Well this is the first day of the China trip. Yesterday we got in late then had to wait while Byron went to figure out his bag was still in Detroit (pronounced deee-troit for all of you related to Kayla). Upon arriving, we were required to have “first night noodles”. I wasn’t hungry at all and still a little queasy from my emetic episode a few nights earlier, but I had some noodles anyway to make Dr. Strobel happy. I’ve been told there will be many other opportunities for first night noodles, as it’s given every time a new person arrives on the trip. It’s funny how he’s been saying we’re going to lose all this weight on this trip due to his experience. However, he is very insistent that we eat, and he’s always telling us to try this and try that. Plus we drink TONS of beer. Beer at Lunch, Beer at Dinner, Beer with Ping-Pong, and maybe Beer when we wake up. Then we went to bed, concluding my 30-hour trip.
Sunday we got up, had breakfast, and went took a walk. I have no idea what part of town The University is situated in, so I can’t tell you anything about where we walked. However, it was very pretty and enjoyable. We are right next to a bayou, just like the manmade one on Braeswood at the Medical Center. This is basically all sewage, but it’s lined with pretty green trees, pretty cherry trees, flowers, people out playing games and Thai Chi, and many buildings. April is absolutely BEAUTIFUL in Beijing, because everything is blooming. Every major highway is lined with cherry trees (blossoms). They are white, red, pink, and everything in between. I’m totally amazed at how manicured the shrubs are along with the grasses and everything else. It was sensory overload for quite awhile due to the vast amount of people, cars, and buildings. The condo high-rises go on forever. This makes sense, because over 20 million people live in Beijing. So we looked at all the shops, the street vendors, and nonstop people on bikes and on foot. It was overwhelming.
Then we had lunch and it was off to The Bank of China to exchange money. It is approximately 8.2 quai (or yuan) to the American dollar, so I exchanged $200 and got 850 quai or so. Then we went to “The Friendship Store” which is a 4-story department store like place with everything from pearls, to paintings, to Starbucks, to silk, to whatever. We didn’t purchase anything, because that is where all the tourists go to buy that stuff, and everything is way too expensive. We did however get ideas for what to buy in the coming days and sort of began to gauge prices. Then we of course concluded The Friendship Store visit with Starbucks. Wherever you go, there will always be Starbucks. My caramel frozen frappachino tasted just like the one I might drink in the U.S. Maybe it was a little better.
The day was completed with dinner which may be the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. If things go like this there won’t be any way in God’s green Earth I’ll lose weight as Dr. Strobel has promised. The food melted on the tongue. I think I’m in heaven.
Sunday we got up, had breakfast, and went took a walk. I have no idea what part of town The University is situated in, so I can’t tell you anything about where we walked. However, it was very pretty and enjoyable. We are right next to a bayou, just like the manmade one on Braeswood at the Medical Center. This is basically all sewage, but it’s lined with pretty green trees, pretty cherry trees, flowers, people out playing games and Thai Chi, and many buildings. April is absolutely BEAUTIFUL in Beijing, because everything is blooming. Every major highway is lined with cherry trees (blossoms). They are white, red, pink, and everything in between. I’m totally amazed at how manicured the shrubs are along with the grasses and everything else. It was sensory overload for quite awhile due to the vast amount of people, cars, and buildings. The condo high-rises go on forever. This makes sense, because over 20 million people live in Beijing. So we looked at all the shops, the street vendors, and nonstop people on bikes and on foot. It was overwhelming.
Then we had lunch and it was off to The Bank of China to exchange money. It is approximately 8.2 quai (or yuan) to the American dollar, so I exchanged $200 and got 850 quai or so. Then we went to “The Friendship Store” which is a 4-story department store like place with everything from pearls, to paintings, to Starbucks, to silk, to whatever. We didn’t purchase anything, because that is where all the tourists go to buy that stuff, and everything is way too expensive. We did however get ideas for what to buy in the coming days and sort of began to gauge prices. Then we of course concluded The Friendship Store visit with Starbucks. Wherever you go, there will always be Starbucks. My caramel frozen frappachino tasted just like the one I might drink in the U.S. Maybe it was a little better.
The day was completed with dinner which may be the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. If things go like this there won’t be any way in God’s green Earth I’ll lose weight as Dr. Strobel has promised. The food melted on the tongue. I think I’m in heaven.
2 Comments:
Alright now, there's no need to make fun of me while you're in CHINA! I've heard plenty of people pronounce it "Deee-troit"! Even folks that aren't RELATED to me... maybe???
Sure punkin, I can stop making fun of you while I'm far away learning about socialism. But what's the fun in that? The "folks" back in Texas expect nothing less from me.
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