My Silence is Broken

My intentions to blog every day were good, but the reality wasn't so good. It took me a couple of days to adjust to Beijing and we have been scorchingly busy since we got here. I should actually be sleeping right now, but someone sent a text to Paul so his phone keeps vibrating and there is this strange Chinese insect that keeps flying around the window that must have the wingspan of an eagle, based on the sound it is making! With all that racket, I am finding it very hart to sleep. Plus, I am on a bit of an adrenaline rush having just come back from watching Andre Despatie win the silver medal! So I thought I would try to tire myself out by writing an entry or two this evening.

The flight over was long, but uneventful. At 12:43 in Chicago we found our gateway to the other side of the world and boarded the plane. They did not actually have a safety video on our flight, the safety instructions were done "old school". After listening to the flight attendant botch the instructions for about 5 minutes we taxied down the runway and left for the other side of the world.

About half way over I got really really cold and could not get warm despite huddling under a blanket and drinking hot beverages. At around 7:45 they showed the position of the plane, so this would explain my sudden journey towards hypothermia:

The picture I did not manage to get was the one that showed the temperature outside the plane was a balmy -56 degrees celsius. To add to my torture, they flashed up how long we had been on the plane, and how far we had left go to. After fretting about the fact that I was unable to go outside for the next few thousand miles, I decided to pull out my IPod and listened to jazz to put myself to sleep. But in the end we made it safely, and as Paul had said in his earlier blog, the staff on the flight were excellent. They managed to keep a smile on their faces despite the fact I kept ordering coffee in order to stay warm.

We arrived in Beijing and found a taxi. The driver could not speak any English, so I pulled out the handy flashcard that Chunling wrote out that said "Take me to the guesthouse at **address witheld**". The driver had to phone the guesthouse to get directions, and eventually we arrived. Chunling's father was there to greet us and help us get settled. I must thank them again for all their assistance as there is no way Paul and I would have been able to find our way here and get checked in with the amount of Chinese that the two of us collectively know.

We wandered around the area for a while to keep from going to sleep too soon, then decided to have some supper. We decided to go to the restaurant at the guesthouse. As we made our way around the corner, we found the entrance that contains what we now refer to as the licorice door. Paul and I ordered our meals by pointing at the pictures on the menu. After eating supper, we went to bed, and that was the conclusion of our journey to the other side of the world.