April 4, 2006

Hong Kong to Beijing

            My trip to Beijing got pushed back a few hours due to mix ups at the airport, so, this first morning, I had a little bit more time to take a last glace at Hong Kong.  I really didn’t need to go far, my main goal for the morning as to make some phone calls home ,and to get my post cards out, and possibly another visit to Starbucks. 

            When I sat down to breakfast this morning, Meghan, Sam and Jen just laughed at me.  Nothing was working out right.  I had only gotten 3 ½ hours of sleep the night before, and had some how lost the ability to get my food to my mouth, or walk without tripping.  I was afraid this was going to be the beginning of a long week in China.  I was exhausted, and my trip to Beijing hadn’t even begun yet!  

            I survived breakfast, getting all of my errands done, including the Starbucks pit stop, and was on the bus to the airport.  On the way to the airport we had to fill out customs forms, departure cards, and quarantine cards.  Since we were going from Hong Kong to China, it was the same as leaving and entering a new country all together.  Our guide that was in charge of getting us from the ship to the airplane was very panicky about everything.  He was worried we would fill out the quarantine form wrong and be stuck in Hong Kong for a few more days.   Even with all of his panicking and rushing, we all made it onto the jet.  This jet was the largest one that I have flown on with a Semester at Sea trip.  I luckily had a seat next to the window, and was prepared to watch the world fly by beneath me.  Before we had actually left the ground however, I was out.  I slept all the way until we touched down in Beijing, China.  When I woke up, I heard from everyone how I missed the one great meal of airplane food, ice cream and all, but I still think they all missed out on some good airplane sleep!

            Back in the airport, we all were trying to stay together so we could go through immigration and customs together.  This never seems to work out because there are always those pushing ahead and those falling behind.  Pam, our trip leader, was getting a little stressed out, and the trip had only just begun.  As we were going through immigration, one girl realized she had lost her passport some where between the air plane and the immigration desk.  Pam really wasn’t sure what to do now, we had a tour guide waiting for us after we got through immigration, but she couldn’t leave this girl behind, so she asked me to go ahead and let our guide know that we were coming.  I found the girl that was suppose to be our tour guide, but she didn’t speak very much English, so it took a little while to communicate that the group was coming, but that we had a slight delay.  Our group slowly trickled through, but we were now an hour off of our schedule.  The girl did find her passport, she left it on the plane seat, and lucky for her, it was still sitting there when she went back.  By the time we had all gotten through immigration and found our group, our second tour guide, Fred, was at the airport.  We kept walking one way and then turning around.  We asked him what was going on and he said he didn’t know how to get out of the airport, and we were all just following him blindly. 

            Once we got outside, we did a little of the same routine as neither of our guides knew where the bus was parked, but we finally found it.  Once we were on the bus, both of our tour guides made their introduction, and we learned that they were not tour guides, but students from the university.  Leah was an undergraduate student in business, and had been in the area for two years, and Fred was a graduate student and had been in Beijing for less than a year.  Our driver, we call him Flat Top, we really know nothing about, but he was the best bus driver from any trip! 

            We were supposed to have an hour city tour, but because of our delay at the airport, we did not have the time anymore, so we headed straight to our hotel.  On the way to the hotel, as I watched the scenery go by, I realized that China had the most beautiful trees I have ever seen!  I asked our students what they were and I got different responses, but either way, I want some of those trees!  I was told they were cherry blossoms and then that they were peach flowers, either way, they are beautiful!

