Things you should know when you travel Beijing

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Before I recap my latest adventures, let's focus a little on the accommodations. The bed is extremely comfortable, every room has its own wall A/C unit and Lauren has graciously allowed her menopausal mom's room to stay in the 72ish range, NICE. She doesn't make me sleep with the cat, another plus and she even made me instant coffee in the morning and brought it to me before she left for work. All of this is why I hesitate to mention the next couple of things. Being a good and considerate guest, I thought it most polite to not mention the cabbagish smell in the bathroom when I first arrived. Chinese food has a high content of vegetables and I thought it best just to ignore. HOWEVER, as I travel the city a bit, I realize that no one in the apartment was responsible for the smell, that is how all the bathrooms smell. I think it is the general smell of sewage as well as a hint of the smell in the tap/toilet/shower water. Which brings me to my second point, brushing my teeth. Lauren was quite clear that if I drank bottled water, I had nothing to worry about but she didn't mention or tutor me on how to brush my teeth without allowing any of it to sneak past the tongue. Try it at home and be one with me! I brush my teeth with as little water as possible then try to rinse and brush my tongue quickly as if the speed of it will not allow any water to pass through. Quite the challenge!

Something else I have noticed about the city as it relates to the safety of workers, or the lack there of. First at the airport, I noticed all of the workers on the tarmac had no ear plugs or headsets to protect their ears, interesting. As I walked to Lauren's office there is so much construction going on with the Olympics coming, a lot of new buildings as well as just improvements. I noticed construction workers moving boulders and shoveling near overpasses with no hard hats, and welders welding on make shift scaffolding with no welding mask and over a side walk where people are walking. No one seems bothered by it they just walk around him. Either Americans are wienies or the Chinese have a death wish or neither, maybe its just a reflection on the value of life............whoa, way too deep, let's keep it light.


Another eventful day, again I walked to Lauren's office and had lunch with her and met her co-workers as well. Their food court is quite interesting, as you might imagine as compared to ours. Noodles seem to the the "sandwich" of China, very popular at lunchtime. Picture this: a food court that has, noodle place, Chinese food place, Korean place, Chinese place, Thai place, Chinese place, I think you get my point. HEAVEN for us Chinese food lovers!!

My lovely daughter "put" me in a taxi this time and sent me to a Buddhist Temple, her plans were to meet me in that area via subway when she got off work.
It was fascinating, let's just say the Catholics got nothing over the Buddhist when it comes to statues, incense and rituals, wow! It was a beautiful place and I really enjoyed walking through with my "english" audio type I rented. (The guy talking was Chinese, how good do YOU think his English was?) Let's see, its about 3:00 now and Lauren won't be here until about 6, hum. Well, low and behold, I run into the couple I met yesterday and we laughed and talked and they told me about a Confucius temple a block away that they enjoyed, ok now it 3:13. Luckily I brought the National Geographic about China with me that Lauren had in her apartment. Normally, I wouldn't go into this much detail however I am leading up to this: as I was walking towards the exit of the Buddhist Temple area I thought it prudent to use the bathroom before I hit the streets and there was one right there at the entrance. When Lauren first visited China a year ago, she had described the public toilets as "open holes in the ground". Well, she was being a little dramatic. They are actually toilet seats but at ground level and you do actually flush but no toilet paper. Is porcelin really that expensive, they couldn't just add another 24 inches and make a real toilet? Come ON. This is when you are suppose to use the famous squat. I think I was at girl scout camp the last time I had to squat to pee in the woods. Let's just say, there was some "drips" but no worries, all dried up by the time I reach Confuscius!

For the rest of the trip I will have the "slave driver" next to my side so I don't know how much writing time she will allow me. Don't be insulted, I will do my best. It's as much for me as it is for you. The more I tell you now the less I have to tell you later.

But before I sign off, I want to share some thoughts about my hostess. I know you might think I am partial or predjudice when talking about her but please know in this instance it's pure honesty, no sentiment.

Lauren is amazing how she has embraced the culture and language of China. I have watched her argue with a taxi driver, a waiter and make a phone call to schedule a car for us to go to the Great Wall and she even made small talk with the driver when she heard his baby in the background. This month marked the 1 year mark of her stay here and for 2 of those months she was home for the holidays. I am in awe of how much she has learned about the city and the culture and the language, she is truly amazing and I know for a fact she got none of that from me. It is her through and through. She is so comfortable here, and I am so proud (and she bought my ticket, that didn't hurt my opinion either).
Love to all,
Karen

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