Day 27
We woke early, or early for us anyway, in an attempt to beat the Beijing heat, with a forecast of 95 degrees and humid we wanted to do as much as possible before the hottest part of the day. Donna said that she'd pick us up after she dropped Ray at summer school camp, a four day thing that he needed to go to because the teachers at his new middle school said so.
Breakfast was golden brick bread, which the kids love, golden brick bread with chocolate, which 0they love even more, yogurt, puffed barley from Tibet, and eggs. Zachary came with us but the other boys were asleep. Donna came at 8:00, having decided that Ray could make it to school on his own but it still took us until 8:30 to get ready.
We went to a couple of hutongs, areas of Beijing that have old single story buildings and narrow roads, dating back centuries. There are still people living there but the main road through is all tourist shops and places to eat.
Zachary was dragging and sleep deprived so, after we took an electric version of a pedicab around a lake I took Zachary back home, figuring I'd feed him and the other kids and then get him to nap. Unfortunately, when I got there the other kids had already eaten and were playing video games. A nap was no competition for video games with other children. I napped.
That evening, at about 5 we set out for Karaoke, which they call KTV. We took three subway lines, walked a bit, and entered a building full of stalls selling clothing, cell phone accessories, appliances, and so forth, like a giant flea market. It was very much the opposite of the upscale malls we have been in so often the last few days. We went up escalator after escalator, the fifth floor had food, the sixth floor had a huge arcade with more lights and buzzers than a Vegas Casino. I was particularly impressed with a game that had a full electronic drum kit and appeared to be actually teaching a real skill.
Bill paused, asked somebody for directions, and we headed to the back of the arcade. We went through a small gray door, marked exit and found ourselves in a dimly lit stairwell with bare concrete steps. Andrea commented that she felt like we were in a Harry Potter movie and would soon emerge onto a hidden street. Two floors up we took an unmarked door and emerged someplace magical. The lobby was two stories of elegant marble with cool 3 dimensional mirrors on two walls and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. We were guided upstairs to a Karaoke room, with leather benches, tables, disco lights, and computers. We were given cards with 60 Yuan load on them to buy food with. I was aghast at the huge amount allotted to the meal, but taken out of the Chinese perspective it was less than $10.
We ate and sang Karaoke until 10. Then we headed home in taxis, Zachary asleep on his brothers' shoulders.
Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready for it although I am still a bit scared because I will be leaving Zachary.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Hutongs and Karaoke
Day 27
We woke early, or early for us anyway, in an attempt to beat the Beijing heat, with a forecast of 95 degrees and humid we wanted to do as much as possible before the hottest part of the day. Donna said that she'd pick us up after she dropped Ray at summer school camp, a four day thing that he needed to go to because the teachers at his new middle school said so.
Breakfast was golden brick bread, which the kids love, golden brick bread with chocolate, which 0they love even more, yogurt, puffed barley from Tibet, and eggs. Zachary came with us but the other boys were asleep. Donna came at 8:00, having decided that Ray could make it to school on his own but it still took us until 8:30 to get ready.
We went to a couple of hutongs, areas of Beijing that have old single story buildings and narrow roads, dating back centuries. There are still people living there but the main road through is all tourist shops and places to eat.
Zachary was dragging and sleep deprived so, after we took an electric version of a pedicab around a lake I took Zachary back home, figuring I'd feed him and the other kids and then get him to nap. Unfortunately, when I got there the other kids had already eaten and were playing video games. A nap was no competition for video games with other children. I napped.
That evening, at about 5 we set out for Karaoke, which they call KTV. We took three subway lines, walked a bit, and entered a building full of stalls selling clothing, cell phone accessories, appliances, and so forth, like a giant flea market. It was very much the opposite of the upscale malls we have been in so often the last few days. We went up escalator after escalator, the fifth floor had food, the sixth floor had a huge arcade with more lights and buzzers than a Vegas Casino. I was particularly impressed with a game that had a full electronic drum kit and appeared to be actually teaching a real skill.
Bill paused, asked somebody for directions, and we headed to the back of the arcade. We went through a small gray door, marked exit and found ourselves in a dimly lit stairwell with bare concrete steps. Andrea commented that she felt like we were in a Harry Potter movie and would soon emerge onto a hidden street. Two floors up we took an unmarked door and emerged someplace magical. The lobby was two stories of elegant marble with cool 3 dimensional mirrors on two walls and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. We were guided upstairs to a Karaoke room, with leather benches, tables, disco lights, and computers. We were given cards with 60 Yuan load on them to buy food with. I was aghast at the huge amount allotted to the meal, but taken out of the Chinese perspective it was less than $10.
