She's 21, and like 21-year-olds everywhere, thinks she knows everything. She's an extremely bright young woman, but feels as though she needs to insert herself into every conversation and discussion. My patience is wearing thin. Usually my reality checks are not pleasant affairs, but I really think she will grow from this. She needs to know the truth before she heads to England in the fall. I'll be helping her really.

Explorations

My apartment has one of those signs in it that you find on the back door of a hotel room. It's written in Mandarin followed by the English "translation." Here goes:

THE RULES
Please every staff notes:

Maintain the wall clean. Do not paste any picture randomly on the wall or nail drawing pen.

Does not huddle the goods; Keep the public place cleaning; the bathroom, the kitchen, the refrigerator, the ground health, and cleaning in turn.

Maintain the cleaning of oneself room and the living room; Rinsing the curtains in time.

Need to maintain sanitation of the facilities such as the TV set.

Save water, electricity and coal gas use.

Clean the trash up and put in special place. Do not put the trash for a long time in the room.

Regularly open the window to ventilate. Avoid the air grime inside room.

Without the chief agreement, do not make the stranger to stay over night in the apartment.

Friday was spent on the streets of Beijing. I met one of my co-workers, Scarlet. She's of Korean descent and grew up in New York. She arrived a day after I did. We decided that we would go out together and look for things that we needed for our apartments.

Scarlet was told by some friends that she may have some negative experiences in China. Because she's of Korean birth, she looks Chinese. That means everyone largely assumes that she's Chinese and speaks Mandarin. She knew she would be working with me (American male) and was warned that some Chinese may call her a derogatory term for not being "with one of her own." She was also told she might be insulted for being overweight. Finally, because she's American and speaks English some Chinese may think she doesn't want anything to do with "her" culture. This is going to be interesting, I thought.

We decided to get some lunch first. I was going to show her how to take the bus but decided we may as well explore on foot. Friday was the WORST day yet for the pollution. A brownish, thick fog settled all over the city. You couldn't see buildings that you could the day before. We found a gorgeous Chinese restaurant that looked typical of the style and design you would see in a really posh U.S. Chinese restaurant. We were both really nervous about going in. This would be our first experience here really. The sign on the door was translated as "Private Club." We weren't sure if we would even be allowed in. In another sign of the restaurant's exclusivity, the parking lot was filled with really nice vehicles. It was clear that this is where some of Beijing's elite dine.

As we walked up to the doors, each door was pulled open from the inside. They greeted us and I held up two fingers to indicate our party size. They addressed Scarlet in Mandarin thinking she was Chinese. She just said, "Doh-bu-chee" which means "sorry." They sat us at a very nice table near the window. The server, again thinking Scarlet was Chinese, only brought one menu – for her. I was clearly the ignorant American who needed to be ordered for. Fortunately, some of the dishes had photos and all were translated in English. We ordered some dumplings, a chicken dish and some soup. They brought over some delicious green tea. I drank green tea in the U.S. but I like how they serve it here with the leaves in the glass.

Some side dishes were served. One was a plate of cashews, which were really good. There was one plate that looked really mysterious. We both studied it for a minute. I thought it looked like something from the sea. All of a sudden Scarlet threw her hands to her mouth.

"It's chicken feet!"

And indeed it was. There were about four claws there, taunting us. Were these the feet of the chicken that we were about to consume?

When the food arrived it all looked delicious. I especially loved the chicken dish. The spices they use here are so good. Scarlet did coach me on how to use my chopsticks. I got pretty good at it. When the check came, I was going to have to pay since Scarlet didn't have any Chinese currency and it's impossible to find places that take credit cards. When she brought the bill, I wanted a moment to study it and pull out my money. I hadn't paid for anything before and wanted to make sure it was right. No such luck! She just stood there towering over us, waiting for the money. It was kind of funny. I'm pretty sure the bill was OK.

Scarlet didn't convert any of her dollars in the U.S. so we needed to find a bank and possibly even open a bank account. I told her we would continue up the road and go into one of those banks. We walked a long ways. We had absolutely no problems. In fact, the only "negative" thing that has really happened was when I walked into the office the first time the day before. I heard a woman disgustedly say "Lao wei." The Frommer's Guide book warned about this. She was basically saying "foreigner!"

We stumbled upon the China Construction Bank. We didn't know how we were going to communicate about what we needed to do. I had brought one of my Mandarin translation guides and opened it. I found the word for "exchange rate." Below it are the characters in Mandarin. We walked in and there was a woman with a tag that read "Lobby Host" flanked by an armed guard. I pointed to the word. She grabbed a calculator and typed in the rate. Then I indicated with my hands that we wanted to exchange money. She nodded her head and pulled a number for us.

We didn't have to wait long. Scarlet just filled out a form (like I did in the U.S.) and they copied her passport. We were moving again. I took Scarlet by the office so she could see where we would be working.

