Two perspectives on the same month-long vacation trip to Australia: "Whee!!!! I'm going to Australia!!!! I'm so excited!!! Kangaroos! Wallabys! Aussies with knives!" versus "Long-haul travel. It's a dream come true. Swollen ankles, luggage you hate so much you want to dump into the nearest trash can, and uncooperative taxi drivers. Whoopie." For ( Read more... )

This is my last blog from Beijing. Tomorrow I get on United 888 and fly back to the United States. I haven't had much free time since I got here. I'm here to work, not to sightsee, and especially sadly, not to shop. I haven't spent a cent on food and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the money I brought with me, but hey...there's always the ( Read more... )

Just when I think there is nothing left of old China in Beijing I run across something that makes me rethink, like "do sho mien" "knife noodles." These wheat-based noodles are the basis of northern Chinese cuisine, unlike the rice of the south. I eat in the cafeteria with everyone else in the class and most of the people who work in the building. I ( Read more... )

I've now been in Beijing for 2 days and I'm starting to feel my way around. At first I took a taxi to the work site, but yesterday I walked back to my hotel and today I walked to the worksite. I know the route now, and I've figured out how to cross the street ( Read more... )

Today I picked up $300 in Yuan Renminbi ("The People's Money" apparently). I bought it from Bank of America. There is officially now no good way to get foreign cash. You will be ripped off no matter where you get it from. I don't usually buy money before I go, but I've read that the ATMs in Beijing are few, far between and in Chinese. I feel sure ( Read more... )

I am going to start a blog. I never thought I would, but it's so easy to post notes and refer people to them, so that even if I can't get email and certainly can't call, I can refer people to my website ( Read more... )