CHINA TRIP 2006

Woke up very refreshed and ready to go to Beijing. Went down to a very large complimentary breakfast and had noodles for the 1st time. Went back upstairs to pack and then cam down and paid my laundry bill. A big whopping $4.00 or 30 kuai. AWESOME!!! We hopped a taxi to get to the bus to take us to the airport. Beautiful country but very stark and barren like southern Israel. Mountainous but desert. They farm the land and irrigate to grow vegetation for erosion purposes. Funny to see patches of green everywhere. Saw caves...lots of caves. Some were occupied too. Got to the airport and got our boarding pass rather easily. The gate wasn't very far away and there were souveniers so I bought 2 scarves. One for Mrs. McMullen and one for Ruth. Very pretty. My souvenier bag is filling up! Hopped on the plane and read my book for awhile. They served us lunch too and it was only a 2 hour flight! American Airlines should take notice.... I also snoozed a teeny bit. We landed in Beijing and hopped a taxi. It was very pleasant. Got to the hotel and got our luggage and the other Tianjin group was already there!! Yay!! We got our rooms and unpakced our stuff. Jennie Dunton (New York trips!!!) and Angie are my roommates. Fun!! We set out at 7pm to eat and look around Beijing's 5th Avenue. We stopped at a kabob street and there was food you can't even imagine. Octopus, snake, starfish, crab, chicken, lamb, fruit, dumplings, squid...whoa!!! I accidently ordered bug kabobs and ate one bug. Yuck!!! I threw the rest away. Oh don't forget the scorpions! (I didn't eat any, just looked.) Walked back down "Fifth Ave." again and the group took the subway back to the hotel to sleep! Feet tired!!

AND I miss Jason. I'm a little jealous that Angie and Chris are on the same trip. No fair. However, I'm not sure Jason could handle the hellish train ride. I barely did. I can't wait to see him. I will dream about him tonight. Zaijian!