Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Danny, Sally, Daniel and Carmen!
February 20, 2009 Getting Started!
This morning we had a great breakfast which included both American (Western) and Chinese foods. Danny was adventurous and I, of course, had toast. We had an orientation meeting at 10 a.m. with Shiyan Zeng who is the wonderful Bethany coordinator here in China that makes this such a pleasant trip for all of us. She gave us great tips and instructions for what is to come. At 11 a.m., Joy (our guide) took us to a local grocery store for snacks and water. What an experience that was!! Flopping fish on the floor, fresh turtles and other ‘creatures’ in tanks awaiting purchase for someone ELSE’S dinner. Definitely different.
For our first lunch here, a group of us went exploring and ended up at yes …. McDonald’s. Those golden arches never looked so good. Even Mickey D’s was a little different but enough was the same to get us through. By the way, we walked in and the girl behind the counter just grinned and pulled out a picture menu so that we could just point to order. They are certainly able to take care of the tourists everywhere you go here.
This afternoon we went to an infamous Chinese Acrobatic Show. It was AMAZING! Imagine those bits of acrobatic shows you may have seen in the U.S. and then multiple it many times over. It was over around 7 p.m. and jet lag was setting in so we hit the hay early.
Not much to post today. We are having a great time and making some life-long friends we hope to see often with our girls (and boys).
Note to Daniel: We love you!!! Three more days until we see your little sister! We sure are missing our “10 kisses”.
Our guide, Joy
The Bird's Nest at the Olympic Village
The Press Tower at Olympic Village
This is typical traffic --- notice cars on wrong side of yellow line!
