Ni Hao from Beijing! Hello! What time is it?! I think San Diego time it is almost noon. Here in China it is 3:45 am. I keep waking up, thinking, Good grief, when is that sun coming up?! Well, the sun followed us here…we left at 8:30 in the morning, and 16 hrs. later it was still a bright sunshiny day…middle of the afternoon here when we arrived. Nowhere near as cold as I had feared. It looked like San Diego, only chillier.
It was kind of funny on the plane (well, now I can say that)…I was quietly stressing about flying, and getting airsick, and numerous other things including getting teary eyed about leaving the boys for 2 weeks, and Kevin, trying to be funny, groans “Oooohhhh, pooor mmeeeee! (Not mocking me, but talking about himself!...Well, not exactly mocking me.) I started laughing and said, “No kidding…look who you’ve got for a travel buddy!…someone who is nervous about flying, is afraid of heights, gets motion sickness, and is already missing her boys terribly and the plane hasn’t left the ground yet!” We both sat there laughing as I looked out window and saw the San Diego airport ground!
The plane ride turned out to be easier than I thought, and time passed somewhat quickly, except that you cannot lean those silly seats back more than 2 inches, so you try to get comfy (and I use the term loosely) while sitting up. Lucky for me I had big, warm Kevin to lean on,…Kevin had a “pillow” and the wall. Unfortunately, turbulence on the last half hour of the trip finished me off, and left me reaching for those lovely little paper bags in the pocket in front,
(O.K. Kevin said this is getting too long…hint, hint, wind it up)
We were picked up at the airport by a very charming young college student, in suit and tie, (at least 6’ tall, basketball player) who got us through customs quickly and had a car waiting for us. The hotel driver takes us on a half hour drive to the hotel…very, very nice. Note to self…ever in Beijing again, stay at Grand Hyatt Beijing. Three guys were waiting in front of the hotel to open the doors, welcome us to Beijing and wisk away our luggage. Sweeeet. So far, someone in a suit and tie has led us from one place to the next. This place is HUGE and beautiful. (And the room does have a western toilet!) If all goes well, we will go see the Great Wall of China today…you know, when the sun comes up!
P.S. I wish you could have seen the ocean off the coast of Siberia…it was frozen. All of it! Not a lake or a pond, but the whole ocean! As far as you could see. It looked like Ice Age 2 with the end of the ice age. Absolutely amazing.
(Photos below are the view from our hotel window, and Kevin and I being silly just outside our room near the elevators)
1 comment:
Ohmigoodness! I am so excited for you guys! I cant believe you guys are actually over there! Guess what? We stayed at that exact hotel when we went! Very cool. You guys look adorable in that pic. Good job Heather for not pukin on the plane..nothin is worse then having to sit 16 hours overseas smelling like throw up..daddy, you gots to stop making those corny jokes..haha. Well have a ball guys. Make sure when u got to the wall, you go as far up as possible. the view is absoloutley stunning. wear REALLY comfy shoes. its a good 3 miles straight up..and i mean, straight up. When you guys get dinner, dont order eggs. never. ever. i made that mistake, and they brought me literally, 100 yera old eggs that they bury then dig up, and serve on a plate. they say its a delicacy. i say its nasty. Lol. love you guys.
Mandi
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