Reentry is Rough

Hey friends!
I have at least five more blog entries about China. They will each come out in their own time, but right now, we are a family of four in four different schools tyring to figure things out. Thank you for being patient, but most of all, thank you for all the prayers and well wishes as we traveled. It was just surreal. I'm still dreaming about it, so I know my brain is no where near processing the whole experience.

I have to read about 30 pages on the definition of information and then write a paper. If I have any steam left after that, I'll try to get one of the posts up.

Peace!
Stacy

Olympic Day

(The computer isn't cooperating....I'll beef this post up later. Much more to share :)

We took a day to devote to the Olympics. It was stunningly clear and sunny. We went to the Cuba v USA Baseball game. We were in a sea of passionate Cubans. Interesting experience, but sadly, we lost by 1 in overtime. We then took the subway up to the National Stadium (Bird's Nest) in hopes of getting some tickets and getting up close to the action. Didn't happen, but we got some nice snaps from fairly close. We're off to the Silk Market, and then we pack it up and head home. It's been a wonderful experience! I have more posts I'm saving up on signage/translation, local stuff and more food, so stay tuned!

The GREAT Wall

We are wiped out, but here's a few pictures of our adventure today to hold you over until I can write it up properly. We took a guided bus tour to the Ming Tombs and Great Wall. Our tour guide, "Lisa", was AWESOME! We shared the bus with a couple from Cypress and a family from South Africa. Besides some serious rain at the end, it was a wonderful day.


Just so you know, this is the pose of choice over here. Peace signs galore.


Very ominous clouds in the background. It was pouring before we got there, eased up for about 20 minutes, then the bottom fell out again. We were lucky to get every single snap you see! I had to put Big Bertha up and use the Kodak for most of it. (note the sassy pink rain poncho we bought at The Wall for $1.)

Chinese graffiti.

The pictures above are what you expected, right? Those are classic Great Wall photos. Take a gander at these behind the scenes photographs below....

What? You don't have any postcards of this tunnel in your Great Wall collection? Oh. My. Goodness. This is the "Pulley" that takes you to the base of the wall. You pay money to get on this contraption. No one straps you in. You're clicking your way to the top on a wing and a prayer.

This is Ray-that-doesn't-ride-carnival-rides behind me. We found the whole experience very adventurous!

Coming down was even more exciting. There's a little guy on the front controlling the brake, and gravity is doing the rest. There's a video Ray took, we'll post it later.

Right now it's time to recover from the GREAT WALL! G'night!

Eagles Lose a Close One

Well, we showed up to the game early via the excellently-planned family bus arranged by the logistics guru Steve Cobb. Not a lot of early arrivers as you can see in this picture, but Stacy and I were ready to go. Of course, it probably took awhile for the rest of the fans to get there since they were doing just short of cavity searches at the main entrance to the complex.

To be honest, I don't know what this guy's (or girl's) name is, but he's (she's) apparently the official Olympic mascot associated with baseball. Unlike most mascots who just move like there's a human inside of them, this fellow had a very robotic bounce to him -- pretty cool.

Here's a photo later in the game, where the lighting really revealed the thick haze of smog that sat over the city all day today. See that smaller light pole down the left field line? Hessman's homer was at that height when it left the yard. See that right field wall? Schierholtz's homer was that height off the bat all the way out, an absolute laser. I went from "get down" (as in fall in front of the fielder), to "get over him" (as in get over the fielder's head), to "get out of here" hoping it got out, which it did.

This is me losing my voice cheering the eagles on!! It was a heck of a game, it's just too bad we came out on the wrong end. We'll get after the squad from the Netherlands in the morning I'm sure!!

Stacy and I are off to the Great Wall tomorrow. 7am, the bus rolls, and we don't get back until 6pm. Heavy-duty tourist day tomorrow. Wish us luck, and of course, we'll report all the news fit to print.

Tian'an Men Square and Adventures in Eating

It's pretty impossible to capture the vastness of Tian'an Men square. I'm not even going to try here, so I'll just squish some pictures together to give you an idea of what we saw :)

We were completely famished after touring the Forbidden City and then walking ALL THE WAY AROUND it to get back to the front. It's big, y'all. Ray was tickled pink to find a vendor with Ritz crackers and water. Now this may look very exotic, and it kind of is. It's fried squid we found at the local Pizza Hut. It was very good. The menu looked nothing like what you see at the American Pizza Huts. I wish I had taken a picture...note to self....

After cleaning up at the hotel, we headed out for dinner taking a taxi back down to the Tian'an Men Square area. We were trying to go to the famous Peking Duck place where George Bush ate. It's located near the square in an area that's being developed. It reminded us of Southpoint Mall. Very, very nice, but not finished. There were TONS of empty store fronts that had nothing in them. That doesn't stop the thousands of people from congregating there, though.

The line at the restaurant was waaaaay out the door. We lined up behind some Netherlanders and decided to wait (there were no Pizza Huts in sight). We were very lucky, though. A well-spoken Chinese woman named "Melinda" approached us and asked us if we'd like to eat at her restaurant. It was only 1 minute away, very good duck, very cheap, and used the "same cooker." We hesitated, but Ray decided to be brave. We followed "Melinda" a few blocks over and down a dark alley to her place. It was packed. With locals. No Americans, no non-locals.

We enjoyed a nice cool Sprite before dinner. There must be some sort of fear of drinking cold beverages. Something to research....

