I had the day free from work today, but after yesterday’s strenuous sightseeing, I didn’t feel like another big expedition, so I just explored the neighborhood around the hotel, which is really not very far from where my apartment will be. I’ve heard stories both ways about bicycles in Beijing. Some writers said with the…
After a night of on-and-off sleeping, I got up around 8 and started getting ready for a day of being a tourist. In my email was a copy of a Wall Street Journal article about Ticketmaster’s entry into China. Now the world knows what we’re up to. One thing I found interesting was the statement…
On the subject of China, we tend to get inundated with statistics: the biggest this, the most that, and so on. I heard the other day that in Beijing alone, a thousand new cars are on the streets every day. That kind of growth on top of a population of 16 million and a bunch…
Wednesday morning I got up early enough to go downstairs to the hotel’s breakfast buffet, which consists of a variety of Chinese and Western style foods. They have a cereal bar, pastries, an egg station where you can have eggs cooked any way you like, bacon, sausage, and so on, plus fried rice and other…
One of my coworkers says it always seems to take people eight days to adjust to the change in time zones. I would hope for something shorter, but we’ll see. As we rode in from the airport, JW would point out the window and say, “When I first visited here in May, those buildings weren’t…
Location: Kuntai Royal Hotel, Beijing I’m here. My internal clock is all confused — I don’t know what time it is, or even what day. OK, my computer tells me it’s 7am back in Seattle, and the hotel clock says it’s 10pm here. I think we’re both on Monday now… Getting to the airport this…
The other day I was doing some packing, and found myself counting out how many pairs of underwear I would need before leaving, so I could pack any extra that were clean. It occurred to me that this is a sure sign that D-Day (that’s “D” for Departure, or course) is getting pretty close. It’s…
One week to go. At this time a week from today, I will be on an Air China jet somewhere over the Pacific, so I got to thinking about what I’ll miss and not miss about this place that’s been my home for just over twenty years. Things I will miss about Seattle (not exactly…
Starting music: Adrian Belew – Side Three Last Friday was my last day in the office where I’ve worked for the last 17 years, and it was a pretty low-key ending. I mostly spent the day sorting things into piles: box up for shipping to China, recycling, and trash. I’ll admit to a small bit…
I now have a one-way ticket to Beijing sitting on my desk. The symbolism of this object is pretty obvious: I am going somewhere and staying there. This is not a short trip, I will not be a tourist, I am relocating. This is the first time in my life that I have purchased a…