We ate and sang Karaoke until 10. Then we headed home in taxis, Zachary asleep on his brothers' shoulders.
Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready for it. The hardest part will be leaving Zachary.
We woke early, or early for us anyway, in an attempt to beat the Beijing heat, with a forecast of 95 degrees and humid we wanted to do as much as possible before the hottest part of the day. Donna said that she'd pick us up after she dropped Ray at summer school camp, a four day thing that he needed to go to because the teachers at his new middle school said so.
Breakfast was golden brick bread, which the kids love, golden brick bread with chocolate, which 0they love even more, yogurt, puffed barley from Tibet, and eggs. Zachary came with us but the other boys were asleep. Donna came at 8:00, having decided that Ray could make it to school on his own but it still took us until 8:30 to get ready.
We went to a couple of hutongs, areas of Beijing that have old single story buildings and narrow roads, dating back centuries. There are still people living there but the main road through is all tourist shops and places to eat.
Zachary was dragging and sleep deprived so, after we took an electric version of a pedicab around a lake I took Zachary back home, figuring I'd feed him and the other kids and then get him to nap. Unfortunately, when I got there the other kids had already eaten and were playing video games. A nap was no competition for video games with other children. I napped.
That evening, at about 5 we set out for Karaoke, which they call KTV. We took three subway lines, walked a bit, and entered a building full of stalls selling clothing, cell phone accessories, appliances, and so forth, like a giant flea market. It was very much the opposite of the upscale malls we have been in so often the last few days. We went up escalator after escalator, the fifth floor had food, the sixth floor had a huge arcade with more lights and buzzers than a Vegas Casino. I was particularly impressed with a game that had a full electronic drum kit and appeared to be actually teaching a real skill.
Bill paused, asked somebody for directions, and we headed to the back of the arcade. We went through a small gray door, marked exit and found ourselves in a dimly lit stairwell with bare concrete steps. Andrea commented that she felt like we were in a Harry Potter movie and would soon emerge onto a hidden street. Two floors up we took an unmarked door and emerged someplace magical. The lobby was two stories of elegant marble with cool 3 dimensional mirrors on two walls and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. We were guided upstairs to a Karaoke room, with leather benches, tables, disco lights, and computers. We were given cards with 60 Yuan load on them to buy food with. I was aghast at the huge amount allotted to the meal, but taken out of the Chinese perspective it was less than $10.
We ate and sang Karaoke until 10. Then we headed home in taxis, Zachary asleep on his brothers' shoulders.
Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready for it. The hardest part will be leaving Zachary.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Science and Technology Museum
Day 26
Woke up to a breakfast prepared by Andy, including a very soft tofu (not my favorite) and some bread things that came both with and without meat. It took me a while to determine that the meat was donkey, which I was not brave enough to try.
We went to the museum of science and technology right after breakfast, stopping on the way to pick up Andy's niece, who is visiting for 20 days, now that school is out. At the age of 17, she is going to be a senior next year and is studying for the gowkow, and the college enterance exam. She is putting in 100 hours a week. Her goal is to go abroad, to New York city, for college.
The museum was massive, like everything in China and crowded, like everything in Beijing. I particularly liked the DNA sculpture made of men and women, and the stegosaurus skeleton. There was a large exhibit on Chinese science and technology on the first floor and as we made our way around it I really enjoyed seeing Zachary engaged by the exhibits, especially by the math puzzles.
We ate lunch in the museum cafeteria, though we didn't buy anything there. Stubbs we knew that it was expensive and not that good we stopped in a grocery store on the way. It took us a solid 20 minutes to get two tables, which we got by hovering and sitting as soon as people left. The tables were not adjacent. Whenever one of us got up from one of our tables, even for a minute to pass something to the other table, a person would try to take the seat and the remaining people from our group would need to defend it.
While I was looking at the exhibits a Japanese boy, about 12 years old approached me , declared that I was "so handsome, " and asked if he could take a picture with me. I consented. After he took a selfie, he said "I have prepared a gift for you," and handed me a pair of chopsticks in a small cloth bag. I thanked him politely and went on my way.
About an hour later I was sitting on the floor, resting with a thousand other Chinese museum goers when another person approached for a picture. I obliged and that was the start of a string of four or five. I sat back down and a few minutes later noticed a middle school girl with a couple of friends starting at me, whispering, but unable to work up the courage to approach, so I gestured her over. Her friends took a picture of her with me. Then the friends wanted one too. By that point the rest of her class, which was on a field trip, had noticed. I must have had 20 photos taken with members of that class before I sat back down.