That's interesting. Plates and cups are shrink wrapped. I wonder if they do that in the back, or if it's a service that's outsourced. Also, note the chopsticks. No forks in here, folks! AND a family was having a really good time at the table next to us. We were not using the chopsticks with ease, and it must have been pretty funny to watch. Hey, we provided entertainment for the locals. Nice.

Here's a picture of the duck. It truly was delicious. I think it's kind of mean to serve chopped up duck on a duck plate with the duck looking at it.

That being said, here's the outside and the inside of the place. Anthony Bourdain would totally have eaten here. Rachel Ray....notsomuch.

Below you can see the scene on the street after we left. It was unbelievably crowded. Everyone is taking pictures. I really fit in over here!

We eventually strolled back over to the square. It was even more crowded after the sun went down.

I'll leave you with a quick shot of one of the temples at night before we got back in a taxi and headed "home."

The Forbidden City

We started the day with a hearty hotel breakfast, called our babies, did a little USA Baseball work, then headed out. Our plan was to experience the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square.

With the help of our super-duper hotel staff, we got a taxi and a card with our hotel information written in Chinese (so another taxi can get us back home) and headed east to the Forbidden City. The taxi drivers are very interesting. There's obviously no conversation, so they just listen to their Chinese talk radio, talk on their cell phones and drive really fast. So far, I have yet to get in one that the seat belts work in the back seat. Sorry, Mom! This particular ride was interesting because as he drove he put on fake dress shirt sleeves that went to his mid upper arm to his wrist. It was really strange looking because he didn't even bother to to tuck the tops in. They were on the outside of his short sleeve shirt. Very odd. A picture would have been nice here, but a video is better. Really watch for those sleeves....

Here we are in front of the Forbidden City. These guys are everywhere. I'll have to research to find out what they are all about. If you know more about them, feel free to leave a comment. They are all business. No smiles, lots of marching.


This is a shot from inside the palace. The architecture is amazing.













These are little "gargoyle" figures on the wings of the roofs (none of this is technical language, so don't quote me in any research papers :) However, the Wikipedia says this: "The sloping ridges of building roofs are decorated with a line of statuettes lead by a man riding a phoenix and followed by an imperial dragon. The number of statuettes represents the status of the building — a minor building might have 3 or 5. The Hall of Supreme Harmony has 10, the only building in the country to be permitted this in Imperial times." Perhaps a little more informative than my description :)









Architecture is great, but people are the most interesting. I'm especially loving the little kids. Being China, you usually only see one to a set of parents. This little guy in the Superman outfit (yes that's a red cape) and his hair shaved in the shape of a star was extra cute. Culturally, I'm intrigued by the complete lack of diapers. I'm not talking disposable diapers, there's no diapers on these kids. The outfits have a big slit in the bottom and little rear ends are just being flashed everywhere. I don't know how this works. Am I too focused on bathroom issues? I apologize if I'm offending...just keepin' it real in China, you know?






Here are some more pictures from the Forbidden City. I will make Tienanmen Square another post. So much to share!!!

Pretty "little" gazebo type thing in one of the gardens.

Inside ceiling of pretty gazebo thing.

Proof that I'm here. The card around my neck was the electronic tour guide that worked sometimes. We had walked a looooooooooong way at this point. I'm drenched in sweat,have my capris pulled up and am beyond fashion. Enjoy!

Ray taking pictures of the marchers.

These urn things were used to burn stuff in to make an eerie mist. Mood lighting for the emperor, if you will.

These caldruns are all over the palace. They were filled with water and used to put out fires. Here's the story on them:

We're off to do a little shopping. Miranda, I bought you something sparkly and purple. I'm not telling you anything else! Nope, don't ask, lady! USA vs Korea tonight! Lots of pictures will be taken!

Teasers for Tomorrow

I'm too tired to post the full story (I wrote it on paper earlier, so I wouldn't forget), but here are a few snaps to look forward to:




We watch Korea vs USA Baseball tomorrow at 6:00pm (6:00 am EST). I don't know if it's televised or not. President Bush met with our team yesterday. You might be able to see pics on in the album part of www.usabaseball.com .

Heading to bed...I'm exhausted!

Love,

Stacy

Room With a View(s)

Beijing is everything you see on TV! The staff here at the hotel is AMAZING. They are so helpful and smart. If they don't understand what you are asking they run to another person and ask them and may even come back to you with a cell phone and an English speaker on the other end that can help. This comes in very handy when you are basically illiterate and can't understand what anyone is saying. I have such a deeper appreciation for those little guys that come to our schools from other countries. You really have to brave to get what you need and where you need to go!




Here are a few pictures from our 24th floor room window. You can see that the pollution really starts to settle in the afternoon. We are facing west and considered out in the "suburbs".

View from our window first thing this morning.

These two shots are from about 4:30 this afternoon.

Speaking of views, here's the inside of our room. It really is a nice room. The bed is as hard as a rock, but from what I understand, that's what you get in Asia. Seriously, if you were to fall into bed, you would hurt yourself. There's NO give to that thing. Oh yeah, look to the right of that picture. What's that? A window? Odd, but yes. It's a window to our shower.

Has anyone else ever seen this? Maybe I'm naive, but I've never had a window between my bed and tub. Maybe I've been sheltered all these years.

Never fear, Mother! There is a handy dandy shade you can pull down to maintain modesty! I tell you....they think of everything!

We went to the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square and had a VERY interesting dinner. But that's another post for another day (first thing tomorrow, I promise!)

Happy Tuesday to everyone back home. I hope yours was as fun as ours was.