Bing in Beijing

Regrettably, a month in China only taught me two words:

1. Ni hao, which means “Hello” Listen here.
2. Xie xie, which means “Thanks” Listen here.

That’s right – I didn’t even learn the word for “please.” It’s not because I’m rude though; it isn’t commonly used in China.

Apologies for the delay in posting. Although nobody believes me, I feel like I’ve escaped jet lag entirely. Except that it felt like Friday on Thursday… but that happens every now and again regardless of what time zone you keep. I think I kept such odd hours in China that my body hasn’t figured out the difference.

Now that I’m stateside, I’ve been trying to digest how best to sum up the trip… I keep debating, whether I should tell you:

• How I pledge to live differently now that I’m back? Like by taking EXTRA good care of my teeth – a shockingly low priority for the Chinese.
• What I couldn’t have lived without in China? Like the Moleskine book with the super handy subway map.
• The most shocking moments, separated into several categories? Like driving – and the U-turn I witnessed from the far RIGHT lane.
• What I learned to say in Chinese? That list would be embarrassingly short.
• Should I confess how many times I ate at McDonald’s?
• All of the above?

There’s just so much to share, even now that I’m back in the US and not living it every day.

So expect a few more “Bing in Beijing” posts from the stateside as I fill in the details. And keep the questions coming – if there’s anything you want to know, chances are someone else is curious too. I’ll post the answers or Q&As here.

Thanks for the warm welcome home.

One last post to mention the foot massages we had last night… Someone is sending me pictures because you would never believe the experience we had.

We arrived at the massage studio around 2am for a 90-minute massage EVENT that included 9 masseurs, tea, wine (by our request), hammers and fire. And a free pair of silk socks. For $17 USD.

Afterward my whole body felt like marshmallows… I floated into a cab and into bed just after 4am.

Exactly 12 hours til takeoff.

Sipping on champagne at USA House!

I know that it has sounded like a huge party, but volunteering at USA House has actually been a lot of really hard work. We’re celebrating the hard work with foot massages after we close. Last call, please!

My final night in Beijing comes with mixed feelings… I certainly miss the people and comforts of home (like toilets), but on many levels I’m really not ready to leave.

There appears to be a clear and unexpected winner of the Beijing Olympics…television. That’s right, that old medium you thought was on life support, still matters. TV ratings were startlingly high beginning with over 32 million U.S. viewers for the tape-delayed opening ceremony, more than anything on U.S. TV since last winter’s Super Bowl. NBC was certainly buoyed domestically by many factors, including $4 gasoline making vacations practically unaffordable to many people. There was also great drama such as Phelps’ quest gold and records that were broken at what seemed like every other event.
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