China

My Word of the Day

By admin | March 2, 2012

This is my first word of the day!
多少 duō shao quian how much; how many; which (number); as much as
酱油 jiàng yóu soy sauce

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Day One

By admin | March 2, 2012

The flight

After all the stress of organizing this trip, I can finally relax, even if for a moment. I’m enjoying a glass of wine with a very tasty airline dinner. This flight is going to be a breeze.

The plane was only half full, so I could stretch out into the two seats to my left. After dinner, I slept for 5 hours and followed that with an in-flight movie the Descendents and a series of tv shows from the discovery channel, (Morgan Freeman is now my friend) more food and again drifted off to sleep. I did not spend much time looking out the window. When I did, I saw a range of barren, windswept, polar mountains, somewhat disconcerting.

The Arrival,

The plane glided to the runway through a light gray fog… I’m in Shanghai. The airport is vast, clean and modern. My bags arrived with no problems. I passed through customs and then the airport bank where I got a chunk of 100 Yuan notes. Pushing my bags in front of me, all within a half pound of the limit, I passed through a line of high priced local drivers and after a few wrong turns I found my way to where I could catch a cab.

The drive was familiar to me from my last trip. The cabbie was good and darted through traffic with admirable ease, he of course spoke no English. The shroud of gray fog deepened as we approached the city. When we got off the highway, the streets came alive with bicycles, electric scooters, cars and lots of busy people. “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” He dropped me off in front of my building. Cost 225 Yuan.

The Apartment

When I arrived at the apartment, my first feeling was one of relief. All is as it should be. The chaos of my life has found a temporary refuge.

The place is cold, clean and with nice hardwood floors and furniture to match.

My room is warm and cozy, the heater left on hums above a small triangular desk in the corner, next to that a table with a tv that I will never use. I have a full sized bed, and a large square window that looks out into a rainy Bladerunner night.

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Nonstop Chicago to Shanghai

By admin | February 27, 2012

Wednesday I start my new adventure, destination Shanghai China, I will leave at 10 am Chicago time and arrive 2pm in China after a 14 hour direct flight. Wish me luck! feel free to send me comments and please all keep in touch.

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