more on: jetlag, single serving friends, hostel

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Oh, the jetlag. Last night after I logged off here I took a walk around the neighborhood to check things out. Of couse, though, since it was midnight, not much was open, but I wanted to get my bearings. There were plenty of people out and about, mostly Chinese men, but I never feel unsafe in Beijing. I'm in the embassy/bar area of the city, Sunlitun'r, and I figured at a last resort I could go to The Den, the rugby bar, and get some food and a drink.

It was strange. The waitresses and host still remembered me. They have phenomenal memories around here, as there are foreigners in and out all the time. If a business man comes to Beijing every three months and always frequents The Den, they'd better remember his name. I was just astounded that they remembered me! I had a mug of Tsingdao beer and a small cheese pizza. Halfway through the beer I was basically drunk, as I'm super dehydrated and jetlagged, but the pizza helped. Just ate the other half of the tiny pizza for breakfast. I'm still hungry.

So back to my single serving friends. I pretty much crashed on the 45 min flight from STL to Chicago. I had an hour and a half in Chicago before my 13.5 hour flight to Korea, but I didn't get much done in that hour and a half. Put on sweats, got a book, tried to get online, etc. Then suddenly we were boarding. There were 9 seats across - three sets of three. I was on the right side, in the middle of three. In the window seat was another white girl who looked about my age, and in the aisle seat was a Korean businessman. I think he thought that the other girl and I were friends and knew each other, but no. He was very patient with us as we kept getting up to go to the bathroom and stretch. At the end of the flight we finally introduced ourselves; her name is Christina, she's Canadian, and has been travelling for quite some time. She taught in a Korean kindergarten four years ago, vowed she'd never go back, but now she's returning again to teach for a year. So we chatted about teaching in kindergartens, about Beijing and about India, which is where she spent the last 4 months.

A nice single serving friend. Made sitting in the middle suck not so badly. Also, the personal TVs and aforementioned plethora of movies and documentaries helped greatly.

The Korean international airport, Icheolon , was a bit of culture shock unto itself. Burberry, Coach, Chanel, etc etc all among a million and a half diamond and jewelry stores. Yay duty free? I was feeling gross and tired and was very much out of my element with all of the posh chic Korean shoppers.

The flight from Korea to Beijing was an uneventful 1.5 hours. By that time I was just hoping we could hurry the hell up and get to China. The flight was delayed half an hour, so we didn't arrive in Beijing until almost 9pm. Then customs and getting luggage and then I met Natasha. She looked southeast Asian, but was from Atlanta. I was using the ATM and she was in line behind me, asking me if it was safe, what the exchange rate is, etc. I asked if she was travelling alone, she said yes, she was meeting a friend, but did I know how to get a bus to Dongzhimen? Well, since I was going to Dongzhimen, too, we went to find the busses together.

Her parents both work for the State Dept. Her mom is currently in the Vietnam US embassy. She's staying in Beijing a week with a friend and then going to Vietnam to visit her mom. Graduated in 2004 and has been travelling ever since. She didn't know anything about Beijing or China, so we chatted a lot on the bus ride.

Anyway. It's nice to be reminded that there are others out there living their lives in the same way I am. Both Christina and Natasha are my age-ish and haven't stopped moving since graduating from college. And of course now I'm staying in a youth hostel, which is just chock full of young travellers - it's nice to reaffirm these things every now and then.

Okay so now I'm not sure what I'm up to. I guess I'll go back to my room and see if my roommates are awake and up and about. I went to bed at 1am, one of the roommates got back at 3am, and then I woke up wide awake at 6am. Lied in bed for two hours, ocassionally looking at my pocket dictionary for basic words I've forgotten, and finally got up and showered at 8ish. Quietly, as they were still sleeping.

By the way, I judge my lodging a lot by the bathroom. Weird, I know. But this hostel has an awesome bathroom. Big showers with hot hot water and good pressure. Ohhh yeah 😊

Okay, signing off for now. Going to explore the hostel and see what ameneties it has. And then go find some food. Buy minutes for my cell phone. Go to The Bookworm and read the latest Beijing Bible and generally chill out and get used to being in Beijing again.

more laaaaater!

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Comments

[Sydney]

The Bookworm and the Bible!
Omigod... The Bookworm. You know, I haven't lived in the Beij since April '07 and I'm STILL on the Bookworm mailing list. I just can't bring myself to request they remove me. And the Bible... the foreigners guide to ALL things Beijing. Would not have survived without it.