See-Saw, House, Gingerbread Man

I’m beginning to have the first taste of a complete void of understanding of another language. As with almost all foreign languages, the rapid fire pace of words pouring from mouths sounds more like song rather than commands, questions or conversation. We ate airplane food of mayonnaise tossed cabbage, noodles with shrimp and tofu, and a berry cheesecake-like square. I’m preparing myself for a week of replacing a coffee addiction with hopefully a new found appreciation for tea. All I know about tea is that there are particular kinds that you do add milk to and others that you don’t. And that confusing the two could lead to imprisonment. I’d like to learn that lesson on the first day…Walking through the airport Tim identifies the Chinese characters as a see-saw, house and gingerbread man. I get that! Now I just need to remember if house stood for women’s bathroom or men's…
After 28-plus hours of traveling it was great to step foot into the hotel and know that a bed was only hundreds of feet away. Beijing is covered with a thin layer of snow and a bite in the air, none of which seems to squelch the excitement of the group. If anything the cold air has been invigorating, giving us a burst of energy at 1 a.m. Joy, our tour guide, has been friendly, positive and humorous all at the same time. We climb the Great Wall tomorrow. Tiananmen Square has been bumped to Tuesday as the Chinese Congress is convening there tomorrow. Bed calls.
--- Ali Semon