China Days 1-2-3 - Enjoying The Differences - And Jet Lag

Lulu in front of Kempinski Hotel - third day

We used to say as a kid - you dig a hole deep enough - you will end up in China. The whole premise of the movie - The China Syndrome - was that a nuclear meltdown would keep digging its way all the way to China. Lulu and I are on the other side of the earth. This makes it easy - It is 10 PM here and 10 AM there. We already enjoyed Friday - you have it coming yet! I can tell you all about it.

I slept from 2 PM to 9 PM here. My body thinks it is in Tallahassee - my eyes say we are in Beijing. My brain it having trouble doing things that were routine in Florida - like taking pictures and writing my webpage.

First off - we are so happy with our electronics status. I just had a free video chat with Drew and his family - they are boarding a Disney ship for a cruise. The audio and video were as clear as clear could be - we were almost there. Our iphones are on T-Mobil - and it works swell - I cannot remember when I used swell last. I am presently typing on my laptop in our Hilton room. Thanks to our VPN program - nothing seems to be blocked. I can read the NY Times - Washington Post - Tallahassee Democrat - see CNN - listen to Howard Stern on Sirius radio - send and receive texts and emails. Do not worry - there are still plenty of differences.

THE FLIGHTS OVER

We had three flights - Tallahassee to Atlanta to Detroit to Beijing. All were on time - no delays - no sitting in line - etc. I will concentrate on the last leg over here. We left Detroit on an Airbus A350 at 2 PM Wednesday. We had first class booths - 1B and 1C - the front row. The plane has a first class door and a coach door. We never explored farther back than row one! We had booths. We had a bathroom right there. The attendants kept us busy with drinks - meals - snacks - hot towels - etc. The flight was 13 hours - but I only remember 4 hours because I slept 9 hours. I had a flat bed and a large flat screen TV. I had a super supper and had to be awaken for a hot breakfast. It was time to land. Lulu bought the first class bed seats at the last minute. They cost $450 extra on sale - she insisted for medical reasons - I went along. :-)

We landed on time - I had a stop watch set and it was 13 hours lift off to touch down. Customs went fast - we were the only plane going thru. So far - it was a typical flight and typical airport. A car was waiting and it took us to the Kempinski Hotel. It is a luxury German hotel and I am guessing the Hilton was overbooked. We were probably bumped.

KEMPINSKI HOTEL

What a fine breakfast they had. Also the room was full of fancy electric stuff. With a touch of a button - the glass bathroom walls turned opaque. We slept a lot there.

MEDICAL CARD

Because Lulu is working we needed Medical Cards. One of Lulu's students took us to the Medical Center for the battery of tests - there were 10 tests. It reminded me of when I enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 - only to flunk the eye test and hearing test. Blood Test - Blood Pressure - ENT - EKG - Height - Weight - Sonogram - I forget the rest. They will courier our cards to the Hilton - where we are for 7 days.

HILTON BEIJING

We got into our hotel room at the Hilton - just a few hundred yards from the Kempinski. We passed the USA Embassy on the way. We will do our orientation at the embassy - starting Monday. The weekend is free. We got into the Hilton with our 7 bags - and hopped into bed - I slept from 2 PM to 9 PM - now it is dark - but I am ready for the end of Day 3!

WHAT WE HAVE NOT DONE

We have not gotten our money straight. They use a program here to pay for stuff - WeChat. We have it on our iphones. We must get a Chinese bank account to link it to pay stuff. It is a very secure payment method. We could not do it from Florida. I tried using my Wells Fargo ATM card here and it did not work. I forgot to tell them we were coming here. I will call them today. Once WeChat and Wells Fargo ATM are working - I will feel like home.

FLORIDA COAL CRACKER CHRONICLES

If you are reading this - you know how to find me web page. Facebook does not allow me to paste in "www.harry.everhart.com" or "everhart.blogspot.com" - I think they do not like the word "cracker." I will always put pictures and text on my page - but also send some privately to my family list.

My page will be one picture at the top - then text - then a long row of other pictures. Most pictures will have captions.

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS

Please follow along. Excuse me if I am redundant. I am old - I am jet lagged - I am overweight. This is Lulu's dream - and I am here to back her up.

Everyone is interested in us. In the cabs - I sat up front. The driver noticed the scar on my knee from a childhood injury. He ran his finger along it and commented. He also commented on the scars on my chubby American fingers from my new joints. Not being rude - in his best English - "fat fingers." I am over 100 kilos at my health test!

Kathleen - the director of the FSU London Center says - "Embrace the Difference!"

Early morning leaving Tallahassee

First course supper on jet to Beijing - second course - steak and potatoes

Third course - ice cream sundaes from scratch

My view for 9 hours - flat in bed

Delta A350 - our private compartments

Lulu in middle of the night

Booths 1B and 1C - we were first off the plane

Prawns at breakfast in Kempinski Hotel

Kempinski Hotel is German - thus the soft pretzels

Chest Xrays for TB

Blood Pressure

The big Y means Yuan.   $1 = 7 Yuan

Very simple LED lights all over the place

Really - they were very gentle - they would do several a minute

With my plastic finger joints - that is a fist

I loved this 3 wheel electric scooter

So many electric bikes - scooters - cars

The black building by the red roof is American Embassy