            At our hotel, the Long Du Hotel, we got our room keys and made our way o the third floor.  As soon as the elevator door opened, almost everyone fell over.  The smell that greeted us was so strong that our nostrils were burning.  It was some sort of chemical, but we didn’t know what kind.  As we walked closer to our rooms, the smell got stronger and we noticed all of the hotel personnel were wearing gas masks.  (They forgot to tell us to pack our gas masks!)  Our rooms were all at the other end of the hotel, in the haze of the fumes.   By the time we finally found our rooms, everyone was complaining of a headache.  The room was not much of an escape from the vapors.  We were going to be at the hotel for an hour, and then head to dinner.  The hotel room let a lot to be desired, but I figured we would only be there to sleep, so it wouldn’t be so bad.  I walked into the bathroom, and was a little bit more grossed out.  The shower curtain was completely covered in black mold spores, and we had a few visitors waiting for us there as well.  The cockroaches seemed to keep to their corner, but it still made me want to leave that hotel.  Once again I reminded myself that we are not in the USA, and they have different standards here.  I got ready for dinner and headed down stairs.  Once down stairs, I was planning on mentioning to our trip leader that the room was kind of disgusting, but as the elevator door opened, I could tell by the complaints that everyone’s room was disgusting.  We were all trying to be optimistic about it all, reminding ourselves that we were in China after all! 

            We loaded on the bus to head over to Renmin University, and Flat Top got us there in no time at all!  (This trip was supposed to be a university stay.  We were supposed to be staying on campus with university students and hanging out with university students when ever they weren’t in class.)  We had dinner on campus in one of the banquet halls, but there were no university students there waiting for us.  Once we started eating, Fred told us we were going to meet up with them later that night.  I was already exhausted and wondered how long “later” would be.  Our dinner was this buffet of about 20 different foods to choose from, most of them we could tell what they were, but there were a few that not even Fred would touch.  The food really was good and surprisingly tasted like the Chinese food at home.  I was really expecting some different flavors, but it was a lot of rice and noodles with sauces meats and vegetables.

            After dinner, we headed over to the center of campus where the students hang out.  There were a group of students there waiting for us.  Fred was like, “Here are some students from America, talk to them”, and he backed away, and we all kind of looked at each other, and then everyone was talking to who ever else was around them.  I talked to two Chinese girls, one named (with the English names they gave themselves) Tina, and another named Maggie.  They wanted to know what it was like having a sibling while growing up and the kinds of games that we played.  They are all an only child, due to the Chinese law forbidding families to have more than one child.  They told me about their university, and how they hoped to come to the USA some day, and how they wanted to see New York, and Los Angeles.  They asked what else I was going to be doing in China, and warned me that it would be cold and to bring a jacket.  It is so strange to go from 100 degree weather to 30 and 40 degree weather in less than a week!  It was probably in the low forties that night, but we stayed outside and talked for an hour before heading back to our hotel.  We all exchanged email addresses and said goodbye. 

            Back at the hotel, I just wanted to sleep.  I was so tired from already being low on sleep, but also from traveling and being cold.  I walked through the gas chamber, back to my room.  When I got there, my roommate told me she was checking out of the trip and would be back the day we fly to Quindao, China, to catch the ship.  After she left, I thought maybe I would watch the news, find out what was going on in the states, and then maybe fall asleep.  I got ready for bed, had a cup of tea, tried the TV, but that didn’t work, read a little bit in my book, and then crawled into bed.  This bed was the hardest bed I have ever slept in.  I might at well have been sleeping on a sheet of plywood.  There was absolutely no give, and the bed was so uncomfortable.  I also laid there freezing for a while before I finally got up and put on my black fleece sweatshirt and some socks.  I tried again to fall asleep, but had to luck.  At 4:30 in the morning I was so frustrated by the fact that I was so tired and so uncomfortable that I couldn’t fall asleep.  By this time I had a horrible headache, and my head was all stuffed up.  My sinuses hurt and I couldn’t stop sneezing.  I had defiantly gone to bed without a cold, so I was more than a little confused as to why all of a sudden I felt so miserable.  Morning could not come soon enough.  The last time that I finally saw go by on my watch was 5:30 am.  The next thing I knew my alarm was going off at 7:00 am.  An hour and a half was not enough to call a night sleep.  I tried to be optimistic anyways, after all, I was going to the Great Wall today!

