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.