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Dec. 18th, 2008 was a Thursday.   I woke up early but Jennifer was starting to get a bad cold. She slept almost all morning.  I went to breakfast.  The breakfast room was next to the pool area and workout room.   They had a pretty good breakfast bar with 4 or 5 stir-fry dishes,  eggs cooked anyway you choose, cereal,  fresh fruit and salad bar, porridge w/ pickled vegies, assorted bread and rolls to toast and pastries.  There was also cold juice , milk, coffee and tea.  They eat a lot at breakfast.  Danny and Meredith came about 1:30 and we walked to the subway.  It was the first time I had been on a subway, so I was confused and had no idea which direction I was going.  There is no decorum; you just keep moving and stay close to the people you are with, because the locals just cut in line, and its a cultural thing.  Our destination was the Lama Temple.  We stopped at a street vendor for an egg crepe type folded burrito thing that tasted really good.  The temple had many different kinds of Buddhas, and the architecture was ornate and beautiful.  It was very smokey too because of the inscense.  I was most impressed with the size of the sandalwood tree Buddha, 18m tall and carved from a single piece of sandalwood.  The sandalwood smelled nice.

We went to the Silk Market next.  It was overwhelming.  Danny and Meredith were in the process of warning Jen and I about the onslaught of high pressure vendors from the time we walked in.  I thought I knew what I wanted to look for before I entered, but I was not focused enough.  They don’t take no for an answer or even, “No, thank you.”  They don’t even accept “No, I don’t want that”.  “How much is it?” is what they want to hear, and then the haggling begins. If you hesitate to look at any one thing, they have you.  They will follow you if you show weakness.  I bought a traditional Chinese jacket (beautiful green silk and sequin) shortly after we got there.  Meredith helped me haggle. Danny is a very good haggler.  Danny has a way of antagonizing the vendors before its all over because he can argue for ever, whereas, Jennifer gets her price and everyone is laughing. I just would get tired of the game and give in.  That drove the kids wild.

We then went to a restaurant  and had lots of spicy, hot food.  Dan took us to Olympic Park next.  It was so cold our hands and feet were frozen by the time we walked from the subway to the “Bird’s Nest”.  It is an amazing structure and a lot bigger than it appears in pictures.

Jen and I departed Knoxville on the morning of  Dec. 16.  The flight to Chicago was uneventful but when we got to Chicago it was like, “hurry to the connecting Gate so we don’t miss our flight”.  “Do we need to check in?” Yes then lets get a bite to eat and relax.” Then while we are several gates away from the right one we hear last call for our flt. and they were closing the door. My heart started pumping very fast and they told us it was good that we checked in early.We were flying over the Arctic Circle and Siberia in a ‘777′.  It was a pretty tight squeeze with our carry on bags stuffed under the seats in front and no leg room.  All I saw was bright ice and snow .  I ordered a $6 bloody mary and after one meal I took an Ambien.  The 14 hr flight didn’t seem so long after that.  I think I watched the new Mummy movie or parts of it and ate another meal while Jennifer walked around talking to the flight attendants and read Twilight.

We arrived Dec. 17 at about 4:30pm.  All of are luggage was there and Butch arranged for a taxi to meet us with a sign (with my name) and take us to the Somerset Hotel, Zhongguancun, Beijing.  It was a good thing because he didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Chinese.  Danny told me that in China you don’t tip taxi drivers or anyone else for that matter.  Butch told me to give the taxi driver a $5 tip at the hotel.   He was very surprised to receive a U.S. bill,  the exchange rate was 6.75 to 1 U.S.  He followed us in and arranged to pick us up at the end of our trip.  Danny and Meredith met us in the lobby with flowers in their hands. It was such a nice surprise.  I just grabbed Danny and gave him a big hug and kiss.  It was great seeing Meredith too.  She was so sweet.  Danny reminded me that it is a cultural thing not to tip so don’t do it again.   Our room was really nice with a kitchenette and all. The bathroom was western with a nice shower and washer/dryer.

We decided to check out the resterants near the hotel.  Danny picked a little place around the corner.  I was impressed with how Danny could order in Chinese and converse with the server.  Danny ordered for us. We had hot potato shreds, eggplant w/hot sauce, chickenw/veg. and hot sauce, beef w/ hot sauce ,  and hot tea or cha.  It was wonderful and exciting sitting halfway around the world in a completely  foriegn  place with my grown children.  I felt they were taking care of me instead of the other way around.   Dan and Meredith suggested walking to a mall nearby because it was so cold and getting late.  Who do we run into?  Danny’s roomates who he hasn’t seen in days. What are the odds?  I think he introduced Meredith for the first time to them and she had been there for a week.  The mall was the first place I saw the chinese toilet, a ceramic hole in the ground.  I waited until we got back to the hotel to go.  I gave Danny his Christmas coffee cake and they went back to his apartment via subway, about 1 hr away.  It was a very long day but exciting!   I am so proud of my children!