Short Update

I’m pretty much over my jet lag, but I feel like I’m getting sick. I went to bed early last night, to try to get some much needed rest. I didn’t eat dinner, but I had a huge lunch. I had dinner two nights ago at this really great Korean style BBQ place. They cook the food right at the table. The menu has pictures and a few English descriptions which helps me a lot....

18 Oct 2007 · 1 min · Gary Allen Vollink

Getting there is NOT half the fun

October 14 Zhong Guan Cun District, Beijing 3:50. Really? No, can’t be. It feels like I slept all day. Yep, 4:10 AM. Still pitch dark outside. This must be that jet lag people kept warning me about. I’m already unpacked, no chance of going back to sleep. I spend the next 45 minutes watching the end of Karate Kid 2, dubbed in Mandarin, with Chinese sub-titles. I was totally lost until the big dramatic fight scene at the end....

15 Oct 2007 · 3 min · Gary Allen Vollink

Reporting for Duty

Haidan District, Beijing There’s a building a few blocks over from my Hotel room that has strobe lights on top of it. It’s tall enough to require them if the building were in a flight path, but there are buildings as tall around it, and they don’t seem to need strobe lights. Hmph. So, I close the hotel curtains all the way. If I strain, I can still sense the strobe, but with the curtains drawn and my eyelids closed, it doesn’t exist....

15 Oct 2007 · 4 min · Gary Allen Vollink

Welcome To Beijing...

October 13 Beijing, China Considering timezones, I landed 26 hours after I took off, with no sleep to speak of. Looking out the windows, it wasn’t possible to see very far. This must be one of the ‘bad’ smog days. I remembered to take some pictures of the Airport terminal on the way to customs. My employer was nice enough to arrange for me, a ride from the Beijing Airport to the Hotel....

14 Oct 2007 · 3 min · Gary Allen Vollink