As I sat and rested I heard a familiar voice. The kids who gave me the chopsticks was doing his routine again. I briefly thought about telling him that he already had a photo with me, but just let it play out and was presented with another pair of chopsticks. He reminded me of a girl who approached Joshua a couple of weeks ago. She was excited, breathless, gushing. She took a bunch of photos, got Joshua's wechat ID, and has been sending him love messages ever since. She even charmed her name to in wechat to the "you are my boyfriend." He tried to brush her off, but eventually had to block her. As much as Joshua was asked by her we year him that he loves it. I believe that part of him felt flattered.
After the museum we went to a mall, where we left the kids in an arcade. Andrea looked at shops while Andy, Serene, and I sat on a bench.
Then we went to pick up Tommy, an exchange student who will be staying with LiFeng for two weeks (but with us and Serene here, but he is going to be at Donna's for a few days). He's 17 years old, from Queens, and has had two years of high school Chinese. We took him to Dayali, where he met Donna, the kids, Ray and Jack. We all agree in a private room. He must have been pretty overwhelmed. Joshua, whose phone has been out of commission since it fell into a pool at the water park, was deeply engrossed in a cell phone screen. It took me a while to understand; Ari won a high end cell phone, selfie stick, charger, and case at the arcade.
So ends another interesting day. Tomorrow we see the hutongs in the morning.
Woke up to a breakfast prepared by Andy, including a very soft tofu (not my favorite) and some bread things that came both with and without meat. It took me a while to determine that the meat was donkey, which I was not brave enough to try.
We went to the museum of science and technology right after breakfast, stopping on the way to pick up Andy's niece, who is visiting for 20 days, now that school is out. At the age of 17, she is going to be a senior next year and is studying for the gowkow, and the college enterance exam. She is putting in 100 hours a week. Her goal is to go abroad, to New York city, for college.
The museum was massive, like everything in China and crowded, like everything in Beijing. I particularly liked the DNA sculpture made of men and women, and the stegosaurus skeleton. There was a large exhibit on Chinese science and technology on the first floor and as we made our way around it I really enjoyed seeing Zachary engaged by the exhibits, especially by the math puzzles.
We ate lunch in the museum cafeteria, though we didn't buy anything there. Stubbs we knew that it was expensive and not that good we stopped in a grocery store on the way. It took us a solid 20 minutes to get two tables, which we got by hovering and sitting as soon as people left. The tables were not adjacent. Whenever one of us got up from one of our tables, even for a minute to pass something to the other table, a person would try to take the seat and the remaining people from our group would need to defend it.
While I was looking at the exhibits a Japanese boy, about 12 years old approached me , declared that I was "so handsome, " and asked if he could take a picture with me. I consented. After he took a selfie, he said "I have prepared a gift for you," and handed me a pair of chopsticks in a small cloth bag. I thanked him politely and went on my way.
About an hour later I was sitting on the floor, resting with a thousand other Chinese museum goers when another person approached for a picture. I obliged and that was the start of a string of four or five. I sat back down and a few minutes later noticed a middle school girl with a couple of friends starting at me, whispering, but unable to work up the courage to approach, so I gestured her over. Her friends took a picture of her with me. Then the friends wanted one too. By that point the rest of her class, which was on a field trip, had noticed. I must have had 20 photos taken with members of that class before I sat back down.
As I sat and rested I heard a familiar voice. The kids who gave me the chopsticks was doing his routine again. I briefly thought about telling him that he already had a photo with me, but just let it play out and was presented with another pair of chopsticks. He reminded me of a girl who approached Joshua a couple of weeks ago. She was excited, breathless, gushing. She took a bunch of photos, got Joshua's wechat ID, and has been sending him love messages ever since. She even charmed her name to in wechat to the "you are my boyfriend." He tried to brush her off, but eventually had to block her. As much as Joshua was asked by her we year him that he loves it. I believe that part of him felt flattered.
After the museum we went to a mall, where we left the kids in an arcade. Andrea looked at shops while Andy, Serene, and I sat on a bench.