April 5, 2006

The Ming Tombs and the Great Wall

            When I got up I could barley breath, I was so stuffed up.  I went to get changed into my clothes for the day and realized that my black fleece was covered in cat hair.  The people that stayed in that room before me must have had a cat with them and the hotel had not changed the sheets in between us.  This really grossed me out.  Who knows what I slept in or rather tried to sleep in all night.  I put the sign out on my door for someone to clean my room, hoping that maybe the sheets would get changed.  I went down to breakfast and took one look at everyone else and realized that nobody had had a good nights sleep.  We had a breakfast of hard boiled eggs, sea weed, bean curd, noodles and soy milk.  I tried the noodles and really did not like them, so I tried the soy milk, and decided that would have to be breakfast.  The eggs were not cooked all the way through, and with the risk of avian flu every where, eating half cooked slimy eggs was out of the question.  The bean curd and seaweed did not even look edible, so, that pretty much sealed the deal on the soy milk breakfast.  The soy milk was actually really good, the best soy milk I have ever had! So, I am glad that I liked that at least.  I told Pam about my room situation, and she agreed that she was no so impressed with our hotel either, and she had no idea why we were staying here, it really was unlike SAS to put us in this kind of a hotel. 

            We all loaded on the bus and realized we were two people short of our group.  There were about five people that had checked out of the group, like the girl that was supposed to be my roommate.  We waited on the bus for 30 minutes trying to figure out where they were before we decided to just leave.  We really were not supposed to wait at all, the policy is that if you want to do the stuff on the itinerary, you just have to be at the meeting point on time.   So, we finally left.  Our first stop was to be the Ming tombs, which was about 2 hours away.  We were about 15 minutes away from the tombs when Fred received a call from his supervisor.  Apparently, the two girls that we had been waiting for and over slept, so they called Fred’s supervisor to find out where we were.  This had gotten Fred in trouble, so we had to stop at this Jade shop for an hour and a half for them to meet up with us.  Flat Top was afraid that if we went to the Tombs, there would be so many people there that they would never find us.  So, we spent an hour and a half looking at over priced Jade everything.  They took us on a tour and showed us how they clean and carve the jade.  After waiting for an hour and a half, the two girls still weren’t there, and now we only had 30 minutes to see the Ming tombs, so we decided that we had to go without them.  When we got to the tombs, the girls were right there waiting for us.  Everyone on the bus was pretty upset that they had wasted our time that we were supposed to have at the tombs.  Once we were all in the tombs, we were waiting for Fred to come in so he could tell us what everything was.  We waited for a little while, but Fred never came in, and our time was running out, so we decided to just keep walking on our own.  All the signs were in Chinese, and we had no guide so, everyone took turns making up a story for what everything was.  It was entertaining, and it is good that we made the best out of what we had, but it was disappointing that we had paid for this trip to Beijing and didn’t even have a guide to tell us what things were.   As we were leaving the tombs and walking back to the bus, just outside the gate to the tombs, there were all these venders yelling at us to stop at there little shop.  As you walk by they literally grab on and pull you to their stand.  The only thing this was good for was that you could get a good price by simply walking away and saying that you were going to go to another vender.  I got a t-shirt for what I thought I was paying $4, but this was my first experience being scammed.  I didn’t even realize what had happened until I got back on the bus with my t-shirt.  We had agreed to a price of 30 Yuan, which is about $4, so,  I handed the land a 20 Yuan, and went to reach for a 10 Yuan, and when I looked up, she was saying that I only gave her a 1 Yuan, not a 20 Yuan, and I though maybe I actually had given her a 1 Yuan, so I gave her a 50 Yuan instead and got 20 Yuan back.  So, I ended up paying $5 instead of $4, which is still cheap for a t-shirt, but it defiantly made me more aware of what to be on the look out for!  So, luckily, it was a cheap lesson to learn. 

Once we were all back on the bus, we headed to a restaurant for lunch.  Before we were allowed to go into the restaurant for lunch, first we had to go through this whole sales pitch on these copper and enamel vases and ornaments.  It would have been really neat, until we found out that the workers were getting paid about $1 an hour, and the vases were selling for about $200.  This place was defiantly set up for tourists!  Everything was so expensive!  We finally got to go to lunch after about our thirty minute sales pitch.  The meals here are fun because all these dishes are put on a big Lazy Susan, and you just spin it and take what you want, so we never had to decide what to order, a whole variety was always available!  The only weird thing was that you have to pay for a bottle of water with the meal, but you can get a bottle of coke or sprite for free.  After lunch, of course they provided us with another 45 minutes to “look around” and shop.  I met a Chinese gentleman, and he just wanted to practice his English, so I helped him learn a few new phrases to use on his future customers. 