I had told the office the day before that I would really like some help in obtaining a cell phone. Going from 24/7 access to nothing is scary! Scarlet also needed a cell. Guess who helped us navigate this? The driver! The one who doesn't speak English. We headed out on foot (I don't know how many miles we walked that day) and we went to a YMCA. Michael had mentioned the day before that there was a really cheap gym nearby in case we wanted to join. This facility must have been brand new; it was sparkling on the inside. We headed down to the basement level and we saw a swimming pool and lots of exercise equipment. What struck us, though, was that no one was using any of it. There were a couple of people in the pool but that was it.

I mentioned to Scarlet earlier in the day how shocked I was that we hadn't run into a single American yet. Not even a tour bus. I said that it seemed as though the city should be teeming with Americans. When we were at the gym finally saw an American, we thought. He turned out to be Australian, but close enough. His name was Peter. He said he's been working out at the facility since November and that there's never anyone there. He said it's like having a private gym. He said he has had a few issues with the gym because they like to change the operating hours a lot. Apparently China and Australia have always had a close strategic partnership. Most Chinese who want to study English go to Australia to learn and as a result pronounce their words with the Australian accent. It was just nice to finally see someone else with whom we could identify.

It was finally time to get the cell phone. I just knew this was going to take forever, and boy did it. The shop looked like a cell phone store you would expect to find in the U.S. There were two guys behind the counter. We started looking at the different phones. Michael had told me that a superior phone would run about 1,000 RMB. The guy that we started talking to didn't know a word of English. The driver told him that we needed phones and why we were in China.

He called out to a guy who works behind glass and takes the money. He spoke English. He came out and tried to help us. First of all, what a nice guy. He was trying so hard to help us. His English was pronounced very well. The problem was that we didn't have all the right words for things like "SIM cards" "phone cards" "calling plans" etc. I could tell he was getting so frustrated by our gap in communication. The Chinese, no matter the job, really want to do things right.

We each picked out a phone we wanted. I got a Sony Ericcson phone for 380RMB. I didn't want a fancy phone, just the basics. The issue we were having was when it came to trying to figure out how you add minutes to your phone. The Chinese really don't offer calling plans. You basically "pay-as-you-go" and just keep buying phone cards. We wanted to know where we buy the cards, how much a minute costs, would we have to change our phone number each time. No matter how hard we tried we just couldn't get these questions answered. Finally out of pent up frustration (about an hour in), Scarlet and I just burst into sobbing, uncontrollable laughter. We couldn't help it. We just CRACKED up. I'm sure we didn't do America any favors by this display, but we had no other options. They just kind of looked at us, confused.

We kept trying to figure it out and I basically put my foot down and told Scarlet we would just deal with the cards issue later. They helped us activate the phones and the driver insisted that they call each of our cell's so we would know that they are working. We thanked the guys profusely. They were really so nice and I know that they didn't like that they couldn't help us. To be honest, I felt bad because I thought, "This is their country. They don't need to know English, I should know Mandarin."

I think the cell phone "incident" ended up taking two hours and when all was said and done. By this time it was now rush hour. Lots of bikes on the roads and people taking the bus. We did run into a bedding store to see if we could buy new pillows. All the pillows were made out of buckwheat, and Scarlet said buckwheat attracts insects. No thanks!

As we were walking to the bus stop I saw this Chinese man with a really big smile. I smiled back. He stood out to me because most of the Chinese just walk around with these really dour looks. It's just different.

We got on the bus to head back to our apartment building. The bus was pretty busy. Scarlet noticed (thank God) that you must have to get off the bus by going through the back door. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself by going out the front. A lot of the passengers were looking at me. Not in a mean way, just out of curiosity.

When we got off at our stop we knew we had to pick some up some supplies. We needed things like cleaning supplies and bottled water. It's really hard to feel at home when you don't have your necessities. Remember that basement dive that the driver had shown me the day before? We submerged down there. As it turned out, there was a little place selling things like we needed.

Naturally there were no carts or baskets. I found a large bag that was for sale and we just loaded it up. We got TONS of stuff. Most Chinese just run into this little store for one item. We were packing heat. The shopkeeper's kept staring at us and our mysterious ways. If there's one thing that identifies the American national character it's shopping. We ARE good at that, by God!

What I don't understand about the Chinese market is why EVERYTHING sold in America is manufactured in China but you can't buy it China. Tell me why! There's basically very little competition on the shelves. And all the marketing is really lame. Like putting cartoon characters on packages. The only American brands we saw were Colgate, Raid, M&M's, and Tide. We got so much stuff. When we got to the register the clerk just started laughing. It was like she had never seen two customers buy SO much stuff. She had to get another clerk to come help her go through it all. A lot of the customers gathered around to watch us in the act of commerce.

So we went back to the apartment building and put our things away. Then we decided to go back to the store! We were laughing that they were going to be shocked to see us again. And were they ever. Their eyes got really big. I felt like they were watching us more this time. Not like we were stealing but to see what the American decision-making process is for shopping ("Let's get the blue sponge. It looks nicer.").

