Beijing

On Saturday we had our Holt orientation during the morning.  Most of it we already knew but it gave us a chance to meet the folks in our travel group.  We had an awesome Dim Sum lunch together.  We also received the “red book” – a beautiful album of all the most updated information on Hannah as well as 4 new pictures.  I’m going to take a picture of the pictures and post it, but I’m not sure how well they might turn out.  Anyway, she is a big ham.  Smiling a big cheesy grin.  It reminds me of how Gabriel used to crinkle his nose when he would smile or laugh.  I think she’ll fit right in.  Carrie, she is again on the plasma car in one of them.  Thanks for loaning us yours.  She is also wearing a little smocked dress, so my smocking of her new dress was foreordained.  Isn’t that amazing?  I don’t know if that is the dress we’ll get her in, but I hope so.

 

In the afternoon, we were supposed to tour the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square but they were closed due to a rehearsal for a big celebration of China’s 60^th anniversary.  So we went to the Temple of Heaven instead.  It was beautiful, but what we enjoyed the most was the chance to mingle with the locals at the lovely park surrounding the temple.  We were given time to just wander and visit.  Eric played hackysack with a lady and then bought her hackysack for 5 yuan – less than a dollar.  We listened to some musicians, watched Tai Chi, saw a budding pop star singing to grandmas, wondered about a man in Chinese drag dancing with the bellydancers, stood under trees that were more than 300 years old, and yes, used a squatty potty!  I loved the whole afternoon.  The weather was gorgeous in the upper 70s with a breeze.  People were flying kites everywhere.  After our official tour ended, Eric and I headed out on foot around our hotel.  We walked down to the Forbidden City and took pictures by the palace moat.  We met David who was an art professor who made us some calligraphy and yes, sold us one of his student’s paintings.  We knew were going to have to buy something, but it was only $20 for all 3 items, including a silk mounted painting and 2 personalized poems with our names and the date on them.  We had been warned about the art students, but we had a great time watching him and think $20 isn’t bad for what we got.  I love talking to the locals.  We met a couple of students and an older man that asked us to be in pictures with them.  I knew that blondes had their pictures taken, but neither of us are blonde anymore.  I guess we look very American.

 

Nan, we wandered down Wangfujing Street which I think is the shopping street you told us about.  People everywhere.  We had to find either a Chinese hair dryer or a voltage adapter.  We thought we brought the right thing, but we actually brought 2 socket adapters but not a voltage adapter.  Thus, when I turned on my hair dryer I knew something was wrong.  Never has such a force come from that little thing.  We found a voltage adapter and paid way more than we wanted.  We brought it back to the hotel, plugged the hair dryer into it and it started to smoke and catch fire.  I screamed, yanked the cord from the wall and ran out into the hall holding a smoking, smoldering cord with our trashed voltage adapter!!!  We didn’t know what to do.  I wandered around swinging it until it stopped smoking and then returned to the room and placed it on the glass table.  Well, now I have no voltage adapter and no hair dryer!!  Just what you’d expect from one with an electrical engineering degreeJ  Daddy, we need you.  Fortunately, they had one of those in the wall units in the bathroom.  Oh well, it worked OK, not great, but we’ll shop for a Chinese hair dryer once we get to Guangzhou.

 

We leave for Guangzhou in a few hours.  We meet Hannah tomorrow (Monday) at 2:30 p.m. local time in the Civil Affairs Office.  We’re excited.  I hope to post the pictures of our trip so far in the next couple of posts.

 

Lauren, Andrew and Gabriel, we love you so much.  We miss you.  We think about you all the time.  Talk to you soon.