Then we went to pick up Tommy, an exchange student who will be staying with LiFeng for two weeks (but with us and Serene here, but he is going to be at Donna's for a few days). He's 17 years old, from Queens, and has had two years of high school Chinese. We took him to Dayali, where he met Donna, the kids, Ray and Jack. We all agree in a private room. He must have been pretty overwhelmed. Joshua, whose phone has been out of commission since it fell into a pool at the water park, was deeply engrossed in a cell phone screen. It took me a while to understand; Ari won a high end cell phone, selfie stick, charger, and case at the arcade.
So ends another interesting day. Tomorrow we see the hutongs in the morning.
ShunJing Hotspring Hotel
Day 25
Since today was supposed to be blazingly hot again and the kids were tired of Chinese cultural attractions we decided to go to a water park. We slept in and I woke up feeling human for the first time in ten days. The drive to the water park took an hour and a half through traffic that crawled along a modern freeway. Fortunately, I slept through much of it.
When we arrived we made our way through a spacious lobby with cool egg shaped chairs arranged around 25 for high white teepee things. In the hallway just past the lobby we saw that this was the world's largest water park spa measuring 98060.96 square meters per a certificate provided by Guinness book of World Records.
They gave us each a bracelet with a number. The number corresponded to our locker number, which the bracelet locked and unlocked, when it was pressed against the electronic lock along with an attendants bracelet. I had to buy a bathing suit because I hadn't brought one from home so they showed me various styles, of which I chose the least expensive. They only had suits clearly labeled XXXXL, which I explained would not fit me. When they assured me that it would I thought that we had a language barrier but they were right, it fit perfectly.
The park itself was immense and varied. Unfortunately I can't do it justice with a written description. There were mineral springs, giant hot tubs to soak in, including one about 25 feet in diameter full of "pure tea." There was a kiddie pool that had a slide and a regular pool.
We ate lunch at the spa's buffet, which was a big as any I've seen. The nut pie was particularly delicious and the chocolate fountain had tomatoes for dipping, which I decided that I needed to try. It was not my favorite but it was nice, beating expectations.
Upstairs there were areas for ping pong, pool, and a cinema. There were comfortable bed things to lie and relax on. You could buy a massage, but a back massage was too pricey. Andrea and Zachary got a foot rub, which was cheaper while I dozed off. Afterwards I soaked in tea while they had remora fish eat their dead skin cells.
We headed to an art district, they called 798, after the water park which was really cool. Miles of shops galleries and exhibitions, in an old industrial area left over from the Great Leap Forward. I regret not buying a t-shirt that subtly poked fun at the party but it took me a while to figure out that they had the nerve to do so and it was sarcastic not just propaganda phrasing that was poorly translated. We saw a few galleries and Ari poked fun at modern art. "This plain white canvas had meaning and significance because it represents the essential purity and innocence of art." Sure enough the next gallery had a canvas that was entirely black. However, if you liked at it closely the artist had drawn a forest using differences in thickness of the paint.
One exhibit had a back-lit Chinese traditional scene that looked like it was painted with calligraphy brushes but the back was open to show that the entire thing was done by shining light through colored plastic bags, bubble wrap, and other refuse.
We left the area to go to dinner at a Thai restaurant in a nearby mall. The mall was huge, Western, and had bathrooms even cleaner than the Chengdu panda research center. The food was delicious.
After dinner we walked around the mall a bit. Andrea now wants a Dyson fan. We bought Andrea a double machiatto from Costa Coffee, though there was a Starbucks in the mall. She was pleased. Finally we stopped at a supermarket in the mall and bought expensive (for China) food to bring home for tomorrow's breakfast.
Since today was supposed to be blazingly hot again and the kids were tired of Chinese cultural attractions we decided to go to a water park. We slept in and I woke up feeling human for the first time in ten days. The drive to the water park took an hour and a half through traffic that crawled along a modern freeway. Fortunately, I slept through much of it.
When we arrived we made our way through a spacious lobby with cool egg shaped chairs arranged around 25 for high white teepee things. In the hallway just past the lobby we saw that this was the world's largest water park spa measuring 98060.96 square meters per a certificate provided by Guinness book of World Records.
They gave us each a bracelet with a number. The number corresponded to our locker number, which the bracelet locked and unlocked, when it was pressed against the electronic lock along with an attendants bracelet. I had to buy a bathing suit because I hadn't brought one from home so they showed me various styles, of which I chose the least expensive. They only had suits clearly labeled XXXXL, which I explained would not fit me. When they assured me that it would I thought that we had a language barrier but they were right, it fit perfectly.
The park itself was immense and varied. Unfortunately I can't do it justice with a written description. There were mineral springs, giant hot tubs to soak in, including one about 25 feet in diameter full of "pure tea." There was a kiddie pool that had a slide and a regular pool.