By the time all was said and done our two trips had cost us $400 RMB. Technically, we had a third trip because after I paid for the second set, Scarlet ran back in to get a mop. While I was standing there a Chinese man walked over and patted me on the shoulder saying, "How are you?" It was clear that it was the only English he knew. I smiled back. When he came out of the store he pointed to the clerk and said something to me in Chinese. Whatever it meant, EVERYONE started laughing. I don't think I was the butt of the joke, I think she was.

I have to say that I really do think the Chinese people are good people. They have good hearts and are well-intentioned. They want to do a good job and be as helpful as they can. I like them.
After our shopping excursions, it was time for dinner. Beijing, being a government town, starts to close down around 10 pm for things like dinner. We left at 9 and it was freezing. It was SO cold outside. We went into this little dive restaurant. We were the only customers. All the employees were sitting around smiling and playing board games.

Yet again, they brought only one menu for Scarlet. When she spoke English the man seemed really surprised. We flipped through the menu together, looking at the pictures. About this time, the other employees decided to gather around the table and watch us make up our minds! We had four men standing over us. It was really funny. The main server kept pointing at things in the menu but they didn't look good. We tried ordering a chicken and the man shook his head "no." Not gonna ask any questions!

We settled on this meat dish, a soup, and some fried rice. When I had to get out my chopsticks, they were they kind that are "sewn" together and you have to break them apart. I obviously understood the concept but wasn't sure if it was best to pull them apart by the sides or another manner. The server ran over looking incredulous. He motioned with his hands that I pull them apart at the sides. He must have thought I was a moron. When the food came, it was time to use the chopsticks again. Scarlet offered me a refresher course. Well, the server was standing there watching very intently. He wanted to see if I could do it! I wish I knew the Mandarin phrase, "Can I eat now?"

I really liked the meat dish. Scarlet didn't like the "texture." She's convinced that it wasn't beef. I told her I didn't care. It tasted good and I wasn't asking any questions. It actually reminded me of fajita meat. All I can say is, it's the next day and I'm still here.

My legs were so sore from all the walking. I haven't done this much walking since I lived in Washington. Tomorrow would be Saturday. I wonder what adventures await.

Saturday turned into kind of a touristy day. I went with Scarlet to the bus stop and we decided to just get on the first bus came and see where it deposited us. I have to say that the bus system is extremely efficient. Busses for each route come several times an hour. The main bus I take (#12) has a bus come every three or four minutes. You don't have to run and catch a bus because one will be there shortly.

We saw a tourist type attraction up ahead and decided to get off. I should mention that it was freezing cold with fierce winds. By far the coldest since I've been here. Compared to yesterday there was no pollution at all. The sun was shining bright. Scarlet wondered if maybe because it was Saturday the factories were closed and not adding toxins to the air? I guess Sunday will be the test.

We saw a small coffee shop across from the bus stop, Monet Coffee. I hadn't had any coffee since I'd been here and I wanted in. It could have been in Paris. Delicious little pastries and the fanciest cakes I've ever seen in my life. It was extremely clean and professional. Has anyone ever heard of Monet Coffee? I think it must be a chain. All the pastries were in cases and you went and picked up want you wanted. I made a motion to one of the women that I wanted a tray. I picked out a blueberry croissant. Scarlet went hog wild and got three different pastries. All four pastries came to 15 RMB – cheap. The cashier told us that the coffee was upstairs. This is where the seating was (think Cosi/Xando for the DC folks). Yet again, only Scarlet was given a menu since they assumed she was Chinese.

We flipped through the menu and picked out our drinks. I chose a black coffee and Scarlet ordered a caramel latte and Coke. It took FOREVER to get the drinks. We were the only people up there and it took probably 20 minutes. The coffee was just average. I didn't pay attention to the prices. Do you know how much I paid for one cup of coffee? About $7 USD for a cup of black coffee. And you thought Starbucks was expensive! Needless to say on future visits there will be no going upstairs. Live and learn.

We then went across the street to the tourist attraction. We saw lots of white people but they were all Eurotrash. We still didn't know what it was when we bought our tickets. Turns out it was the Temple of Heaven! At the same time the Yongle emperor built the Forbidden City, he also oversaw construction of this enormous park an altar to Heaven directly to the south. Each winter solstice, the Ming and Qing emperors would lead a procession here to perform sacrifices designed to promote the next year's crop and curry favor with Heaven for the general health of the empire.

The colors of the buildings were so rich and vibrant – gold, blue, and red. When we climbed the stairs to the actual temple we were treated to a 360 degree of Beijing. It was the first time I'd seen it. I was glad it was a clear day. It gave me perspective on where I was. Because of the freezing temperatures, there were very few people there. We did see some Buddhist's and they had that Mongolia look about them. Scarlet was a good person to go with because she makes me do things I ordinarily wouldn't. There was this Heaven Center Stone where you stand and speak and the speaker's voice is "clear and harmonious." She made me do it. She said she "could hear it" when I spoke. OK.