            We were all very excited as we loaded back on the bus; we were finally going to the Great Wall!  This is what we had all been waiting for!  It was a 30 minute bus ride, and as we got closer, we could see the Great Wall forming in the distance.  The buzz on the bus got loader and loader as we approached. 

             As soon as we got off the bus, all the venders lining the street were yelling at us to come and look at their stuff.  Most people did go look, since it was so cold and they were selling sweatshirts.   Fred lead us to what he thought was the entrance twice before we finally started out trek up.  He said that he had never been to this segment before.  We finally made it in, and let me tell you, it was amazing!  It was so incredible to be climbing the Great Wall!  We spent three hours there, climbing up and up and up!  The stairs were so steep!  When we first got there, it was really crowded, but the higher we climbed the fewer the people.  It took about an hour to hike up.  The view is unbelievable and just to be on the Great Wall is incredible!  It was one of the best afternoons!  My friends Sherry and Nicole hiked up with me.  Nicole is from Canada, and Sherry is from New York.  I spent most of my time on this trip with them.  (I also taught both of these girls how to play Mafia in Vietnam.)  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

            We drove for about an hour, and then we stopped for dinner.  This dinner was our Peking duck dinner.  It was good, but a little bit greasier than how I usually have it, but still good!  We were instructed to wrap the duck up in rice paper with thick soy sauce and strips of green onion.  It tasted really good this way! 

            The day really was an excellent day, beyond all the delays and poor start.  I was so exhausted by this point, and we were still supposed to go to the university to interact with the university students.  I decided to sign out of the trip and just go back to the hotel and try to sleep.   Our whole group went back to the hotel, and I decided to check my room to see if I had clean sheets while Fred, my translator, was still there.  I checked my room, and they were defiantly still the same sheets.  I told Fred what was going on, and he was shocked, so he came down to check it out.  Once he saw the sheets he called the front desk to come up and change them.  Two ladies came up, they looked at my bed, I pointed out the hair all over it, and Fred translated that I would like the sheets changed, and then it was a 45 minute ordeal of Fred and them going back and forth until they would change them. 

            Finally I had a clean bed, even though it was still unbearably hard.  I drank a cup of tea, had a long hot shower, and tried to be as relaxed as much as I could.  I decided to take some Benadryl to help clear up my head a little and to help me sleep. I was really hoping to finally get more than three consecutive hours of sleep.  

            It was a good thought, but three hours later, I was still lying there, and now I had a headache all over again, so I took my headache medicine and finally fell asleep some time later!  I guess the headache medicine is the trick!

April 6, 2006

The Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City

            I started my day with less than four hours of sleep, a nice bowl of hot soy milk.  Walking through the hotel lobby doors, I was greeted with freezing cold winds and gray skies.  We loaded up on the bus, not waiting for anyone that over slept.  As our bus pulled up in front of the summer palace, Fred jumped out and got our tickets.  As we fumbled through the throng of venders, we reached the entry gates for our tour. 

            Once we were inside, it was so cold that nobody really wanted to stand still for very long.  We learned that this was where royalty went for the summer.  We got to see lots of big empty rooms and signs in Chinese telling us what this or that room was used for.  As you can see my biggest problem appeared to be the whole factor about not being able to read Chinese.  So, I have lots of pretty pictures of the palace, and I am sure when the palace was in its prime, it was even more beautiful.  They had plenty of pink trees scattered throughout the estate, so I really enjoyed the scenery.