We ate lunch at the spa's buffet, which was a big as any I've seen. The nut pie was particularly delicious and the chocolate fountain had tomatoes for dipping, which I decided that I needed to try. It was not my favorite but it was nice, beating expectations.
Upstairs there were areas for ping pong, pool, and a cinema. There were comfortable bed things to lie and relax on. You could buy a massage, but a back massage was too pricey. Andrea and Zachary got a foot rub, which was cheaper while I dozed off. Afterwards I soaked in tea while they had remora fish eat their dead skin cells.
We headed to an art district, they called 798, after the water park which was really cool. Miles of shops galleries and exhibitions, in an old industrial area left over from the Great Leap Forward. I regret not buying a t-shirt that subtly poked fun at the party but it took me a while to figure out that they had the nerve to do so and it was sarcastic not just propaganda phrasing that was poorly translated. We saw a few galleries and Ari poked fun at modern art. "This plain white canvas had meaning and significance because it represents the essential purity and innocence of art." Sure enough the next gallery had a canvas that was entirely black. However, if you liked at it closely the artist had drawn a forest using differences in thickness of the paint.
One exhibit had a back-lit Chinese traditional scene that looked like it was painted with calligraphy brushes but the back was open to show that the entire thing was done by shining light through colored plastic bags, bubble wrap, and other refuse.
We left the area to go to dinner at a Thai restaurant in a nearby mall. The mall was huge, Western, and had bathrooms even cleaner than the Chengdu panda research center. The food was delicious.
After dinner we walked around the mall a bit. Andrea now wants a Dyson fan. We bought Andrea a double machiatto from Costa Coffee, though there was a Starbucks in the mall. She was pleased. Finally we stopped at a supermarket in the mall and bought expensive (for China) food to bring home for tomorrow's breakfast.
Friday, July 8, 2016
The Forbidden City
Day 24
We had a quick breakfast at home and headed out to the hidden city. We went by bus most of the way, which wasn't too bad because it had the bus lane. Ray stayed home to watch a soccer match but Donna, Jack, and Tienzu came with us.
Tienamen Square was huge, highly policed, and exactly what I expected from the pictures I've seen.
At the far end of the square, under the portrait of chairman Mao, was the entrance to the forbidden city. It was where emperors lived for centuries. One had 3,000 wives and concubines. Although I hate to concede inferiority to any other man, I suggested to Andrea that 3,000 might be too many for me.
It was really really hot. 90 degrees and incredibly humid. We ate noodles and eggs rolled into a tortilla like bread at the Palace restaurant for lunch.
Andrea got into an argument with Joshua about Zachary's little toy electric fan. The way that he was speaking to her was unacceptable and I let him know it. He argued and I ended up taking away his cell phone. Much drama ensued. Between the heat and the disagreements it was not the best of days.
For dinner we went to Dayali a restaurant famous for its roast duck. We started with the duck, which we wrapped in little mushoo pancakes, added some vegetable and sauce. I'm not a duck fan but this was good. I didn't think that any of the kids would try the duck but when Zachary and Ari and Zachary saw the relish with which Ray, Bill, Tianzu, and Jack ate the duck they ate it too. We also had Chinese yam with blueberry, Lotus flowers, beef with pepper and onion, spicy green beans, mushroom soup, eggplant, pea sprouts with walnuts, chicken with the sesame and almonds, and Chinese greens.
Years ago, my best friend at the time read one of my travel blogs and commented that I always talked about the food. My reply was that I didn't think I did, but now I realize that I do it intentionally because we spend so much time eating and it is such a big part of the adventure. Dayali was certainly no exception. Donna told us that Ray was really looking forward to taking us there. Initially I was unenthusiastic but it was quite an experience.
We went home and hung out with everyone including Li Feng and Andy. Bill just got his scores for the middle school entrance exam: math 100%, English 99.5%, and Chinese 97.5%. He thinks that will put him in the top 10 in the city. I was certainly impressed. Ray takes his exam tomorrow.
Finally, a few notes on cultural differences: I won't talk about squat toilets or dirty bathrooms, I promise.
We hear a lot about Chinese and Japanese students putting in long hours studying and worrying about high stakes exams. While Bill and Ray are only starting middle school, we already see it with them. They do manage to get time for soccer and video games but they have grueling schedules that include a lot of homework and summer and cram schools. In China the government only pays for school through the end of 8th grade but they will pay for Ray to go to boarding school if he gets in.