There were some Chinese people doing a dance outside one of the buildings. I stopped in my tracks. It looked exactly like something you could see at any pueblo in New Mexico. It was so Native American-looking. I watched them dance for about 20 minutes. There was one woman really into it. I think she had her eyes closed (sunglasses) but looked like she was in a trance. In one of the temples there was a painting that looked like a Native American ceremony. Unfortunately, most of the signs explaining what you're looking at are written in Mandarin.

We decided to take a different exit when we left. We're trying to learn as much as we possibly can. This was clearly the exit/entrance that the vast number of tour buses goes to. Along with it are all the vendors. This would be our first experience of dealing with these kinds of people. We were converged on by three people. One was selling "Rolexes," another had "Gucci" purses, and I can't remember what the third person had. I had already learned to say "Boh shure, shee-shee-knee" (No, thank you). The guy selling the Rolexes followed us for awhile but I think he was harmless.

We turned a corner when this short Chinese woman saw me and literally latched on to me. She was selling postcards and was AGGRESSIVE. She wanted to sell me a pack of 10 postcards for 20 RMB – way, way overpriced. Because most people assume that Scarlet is my Chinese guide I can use her as a negotiating tactic. I turned to her and said, "Is that a good price?" She shook her head no. The woman started screaming, "Then how much then?" I saw that she had other postcard packs. I made a huge mistake by taking the postcards out of her hands and looking at them. Once they were in my hands I would never get them back out. At one point the woman pretended to "hurt" her finger on the postcards. She put the finger in her mouth and kind of sobbed. "And the Oscar goes to..."

Long story short we got 30 postcards for 10 RMB. This was still too much money but we bartered better than an ordinary set of Americans. I told Scarlet that from now on we never look at anything with our hands and we just walk.

We continued to explore. Around the corner I found a clothing store that sold lots of American and European clothes. The prices weren't bad. More importantly, it's extremely difficult for tall men to find clothes here that aren't custom made. This store sold clothes and shoes that would fit me. I just hope I don't run into that little woman on a future visit!

We found a pharmacy and went in. They did NOT want us in there. It was like 10 employees just standing around with no customers. It felt really awkward.

I noticed the day before and today different groups of people, usually older, walking around with these red arm bands with some writing in Chinese. They mill about the streets in groups of 5-8 and just keep walking. At first I thought it was a group of older citizens trying to make a political statement. Sort of like Americans who continue to display the Dixie flag. Then I noticed that some of the men in the military also wear the bands. I wonder what it means? I smiled at an older woman wearing the band and she didn't smile back. Eek...

We FINALLY found a cell phone store that could understand us and would sell us the China Mobile cell phone cards to recharge the phones. I was so happy that he understood us. More importantly, I saved one of the cards and know where to go back.

The Chinese who own dogs like the smaller breeds. The most popular are Pekinese and Pomeranians. They usually dress them up, too. As cute as they are, I don't dare pet them. I doubt they've had any shots. There was a story last year about how the government arbitrarily rounded up about 400,000 dogs and executed them because of rabies. I guess you wouldn't want to be walking your dog when those vans came round.

I got a little despondent today over the language barrier. Until you've been in a situation like this you don't realize what communication really means. The simplest tasks take FOREVER. They say that there are more Chinese citizens learning English in China right now than there are English speakers in the entire world. John Edwards said in an interview recently, "China is the biggest English speaking country on the face of the Earth." I'm like, "Where are they?" Granted, Beijing's 16 million residents are a small drop in the bucket in a country of 1.2 billion, but I wish I encountered more Chinese proficient in English. And you can bet they wish they encountered more Americans proficient in Mandarin. The communication gap is going to be fascinating during the actual Olympic Games.

That was basically it for Saturday. I was so exhausted. I went to bed at 7 pm and didn't wake up till 5 am. The amount of walking I'm doing is taking some getting used to.

Sunday turned out to be a good day. Scarlet has a friend in Beijing who's doing a semester at Peking University on an exchange program with American University. Her name is Woojung. She was born in Korea, lived in the U.S. from ages 1-7, moved back to Korea, spent two years of high school in Beijing, and is now in her junior year at AU in Washington, DC. She reads, writes, and has native-level, accent-free speech in English, Korean, and Mandarin. And she's 21!

We took the bus to the metro station. It was really confusing to find because the maps have the metro stations listed for some of the stops that haven't been built yet! They are really expanding the subways for the Olympics and we had no way of knowing what was here and what wasn't. We found a woman who spoke English and she told us where to go. We kept using the Chinese word for "metro" and they would look confused and say, "Subway?" Guess they call it that here too.

The metro was nice. It could get a bit crammed at times but that's just the nature of the beast. We had to transfer to Line 13. This is the newest of the lines and is what will take people to the Olympic Stadium. Most of the stops on this line haven't been finished. The majority of the ride on this line was above ground. You could really see the poverty from here. Lots of small apartments with clothes hanging up in the alleys. I wonder if the government will demolish these areas so tourists won't see them?

When we got off at our stop we were seeing the "New Beijing." I felt like I was in Georgetown. Taxis everywhere, horns blaring, and very few people on bicycles. There were tons of American stores and restaurants. It is completely different from the area where I live. I'm one of the few Americans in my neighborhood. This area was teeming with them. The Chinese were different too. Very Westernized. Modern clothes, more money. They didn't do a double take when they saw an American. The contrast was striking.