            Nicole and I were beyond freezing and we still had another 45 minutes until the bus was scheduled to leave.  Most of our group had already left to find a warm place to defrost.  We decided to head back to the bus and at least be out of the rain to wait our 45 minutes.  As we approached the bus, we saw a McDonalds across the street, and we both thought the same thing; Hot Chocolate!  As we made our way over to the McDonalds, we realized that that was the warm place the rest of our group had found.  I really was planning on not going to any McDonalds on this voyage, but the snow falling down outside was enough to convince me that a nice warm dry McDonalds offering Hot Chocolate would be a great haven.  Once inside, we were fortunate they had a picture menu available, as nobody understood us, and we didn’t understand them.  The Hot chocolate hit the spot though, so I guess that is all that really matters. 

            Once we had all warmed up a little bit more, it was time to head back to the bus.  On the bus, Fred told us our schedule had been changed and next on our agenda was lunch.  As the tradition had been, we had to go through this whole sales pitch before we could eat.  This time our sales pitch came from a pearl “factory.” They actually had a waterfall and pool off to the side where they had live oysters.  The lady in charge of selling us all on pearls had someone pick any oyster out of the falls.  There were 12 pearls inside the oyster!  We got a whole speech on how to tell is a pearl is real and how to pick good quality pearls.  The only problem with this place was that it was way to pricy.  We all smiled and nodded and suffered through until they will finally let us go have lunch.  Lunch was a lot of the same; rice, noodles, some vegetables and meat with sauce. 

            After lunch, we once again braved the cold.  We were off to see Tiananmen Square.  Tiananmen Square is considered a historical marker because of all of the students that were run over by army tanks for peacefully protesting Moa and his government.  The funny thing is, Fred could not tell us anything. He even avoided all of our questions about the event, like he wasn’t allowed to talk about it.  That is when I realized how controlled these people still were by the government. The more that I talk with locals the more obvious it is to me that these people only hear and know what the government wants to, there is no freedom.  The people only know the good things that Moa did, and all the rest just dies with the past.  I really can’t believe how much the people here worship Mao; they really think he was the greatest guy ever.  We went into the “Mao shrine” which was a whole building dedicated to him.  We went through this huge long line, and once we got inside, we were told that it was actually his body that was laying in here.  As we entered the doors, all talking stopped; it was silent except for the mourners.  Mao died in 1976.  There are still people crying over his body!  Our first sight inside was huge statue of Mao in uniform with about a thousand roses that these people had laid at his feet.  Some how the government was successful in wiping everything bad Mao had ever done from the minds of the Chinese people.  We slowly made our way into the next room, and there he lay, in his uniform.  We were told later that he is lowered down into an ice box each night to help preserve him and then raised back up during the day for his mourners to come and look at him.  It was all a little weird.  Once we were outside again, it felt like the temperature had dropped another ten degrees, and my thin fleece just wasn’t doing the job of keeping me warm.  I bought one of those big furry hats, and the first thing I did, was to de-communize it by taking the red star off.  Once the hat was on, I did feel a lot better. 

            We then headed into the Forbidden City.  Someone had gone out and gotten us some plastic ponchos to wear, since it was once again sleeting and snowing.  As we made our way over to the entry gates, we saw the Chinese military training, as well as China’s Basketball team (surprisingly, they are all very tall).  Once we were actually in the Forbidden City, our group was split in two.  We were given a guide provided by the Forbidden City itself.  The lady’s English was broken, but she tried!  She pointed out the different rooms of the empire and their uses.  The Korean students that we have seen at every attraction were also there, they must be on the same schedule as us.  The Forbidden City ended with a beautiful garden. 

            After a 15 minute walk back to the bus, we headed for dinner and our evening of entertainment at the Peking Opera.  Even as we approached the huge restaurant with the Peking Opera attached, the hagglers were right there to greet us.  Dinner was actually a buffet tonight, and we were not the only group in the banquet hall.  There was also a group of Germans and a group of French also there to enjoy the mystic of the Peking Opera. 

            The Peking opera is famous simply because it is so bad and pathetic that it is hilarious!  Usually, the plot is weak, the singing is bad, and the makeup is hideous.  The good part is they usually throw lots of acrobatics into the performance to make up for the fact that everything else is atrocious.  Since the whole performance was in squeaky Chinese singing, and we all just read digital sign board that translated the singers’ song. The end was a grand finally of flips and acrobatics.  Luckily, I bought a program, so I could understand what the plot was suppose to be, even though it was still a bit pathetic. 