Andrea is blown away by the lack of cold beverages at meals. When we went to the university cafeterias and the closest thing they had to a beverage was soup, she was shocked. We sent the kids out to buy bottled beverages and bring them back.
The first day I was going to ball the kids out for getting water all over the bathroom floor when they showered but I held my tongue and just cleaned it up. Then I showered and I did the same thing. It took me a few days to realize that it was not me failing to close the curtain all the way or something; the shower curtain is just not waterproof. I don't think I'd ever see that in America.
We had a quick breakfast at home and headed out to the hidden city. We went by bus most of the way, which wasn't too bad because it had the bus lane. Ray stayed home to watch a soccer match but Donna, Jack, and Tienzu came with us.
Tienamen Square was huge, highly policed, and exactly what I expected from the pictures I've seen.
At the far end of the square, under the portrait of chairman Mao, was the entrance to the forbidden city. It was where emperors lived for centuries. One had 3,000 wives and concubines. Although I hate to concede inferiority to any other man, I suggested to Andrea that 3,000 might be too many for me.
It was really really hot. 90 degrees and incredibly humid. We ate noodles and eggs rolled into a tortilla like bread at the Palace restaurant for lunch.
Andrea got into an argument with Joshua about Zachary's little toy electric fan. The way that he was speaking to her was unacceptable and I let him know it. He argued and I ended up taking away his cell phone. Much drama ensued. Between the heat and the disagreements it was not the best of days.
For dinner we went to Dayali a restaurant famous for its roast duck. We started with the duck, which we wrapped in little mushoo pancakes, added some vegetable and sauce. I'm not a duck fan but this was good. I didn't think that any of the kids would try the duck but when Zachary and Ari and Zachary saw the relish with which Ray, Bill, Tianzu, and Jack ate the duck they ate it too. We also had Chinese yam with blueberry, Lotus flowers, beef with pepper and onion, spicy green beans, mushroom soup, eggplant, pea sprouts with walnuts, chicken with the sesame and almonds, and Chinese greens.
Years ago, my best friend at the time read one of my travel blogs and commented that I always talked about the food. My reply was that I didn't think I did, but now I realize that I do it intentionally because we spend so much time eating and it is such a big part of the adventure. Dayali was certainly no exception. Donna told us that Ray was really looking forward to taking us there. Initially I was unenthusiastic but it was quite an experience.
We went home and hung out with everyone including Li Feng and Andy. Bill just got his scores for the middle school entrance exam: math 100%, English 99.5%, and Chinese 97.5%. He thinks that will put him in the top 10 in the city. I was certainly impressed. Ray takes his exam tomorrow.
Finally, a few notes on cultural differences: I won't talk about squat toilets or dirty bathrooms, I promise.
We hear a lot about Chinese and Japanese students putting in long hours studying and worrying about high stakes exams. While Bill and Ray are only starting middle school, we already see it with them. They do manage to get time for soccer and video games but they have grueling schedules that include a lot of homework and summer and cram schools. In China the government only pays for school through the end of 8th grade but they will pay for Ray to go to boarding school if he gets in.
Andrea is blown away by the lack of cold beverages at meals. When we went to the university cafeterias and the closest thing they had to a beverage was soup, she was shocked. We sent the kids out to buy bottled beverages and bring them back.
The first day I was going to ball the kids out for getting water all over the bathroom floor when they showered but I held my tongue and just cleaned it up. Then I showered and I did the same thing. It took me a few days to realize that it was not me failing to close the curtain all the way or something; the shower curtain is just not waterproof. I don't think I'd ever see that in America.
The Great Wall Of China
Day 23
I woke up at 6:00, stuffed up as usual and wrote the blog post about yesterday as I waited for Andrea to get up. Li Feng made a huge breakfast: eggs both hard boiled and scrambled with tomato, noodles, cucumber salad, and fruit. We ate, walked to the train station together where we met Donna, Ray, Tianzu, and an 18 year old who asked us to call him Jack. We paired off, using a busddy system for the day to avoid a repeat of yesterday's debacle.
We took two subway lines to the bus stop that we needed. The subway was crowded; the cars a tad less crowded than I've seen in Tokyo or New York but the station where we switched lines was worse.
When we arrived at the Great Wall we bought tickets for the sliding cars, little cars like those that you might find on a kiddie roller coaster that take you half way up to reduce the amount of climbing that you need to do.
We rode the car up, walked seven of the eight towers, decided that the crowd between us and the last tower was just impenetrable so we turned around and headed back.