I got really excited because I saw street vendors walking up and down selling sliced pineapple and warm sweet potatoes. People would just buy a sweet potato and peel it as they walked down the street as if they were eating an ice cream cone. It smelled so good. The smells in general were different too. My neighborhood has a Chinese smell. I think it's from all the cooking. This area didn't smell like that. I could have been in any city in the world. Scarlet, being Korean-American, noticed that the area had tons of Korean shops and restaurants. The strategic partnerships that the Koreas and China have were evident here.

We weren't meeting Woojung until 3, so we had time to kill. We found one of those Internet cafes and went inside. The Internet cafes were really popular a few years ago and then the government shut most of them down. Now they are extremely regulated. We had to show our passports (with numbers logged) and Chinese citizens have to also show ID. Probably not a good idea to log onto CIA.gov from here! The computers were all high-speed with large monitors. It was actually hard to find a seat. It was really dark and people were smoking. A cockroach ran across Scarlet's keyboard. It felt...seedy. The guy sitting next to me was watching a Korean movie with Mandarin subtitles. Most of the patrons were young and they had that glassy stare that any young American gets when they log on.

We met up with Woojung at a coffee shop just around the corner. If had free WiFi (should have gone there first!) and was like a café you would expect to find in the states. Woojung was sitting there with one of her classmates studying. One of their textbooks is called "Jesus in Beijing." A Chinese man was sitting at a table next to us. After he left the server brought over a business card for Woojung's classmate. I can't remember her name but she's pretty and from Indiana. He had written her a note asking her out on a date with his e-mail. He was standing in the corner of the restaurant and waved at her after she read it. Awkward. She's not planning to e-mail.

We chatted with them for about an hour. The AU program has allowed them to see and experience a lot of China. They have a two-week travel period coming up where they see some of the most remote areas of the country. What a great opportunity. They said this area is very international because the majority of Beijing's universities are located here. It's a real melting pot.

They told us that in a few weeks a major sandstorm will blow across Beijing. Apparently Inner Mongolia has deserts in it and the wind brings brutal sandstorms – the sands go as far as Japan and Seattle! They said the sky will turn orange ("like the color of Fanta") and you will taste the pollution in your mouth. Woojung said she read an article and apparently this year's storms are like the worst in 20 years (thanks global warming!). Thank God I brought my neti pot!

We left with Woojung. She was going to help obtain international calling cards to call the U.S. at cheap rates and a bus pass. It was so easy going with her! She said most vendors attempt to charge 100RMB for the calling cards. She negotiated with him and got us each card for 28RMB. Next we went to the bus station and she easily got us combo bus/metro passes. We even get cheaper rates by having the cards! What she did in 10 minutes would have taken us half a day. I'm serious.

We decided that since we were in this part of town we may as well have American food. She took us to a place called The Kro's Nest. She said all the American students studying in China eat here. We walked in and it felt like a New York pizza parlor. There were tons of Americans and a few Chinese. The menu was basically pizza and calzones. Although I'm not "sick" of Chinese food, it was nice to have a reminder of home. The owner, Kro, came over to our table. He's in his mid-30's and has been in China for about 3 years. He told us he was running a Mahjong gambling racket in Shanghai and in one night won enough money to open this place. He said he can't go back to Shanghai. He kind of had a punk rock look about him. I have a feeling he's wanted in the U.S. We ordered our food and it was really good. It really could have been in New York.

I had a fascinating conversation with Scarlet and Woojung about Korea. They told me so many interesting things. I told them how most Americans stereotype all Asians as being extremely intelligent. I asked them what they thought about that. Woojung said it's not that Koreans are more intelligent, but they have to work harder. They are each competing for limited slots at universities that will change their lives. She said at schools in Korea the teachers post everyone's grades on the wall. At the same time, the education is different. She said most of the education is rote – just memorizing facts and principles. She said she struggled so much her first semester at AU with writing papers because while she could out-research her classmates, she didn't know anything about critical thinking. Her professor's would give her back her papers and say, "There's no analysis in this." She said this is why so many Asians have been successful in things like math and science – applying formulas is what they are used to. Scarlet said she's always speculated that this is why Americans come up with new ideas and inventions and then the Asians really run with them. They do some slight innovation and make their version of the products more successful than ours (Hello Japanese car industry).

We also talked about the culture of South Korea. They said that Koreans are extremely judgmental and competitive. They said that only until a few years ago it was quite controversial to be half-Korean anything. They are very proud of their "pure lineage." Apparently a couple of years ago an athlete in the Superbowl who was half-Korean and half-black won the MVP title. Seemingly overnight, it was OK to be half-black and half-Korean.

After she graduates, Woojung plans on moving back to Korea permanently. She doesn't know what she's going to do for a career yet, although it's important that she's married. Her parents have moved to Beijing to be with her this semester. They have devoted their entire lives to her educational pursuits.

