One of the big good things about travelling is that you get to learn new things about the world and new things about yourself. While visiting the other side of the planet, I’ve learned that once you navigate around New York and Athens, Beijing is pretty easy to figure out…other than everything being written in Chinese characters. Luckily, there is a lot of written English in the subways and on many signs around town. Sometimes the translations are a bit unique (such as the slogan of my new local coffee shop, “More Sweet, More Smile!”) but it’s enough to figure out where you are going.
I have discovered that when left to my own devices, I am fully capable of living on noodles and dumplings for all my meals. I have also discovered that I know how to ask for beer, wine, and coffee in about five different languages now, which suggests what type of traveler I really am. I also realize that I am still completely terrified of the “hole in the floor” toilets, which are all over the place in public. And with stalls being optional, I am grateful for my bladder of steel to help me reach a “Western toilet” every so often.
In the past five days, I’ve visited the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven. I’ve already filled up the memory on my dinky, little camera so getting a memory card will be my next adventure in gesturing and pointing at what I’d like to buy. I’ve pretty much worn out my trusty sneakers, and I’ve still got trips planned in the next few days, which means I’ll need to decide how badly I need new shoes.
Overall, I’m very grateful for my sushi addiction, because it prepared me to handle my chopsticks pretty well (slippery noodle dishes are tricky, but I’m figuring it out because slippery noodle dishes are my current favorite). Speaking of which, it’s dinner-time and I’m thinking…dumplings.
The time change wasn’t so bad. My flight left Seattle around 5:00 pm, which meant that from my window seat, I got to watch an impressive 8 hour sunset. By watching back-to-back movies and reading for a while, I managed to stay up for 24 hours straight and sleep as soon as I arrived (around 10 pm) which put me right on my new time, no problem. My trip back will involve magic time-travelling capabilities, as I’ll arrive in Seattle four hours before I leave Beijing. We’ll see how that goes.
Right. Dumplings. And maybe a beer. And that’s the story so far…
An Erinku:
my favorite
purchase so far
a fuzzy, warm
panda hat
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