Andrea, Ari, Donna, and I went shopping in the center of Beijing. Well, mostly we looked at the outside of stores that sold luxury goods that we'd never buy. We went into a huge bookstore and bought Ari a notebook, which he been asking for, and we got some lotus for seeds from a street vendor. They taste sorry of like coconut but with a hint of bitter.
We returned home and hung out for a while. While Li Feng made dinner, Donna, Jack, Tianzu, Joshua (who had gone trio an Internet Cafe) and Ray all trickled in. At around 7 we all set and ate a huge meal. Beef, tofu, eggs, two kinds of noodles, fried carrot balls, and vegetables. After dinner the adults sat and talked (and ate watermelon). We discussed hosting Ray and Bill next summer in the United States. We talked about sending Zachary again in the future. Nothing was resolved but it felt good to talk about it with real friends.
I woke up at 6:00, stuffed up as usual and wrote the blog post about yesterday as I waited for Andrea to get up. Li Feng made a huge breakfast: eggs both hard boiled and scrambled with tomato, noodles, cucumber salad, and fruit. We ate, walked to the train station together where we met Donna, Ray, Tianzu, and an 18 year old who asked us to call him Jack. We paired off, using a busddy system for the day to avoid a repeat of yesterday's debacle.
We took two subway lines to the bus stop that we needed. The subway was crowded; the cars a tad less crowded than I've seen in Tokyo or New York but the station where we switched lines was worse.
When we arrived at the Great Wall we bought tickets for the sliding cars, little cars like those that you might find on a kiddie roller coaster that take you half way up to reduce the amount of climbing that you need to do.
We rode the car up, walked seven of the eight towers, decided that the crowd between us and the last tower was just impenetrable so we turned around and headed back.
Andrea, Ari, Donna, and I went shopping in the center of Beijing. Well, mostly we looked at the outside of stores that sold luxury goods that we'd never buy. We went into a huge bookstore and bought Ari a notebook, which he been asking for, and we got some lotus for seeds from a street vendor. They taste sorry of like coconut but with a hint of bitter.
We returned home and hung out for a while. While Li Feng made dinner, Donna, Jack, Tianzu, Joshua (who had gone trio an Internet Cafe) and Ray all trickled in. At around 7 we all set and ate a huge meal. Beef, tofu, eggs, two kinds of noodles, fried carrot balls, and vegetables. After dinner the adults sat and talked (and ate watermelon). We discussed hosting Ray and Bill next summer in the United States. We talked about sending Zachary again in the future. Nothing was resolved but it felt good to talk about it with real friends.
SummerPalace
Day 22
I woke up early despite being sleep deprived. My ears still wouldn't equalize after yesterday's flights. I could feel fluid sloshing around in my right ear and the ear was starting to hurt. I was worried about getting an ear infection. I took a Sudafed to try to decongest.
I was texting to Sonja, who models for me, on messenger about rescheduling a shoot when Donna and Ray came with breakfast (those deep fried churro things, sesame pancakes, and hard boiled eggs).
We are staying at our friend Li Feng's apartment. It is on the top (18th floor) of the building. The apartment is quite nice. The living room has this ornate overstuffed furniture that looks like it could be in Versailles, not my style but very comfortable. They appear to have a very comfortable lifestyle although she and her husband work very hard to maintain it. He leaves for work at 6:30 and she at 8:00 and they routinely work past 8:00pm.
We ate, woke the kids, did a few loads laundry, showered, and realized that it was getting close to lunch time. Andrea, and Donna, and the little kids went to her apartment while Joshua and I hung laundry. When they returned 20 minutes later, we all headed for the staff cafeteria at the University where Donna teaches. The food was good, too many choices to try everything, and amazingly cheap. We sat in a clean room, with clean tablecloths on every table, and pretty art on the walls. The plates are all color coded by price and have some sort of embedded electronics and when you are ready to check out you put your tray on the counter next to the register and it totals the price automatically and deducts the total cost from your ID card (or in our case from Donna's).
After lunch we headed to the Summer Palace. We took the subway and a bus. Despite being told to keep it safe, Ari lost in his subway card, fully charged with 50 Yuan on the first train. A ride is four Yuan, a little more than 50 cents.
When I checked I it was 93 degrees ("feels life 92," according to Google, but felt like 99 to me). The palace itself was pretty but mobbed with tourists, including a number of Westerners. "There are Americans," one of the kids exclaimed upon seeing a group of them. "Who let them into the country?" I retorted in a voice full of mock horror.