Woojung got us on the right bus after dinner. We're planning on meeting up with her next weekend. She wants to take us to a silk market. I really enjoyed meeting her. I feel so fortunate to be learning about so many different cultures at once.

The temperature had really dropped by the time we got on the bus. We were flipping through a map and a concerned looking Chinese woman came over and asked, "Do you need help?" It was so nice. I noticed that the young man sitting next to me was reading a book in English. I had fantasies of him absorbing something like "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf. You know what it was? "The Devil Wears Prada." Good book, so-so movie.

I found a Starbucks on the way home and stopped in. I wanted to get a coffee press and some beans. I really need coffee in the mornings. The prices were on par with the costs of a US Starbucks. Kind of disappointing. Granted, a Grande coffee here would still have been cheaper than that other place! I noticed that the two clerks behind the register were wearing name tags with English names – Jason and Justin. I hope that's something they did of their own free will and not a Starbucks mandated thing to make the Americans "more comfortable." Hmm…..

All in all, a busy and productive few days.

A Real Catch

I was tootling around in the apartment when the driver from the night before knocked on my door. I was stunned that he came back. I let him in, and he made gestures that I needed to put on my coat. Clearly I was being taken somewhere!

As we walked outside he made hand motions to his mouth like he was eating and said "afternoon." This was about 3 pm so I wasn't sure if he was saying that we were eating lunch now or this is where I should go eat tomorrow. We crossed the street right into the path of all the incoming bicycles. He just walked as though everything was as it should be. A Chinese man hauling cardboard boxes on his bike slowed down as he passed me and he intently studied my face. I wonder what he was thinking?

We walked into a market on the corner. They were mainly selling cigarettes and cell phones. Then we headed downstairs. There I found a market selling fresh fruits, meats, cookies, and deli-type eating establishments. The driver was excitedly pointing things out to me. I got lots of stares. Clearly not a lot of Americans frequent this dive.

When we emerged he took me took to the bus stop. He pointed to the bus stop sign. We were waiting for the Number 12 bus. The bus came and he put his arms around me as we got on to show the driver we were together. He presented a pass of some kind. The bus ride itself was fun. Not too crowded. My guide wanted a woman to give up her seat so I could sit down, but I waved "no" with my hands. I've already learned that the typical "gentlemen" rules don't apply here. The women don't expect advantages either. It's very survival of the fittest.

A Chinese woman on the bus came up and started talking to me. She spoke very good English. She told me that she liked Hillary Clinton and wanted to know if I thought she could be President. I told her "Yes" I thought Hillary had a very good chance of being President. She smiled. She knew Hillary was a Democrat and wanted to know the name of "the other party." I told her Republican but she wasn't able to pronounce it. She wanted to know what I thought of the war in Iraq. I told her I didn't like it and we shouldn't be there. She seemed genuinely shocked by this. "You don't like it?" I explained that most Americans don't like the war and wish we had never done it. She was speechless. There's no telling what she's seeing in the media here.

Speaking of television, I had a few hours to flip through my "cable television." I have about 20 channels. There's one that gives the news in English but it's the state-controlled CCTV. It's still the best source of information I have! The stories are almost always pro-Chinese but it's subtle. Some of the stories "explaining" why a Chinese athlete didn't win a game were really funny. You have to admire the sense of nationalism, I guess. The other channels had lots of really bad soap operas. I mean bad. I could see myself watching it as a comedy program.

It was on the bus ride that I learned I'm living very close to the infamous Tianan Men Square. I learned today that the government allows the fancy hotels in China to broadcast CNN and BBC for their foreign guests. According to the Frommer's Guide, it's around the anniversary of the Tianan Men Square incident that the channels "mysteriously" go out for three days.

When we got off the bus we arrived at what is going to be my office! It's located in a huge skyscraper. Alas, there is no Starbucks Coffee close by. There was tons of activity going on in the office. Phones ringing, faxes sending, people looking harried. The vast majority of people in this office were Chinese with varying degrees of English proficiency. I got introduced to a few people and was given a cup of green tea. I don't officially start work till Monday so this was just more of brief tour. I did take the opportunity to hop online and check my e-mail.

Then I was told that I was being taken to dinner. I wish that the instructions had been clearer at home so I could have changed into something nicer. I was wearing the standard American uniform of shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Oh well. They said it wouldn't matter.

The driver went and got the same car as last night. I sat up front and three people got in the back. Only one person spoke both English and Chinese. The driving this time was frightening. There just seems to be no standard rules of engagement on the road. People (including our driver) just arbitrarily merge into lanes and the other cars better get over. The number of people almost hit on their bikes is astounding. I got really itchy when I would see a small child traveling in a basket on the bike. The biggest contrast with Americans is that pedestrians in a place like New York would fight back with the cars. They'd cuss out the driver, flip the bird, etc. The Chinese who are almost manslaughtered here just blink.

