Blogs from Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States, North America

Well, of course, everything was very well organized for our departure from the hotel (6 a.m.) and delivery to the airport. The line to check our luggage was a good half-hour (but nothing compared to the Passport line at Dulles). Passport check was quick and easy as was Security until they caught Susan's arsenal on the x-ray. This bag of knitting equipment has been on any number of domestic and international flight (it had to get to Panama somehow) but these agents were extra careful. I think the woman was trying to tell me that I could go and talk to someone at the customer service desk (and maybe they would have found a way to get the items home) but I didn't want to risk another 30+ minute wait. So, they kept it all. Nothing ... read more

Got up with plenty of time. Went to The Buttery for a nice leisurely breakfast. Since it was a Thursday (not Saturday and end of exams, like last week), there were a number of conference-attendees there, very different crowd. Bus to airport, no problem (sounding like pros with the Dublin transport?--NO!). Picked up luggage. Then the fun began. The 'automated' check in stations were interesting, as they had been on our way to IOM. The first one we chose had a broken printer, I was told part way through. Moved to another. Somehow, we got our passports scanned, boarding passes printed, and luggage weighed and tags printed and (thanks, Mike) attached correctly. Then, you put them on the conveyor belt that weighs them again (so, no sneaking more skeins of yarn in at the last minute) ... read more

Finally got the go-ahead from the floor people to begin--it's driied out enough. Mike got it all cleaned up, all the furniture moved out of the living room. They showed up bright and early and got to it. Should finish tomorrow.... read more

can be found here: http://community.brcc.edu/international/wp-content/uploads/china-itinerary.pdf beginning to pack this weekend--had to get the girls to bring a bag up from SC--they were mostly still there from the move last fall! got my lists, been listening to Mandarin so I'll at least have some familiarity with the sounds and be able to say please and thank you! got some yuan, notified the cards where I'll be when, copied the contact info and put it on the bulletin board. Oh, also started a project list for Mike for while I'm gone!... read more

4/6/11--found that the NetBook has "Word Starter" on it. So, I can use whatever this is to draft my blog postings, then when I can get on, post them. I’ll try saving, etc., and see how this works. I did check and folks have posted on this blog site from within China so that part should work. i know several search engines and Facebook and other blog sites are blocked. Then, I have to check the China hotels and see which have wireless. THEN I really have to get used to the keyboard, especially to figure out how/why it jumps to the top, previous sentence, etc. Just found out today that Drew got the VCCS grant!!! That’s fantastic, will help her pay for the trip (maybe) and will support the upgrade of the nursing program with ... read more