I sort of dragged through the palace. It was rebuilt in the 1860s after the Anglo - French burned it to the ground. The palace is beautiful but you could only look into the rooms through the windows. It is on a huge lake, which was pleasant to walk along. We had a group of 8, which was hard to keep together. First we lost Tianzu, Ray's friend who came with us, and spent 20 minutes looking for him. Then we lost Ari who insisted on running ahead and spent half an hour locating him. He didn't see what the big deal was.
Tianzu is staying with Donna for a couple of nights while his mom is in Hong Kong on business. I really like how the Chinese people help each other out, taking care of children, sharing meals; it seems in many ways a more integrated social fabric than we have in the States.
We climbed up and over a hill that felt like a mountain and visited a replica of Suzhou street. Then we headed home at about 4:30 in an attempt to beat rush hour. We got back around an hour later and headed to dinner at Donna's University (the Capital University of Business and Economics). This time we chose the Muslim dining hall. I had spicy chicken and a vegetable mixture. The university subsidizes the food so it cost about a dollar per person for a meal. After dinner we went back to the apartment where the kids disappeared into their video games, Andrea posted to her blog. I should have written this post but was just too exhausted.
Around 9:00 Li Feng and Andy returned. We all had some fruit, watermelon and lychees, before bed.
I woke up early despite being sleep deprived. My ears still wouldn't equalize after yesterday's flights. I could feel fluid sloshing around in my right ear and the ear was starting to hurt. I was worried about getting an ear infection. I took a Sudafed to try to decongest.
I was texting to Sonja, who models for me, on messenger about rescheduling a shoot when Donna and Ray came with breakfast (those deep fried churro things, sesame pancakes, and hard boiled eggs).
We are staying at our friend Li Feng's apartment. It is on the top (18th floor) of the building. The apartment is quite nice. The living room has this ornate overstuffed furniture that looks like it could be in Versailles, not my style but very comfortable. They appear to have a very comfortable lifestyle although she and her husband work very hard to maintain it. He leaves for work at 6:30 and she at 8:00 and they routinely work past 8:00pm.
We ate, woke the kids, did a few loads laundry, showered, and realized that it was getting close to lunch time. Andrea, and Donna, and the little kids went to her apartment while Joshua and I hung laundry. When they returned 20 minutes later, we all headed for the staff cafeteria at the University where Donna teaches. The food was good, too many choices to try everything, and amazingly cheap. We sat in a clean room, with clean tablecloths on every table, and pretty art on the walls. The plates are all color coded by price and have some sort of embedded electronics and when you are ready to check out you put your tray on the counter next to the register and it totals the price automatically and deducts the total cost from your ID card (or in our case from Donna's).
After lunch we headed to the Summer Palace. We took the subway and a bus. Despite being told to keep it safe, Ari lost in his subway card, fully charged with 50 Yuan on the first train. A ride is four Yuan, a little more than 50 cents.
When I checked I it was 93 degrees ("feels life 92," according to Google, but felt like 99 to me). The palace itself was pretty but mobbed with tourists, including a number of Westerners. "There are Americans," one of the kids exclaimed upon seeing a group of them. "Who let them into the country?" I retorted in a voice full of mock horror.
I sort of dragged through the palace. It was rebuilt in the 1860s after the Anglo - French burned it to the ground. The palace is beautiful but you could only look into the rooms through the windows. It is on a huge lake, which was pleasant to walk along. We had a group of 8, which was hard to keep together. First we lost Tianzu, Ray's friend who came with us, and spent 20 minutes looking for him. Then we lost Ari who insisted on running ahead and spent half an hour locating him. He didn't see what the big deal was.
Tianzu is staying with Donna for a couple of nights while his mom is in Hong Kong on business. I really like how the Chinese people help each other out, taking care of children, sharing meals; it seems in many ways a more integrated social fabric than we have in the States.
We climbed up and over a hill that felt like a mountain and visited a replica of Suzhou street. Then we headed home at about 4:30 in an attempt to beat rush hour. We got back around an hour later and headed to dinner at Donna's University (the Capital University of Business and Economics). This time we chose the Muslim dining hall. I had spicy chicken and a vegetable mixture. The university subsidizes the food so it cost about a dollar per person for a meal. After dinner we went back to the apartment where the kids disappeared into their video games, Andrea posted to her blog. I should have written this post but was just too exhausted.
Around 9:00 Li Feng and Andy returned. We all had some fruit, watermelon and lychees, before bed.
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