We drove around for awhile. It was clear that there was one restaurant we were supposed to go to but it was too busy. Finally, we made it somewhere. The name of the restaurant loosely translated in English would be "Too Familiar." It was a really nice restaurant. The driver was put in charge of the menus and ordering. They told me that this establishment is known for its "spicy fish." The driver got into some kind of heated debate with our waitress. She left for a moment and came back with a plastic bag that was hopping. That was when I realized the fish we were about to eat were in that bag. I nearly vomited. I maintained calm under pressure. I don't think anyone else at the table detected what I was feeling on the inside.

When the waves of food finally did arrive, it was REALLY good. I was amazed! As the guest of honor, I had to go first. I typically don't eat fish but this fish didn't taste fishy, if you will. The spices in that thing killed off any fish taste! I was extremely embarrassed at how poorly I handled the chopsticks. I wish now I would have taken time to learn back in America. The driver was especially upset at my poor performance and kept trying to show me. Something else occurred to me about why he might have been upset: I was using my left hand. Lilly, the woman from my flight had told me that the Chinese still force their obviously left-handed children to go right. Since I'm a chopstick novice, I think I'm going to try to learn with my right. It can't hurt.
Michael, my boss, is Chinese and was born in Beijing. He's lived abroad for several years but moved back to the Beijing about 10 years ago. He asked me if I wanted to drink beer with dinner. I said no that I was still trying to replenish my fluids from the long flight and would only have the green tea. He warned me that in China beer is used as a form of communication, especially in business transactions. In other words, order the beer next time.

After the spicy fish dish came the Peking duck. YUM! I loved it. It came with these thin tortillas and some various sauces and vegetables. Peking duck could be huge in America. Then arrived the bones of the duck that had now been fried. I didn't really care for this. It didn't taste good and was just wasted carbs/calories.

At the conclusion of the meal everyone lit up their cigarettes. They kept pressing me to have one. It's obvious that this is how one "ends the night." I held my ground and refused. I hope it, along with the refusal of beer, weren't considered too provocative!

I asked if fortune cookies were solely an invention of American Chinese establishments. Michael stared at me blankly. He wanted to me to explain the concept over and over. He thought it must have been a "south China thing." He asked the others in Chinese about it. They said sometimes it happens during the various festivals, but it's not a staple at REAL Chinese restaurants. Oh well, I wouldn't have been able to read my fortune anyway. And you know what I say: the best way to predict the future is to create it.

Destination: China

Just leaving California was an adventure in and of itself. There was a "breaking news" alert on television that one of the airline terminals had been evacuated due to a suspicious package. Although it wasn't the international terminal, the traffic was really backed up. It took a good 20 minutes just to get to the terminal.

I've never used a "Smart Carte" before and I'm a huge fan now. There's no way I could have maneuvered my bulky bags without one. Not bad for a $3 rental fee. The international terminal at LAX was really big and felt like this melding of the world. So many nationalities just running around, bound for different destinations. There was no rhythm or system to the madness. Everyone knows how much I appreciate "order." More importantly, why does it have to be like this? There must be better way.

I got in line at the TSA screening point. I had no clue if this was where I needed to be. A young American woman was standing in line behind me. I asked her if this is where I was supposed to be. She said that it was. She should TSA would keep our bags while we went and checked in at our airlines. I waited the 25 minutes in line when the TSA screener looks for my luggage tags and asks, "What airline?"

"China Eastern."

"Have you checked in yet?"

"No."

Rolling her eyes, "You have to check in and then get your bags screened."

Sigh….Nothing's ever easy, is it?

So I made my way over to the China Eastern desk. Gosh, the line looks long, I thought. I should have gotten here way earlier. A man asked me if I was there for China Eastern. When I replied in the affirmative, he said, "The line starts back there." It was a line to get into the line.

Sigh.

A woman from the airline came around handing out the duty-free passes for the shop in the terminal. I asked her if there was a currency exchange station in the airport to convert my dollars into Chinese currency. She looked at me oddly and replied, "I no understand." A Chinese woman in the back of the line marched up and decided to get involved. She said that yes, there was a currency terminal in the airport but that it would be "better" to convert the money when I arrived in China. The flight attendant then she said she didn't understand why. They got into a very heated argument while I slunk away. As it turned out, I did convert my money when I got through screening. While on en route I was reading the Frommer's Guide Book and it said China is one of the few countries in the world where you should always convert your money in the United States and not in China, so I was glad I did so.

I was bummed out that I didn't get to the airport earlier because one of my favorite restaurants, The Daily Grille, has a location in the international terminal. Steak and cobbler would have been a really fitting farewell.

While in line at TSA, I met Danny Palm. He's from Flagstaff, Arizona and works for Northern Arizona University. He's lived in Beijing for a year and a half and does governmental relations for the university in China. The job has allowed him to see quite a bit of the country. He speaks enough Mandarin to get around and he was so nice to get to know. He's 25 and has one of those charismatic, easy-to-be-around personalities. He answered all my questions and promised to do anything he could to help. I really owe him because on the Shanghai to Beijing route he managed to score us some empty rows so we could sleep. The two hours of sleep I got on that flight were the only I got.

