Beijing Breakdown

From October 26-November 4, we traveled to Beijing, China. A friend from our first year in Egypt was kind enough to host us after two weeks of guests and amid parent conferences and preparing a Master's thesis. We were to arrive in Beijing on Friday at noon, in perfect time to reunite with three other friends we taught with in Egypt. Upon almost touching ground in Beijing, our pilot suddenly pulled up and we were rerouted to Tianjin, another hour north. Apparently, there was zero visibility on the ground due to "fog." I happen to believe that pollution may have been the truer cause of our unexpected redirection. With the Olympics looming, who knows how the country will deal with these kinds of delays. Upon touchdown in Tianjin, we were made to sit on the plane (with a mere roll and what passed for "lunch meat" and pepper bits) for SEVEN hours while the pilot awaited directions about what to do. Meanwhile, several other planes landed in Tianjin and were directed onto the tarmac, only to fly back to their original destinations within a couple of hours. Not our plane. After seven patiently-waited hours, we were allowed off to collect our baggage and bed down for the night at the local Holiday Inn Express. No airline representative stayed to further direct the process of what would happen to its full flight of passengers, but magically, word spread that we were to leave the next morning by bus to Beijing. Three hours on a bus and we ended up at the train station, where we contacted Yvonne, our most splendid hostess, by public phone in hopes of understanding how to pronounce her whereabouts to a taxi driver. No such luck. A cab driver did finally call Yvonne from his mobile and we were dropped off at a restaurant near Yvonne's flat where we could reunite with our friends. Joyousness abounded. The day was spent preparing for a Halloween Party later that evening. Several hours later, Cory was in full pilot gear and we five ladies were the flight attendants on Virgin Airways with names such as Bambi and Kiki. Drinks started flowing and from there on out, I must admit that I don't remember much. Apparently, fun was had by all. And the photos posted on the blog are the only nice ones available. The rest wouldn't be appropriate for viewing.

The next day was spent recovering and then saying our goodbyes to the Dutchie Twins and Hottie. To bed early we went for the Great Wall experience the next day. From Monday to Friday, Cory and I tried to enjoy the sites of Beijing. I say tried because it was quite difficult getting around without having a wee bit of a command of the Chinese language. And most people were not overly friendly or helpful. Monday was a gorgeous day to visit the Great Wall of China. Blue skies and hardly a soul around. We slid down the hills and trekked up the steps (and some snow!) and took photos of the fall colors (our first autumn in over five years!) and the mountains upon which for miles, the Wall can be seen slithering over. This was the highlight of our trip and we would have wished to have arranged for another trip out to a different section of the Wall. Next time. We rode the luges down to the bottom where our driver was waiting, had lunch and drove back to Beijing. The next four days were spent jetting off to Xian to view the Terra Cotta Warriors (a bit disappointing compared to the expectations we had); flying kites, eating local food and doing some shopping near the Muslim Quarter; walking around Tiananmen Square (which is larger than you might think) and the Forbidden City; visiting the Temple of Heaven; getting pampered at Yvonne-recommended massage parlors; stuffing ourselves with typical Chinese cuisine; biking through the Hutongs (or narrow residential alleyways) of Beijing and marveling at an acrobatics show at the Yaochang Theater. The weekend turned into a repeat of the prior one's drunken festivities and so another day of rest was necessary. Our trip concluded with a visit to the Dirt Market for some Tibetan chests, tiny shoes for binding Chinese girls' feet and plumes. There was then a plane to catch. An uneventful flight back to Manila on my birthday with dinner waiting and a cake baked was just what was needed for a relaxing evening at home. We had one more full day to recoup before school started back up and we spent our time going through photos taken with our new camera (thankfully brought over by the parents of some friends at work), catching up on episodes of our favorite shows from pirated Chinese copies and psyching ourselves up for the return to the grind.

We are so thankful to Yvonne for sharing a piece of her life with us and for being so forgiving of the escapades that occurred during said trip. A quick thanks (or sorry, whichever you prefer) also to Timber and Jason for putting up with the ridiculous phone call, to Kristy for the wrestling match, to Kim for not listening to orders and to Jess for the licks on the cheek. Cory was a saint on this trip, watching over all of us lovelies. And Yvonne, there is absolutely NO excuse for the photo of you on the couch. None.

Now it's back to work and back to stress with reports looming. But, guess what? Only five weeks more and we're off to Australia for another fantastic reunion with old friends. It's a good life.

Enjoy the photos.