While Danny and I were in line at TSA, the screeners told everyone to "freeze." We're sure that we heard the word "bomb." We stayed silent for 10 minutes when apparently it got worked out. They were probably being hypersensitive because of the earlier excitement in the day.
The flight from LA to Shanghai was literally exhausting. The seats were so uncomfortable and barely reclined. I hate being tall at times like this. The only consolation was my seatmate, Lily Cheng. When she first got on board, I seriously thought she may have been a model. She was very attractive, fit, dressed in Prada, soaked in perfume, and had a cosmopolitan air about her. I found her "story" to be really representative of the "New China." She moved to the United States nine years ago without knowing a lick of English. Today, she owns a major port shipping firm that moves product from China to the Port of Los Angeles. Her clients include Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Sears among others.

Lilly was born in Hangzhou (where legend has it that the most beautiful women in China are from, according to Danny), but now divides her time between Los Angeles and Shanghai. She does this horrendous flight about 20 times a year. She said she's usually able to sleep on the flight and wake up in the appropriate time zone. She really couldn't sleep on this flight because we were so packed.

I taught her a few English words and their pronunciations (entrepreneur, technology, terrorism, resentment). Oddly, she didn't know the meaning of the word "angry." How can you live in Los Angeles and NOT know what angry means? I told her it means "very mad." She recounted a story about when she first moved to LA and had never driven a car before. She said all the other drivers were passing by giving her the finger. She didn't know what it meant so, being polite, flipped them back off! She was quite despondent when she learned what it really meant!
I thought that Lilly was in her late-20's. I was surprised when she said her primary school didn't teach English because I thought that was the norm these days in China. Turns out she's 46! I was stunned. She has a 20-year-old son going to college in Santa Monica. She was very flattered by my mistake. She said even Asian women can't guess how old she is. Must be nice!
Lilly answered many of my questions about China. I practiced some of the Chinese phrases that I've been learning. She said I was making some of them come out of my "nose" and not my throat. At the end of the lesson she said I was speaking quite well. Danny warned me that all Chinese will say you speak well.

Lilly had to get off the flight in Shanghai. Before she did, she gave me her business card with her cell phone numbers and the number of her nephew who lives in Beijing. She urged me to contact her if I need "anything." She made sure I got in the right line at customs before she left me. It was a really nice introduction to China.

In Shanghai, I caught up with Danny again. He was eating some food at one of the airport places. He was perturbed because it cost $5 US and he said he could eat the same thing in Beijing for $1. Remarkable. While we were in the café I noticed that ALL of the other patrons were smoking. It was so bizarre to see people being allowed to smoke inside again and so many of them. It's sad really.

As I mentioned earlier, I slept on the flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Seemingly seconds after lying down, I heard the softest Chinese voice say, "Excuse me sir, pillow and blanket." She lifted my head and threw a pillow under my head and covered me. Now that's service!

It had been snowing earlier in the day in Beijing. When we landed it had stopped. We had to get off the plane and go on one of those shuttles where everyone stands (like Dulles). I almost got on the wrong shuttle with some of the Chinese flight crew. I wonder what would have happened?

Customs was a breeze. This moronic woman from California kept bowing to all the Chinese officials and using the few Chinese phrases she knew. I could tell they were not impressed. It actually seemed condescending to me. Explaining away her behavior to another passenger she said, "I'm Buddhist." Congrats.

Danny had said that if no one was at the airport to meet me that we would take a cab together to his section of Beijing and locate a hotel for me. I really appreciated the offer since I was so tired and really had no decision-making capacity left. No need to worry though. As we left customs, an older Chinese man was silently standing there with a sign that read "Loveland, Glen." Anyone who's been in that situation knows how wonderful it is to see those signs!

There were tons of local Chinese outside the airport trying to offer unscrupulous rides to unsuspecting passengers. Danny just laughed as they converged upon him. Danny had warned me in LA that the Chinese would attempt to bilk me every single day in China. He said it's the only thing he hates about China. But when you fit the typical American description they believe you are wealthy (and we are compared to them) and want to separate you from your money.
The man who drove me spoke no English but he had a very warm and gracious spirit. I tried loading my huge suitcases into the trunk but he got angry. It was very clear that this was his job to do and he took a lot of pride in it. I found out the next day that he complained about how heavy my bags were. Sorry! It's obvious that he hadn't been driving too long. The ride was kind of scary and I was just glad that it was 1 am so there wasn't more traffic out.

My initial impressions of Beijing were related to the enormity of the place. Shanghai is photographed more often because they have that great coastal skyline. Beijing has a lot of skyscrapers as well, there just spread out more. Everything I'd heard about pollution in Beijing turned out to be true. There was a fog throughout the city and the city smelled acrid. It smelled like a major fire had just stopped burning. So sad.

We finally got to my apartment in Beijing. It took about 30 minutes from the airport. The driver was so kind. He beamed when I told him, "Shee-shaw-knee" which translates to "thank you." He replied in their language with the phrase for "Don't mention it."

I went to bed that night and slept like a rock.