            Back on the bus, we only had a 30 minute ride back to our hotel for one more miserable night.  This time I decided not to fight for my precious sleep, and just took my headache medicine to start up with.  Finally, I got more than 4 hours of sleep!

Beijing to Qingdao

This morning as we got up, picked at our breakfast and tried to check out of the hotel, we ran into a few problems.  The first problem was that several room keys were missing and neither roommate wanted to accept the blame so we stood there until they decided who would pay the fee.  Then we realized that we were still missing two students in the group.  We couldn’t just leave them behind because first of all, all of their stuff was still in the room, but secondly, since we were checking out, the hotel would not hold on to their passports any longer.  We were flying to the port city of Qingdao later that day, and nobody wanted to be the one to carry 2 passports on them in a communist country.  The other problem is that if we did take their passports with us, then the only way for them to get back to the ship was to take a 10 hour taxi ride over to the port, and that would be one expensive taxi,. even in China.  We waited for over an hour and one kid did show up, so he apologized packed up, checked out and got on the bus, and then the waiting game continued as we waited for the last patron.  It was getting more and more frustrating because we were suppose to make a stop and spend time at the Temple of Heaven before we flew out.  Pam, our trip leader was stuck in a hard spot.  She couldn’t stay behind and wait for this girl to come, because she was the trip leader and she had to go with the majority, but she couldn’t go because she still had this girl’s passport.  One guy in the group that had done a lot of independent travel throughout the week said that he had already visited The Temple of Heaven, and he volunteered to stay behind and wait until the absolute last minute sand then he would catch a taxi to the airport for the flight.  We all thanked him profusely and we were finally on our way. 

            Since we had wasted so much time waiting we only had 30 minutes of the original two hours that we were suppose to have left.  We got to walk around the gardens but we didn’t have time to actually go in the temple, so we quickly took our pictures, bounced through the hagglers (Think of a pin ball machine), and loaded back on the bus for our short trip to the airport. 

We were running slightly behind schedule as it was, so everyone was a little stressed out and not so much fun to be around at this point.  The kid that we had left behind at the hotel showed up a short time later with the girl’s stuff in tow, she still had not showed up.  Lucky for us, the dean from SAS just happened to be in the airport, as he had been traveling too.  Pam asked him what she was suppose to do, and he was like, well just give your tour guide her stuff to wait for her to come and she was like, um, we never got a tour guide.  Then he suggested that she leave it with our travel agent, and once again he had to gently remind him that we never got a travel agent either.  Obviously something had gone wrong on our tour and we were suppose to have a guide and an agent, but we some how missed those two important factors.  He motioned for another travel agent from another group to come over and Pam was finally relieved of this extra baggage and passport. 

            Once we finally found our gate, we realized that we had 30 minutes until our boarding time and that we were all hungry.  The noodle shop really did not sound good to anyone, but the ice cream store was sounding better and better all the time.  I think what we all needed was a good healthy dose of Chocolate.  Our next problem was that the chocolate ice cream drum stick tasted so good, that we all decided another one wouldn’t hurt.  It was getting time to board the jet and we had all learned from past experience that ou do not want to be near the end of the line when getting on the plane.  Since we are not allowed to check any bags, it is first come first serve with the over head bins, and they go quickly.  Not many people understand the concept of packing light, plus you have to factor in all of the big furry hats, pearls, coats and whatever else people bought.  As we all stood in line, anxious to get back to our nice warm, clean, comfortable ship, there was an announcement over head in Chinese.  Not long after we got the translation, the plane was delayed.  An hour later and another chocolate ice cream drumstick, we were informed that the air plane would be delayed for an additional four hours.  At this point, we were all tired, frustrated, hungry and cranky.  This last announcement was enough to make us all want to cry.  As we continued to sit there in our misery, the one girl that had been missing all morning cam running in, she was the only one glad to see that the plane had been delayed.  We all wanted to know what had made her so late, but most of us were still upset about missing the Temple of Heaven that morning.  Pam did go talk to her about the whole morning, as there were consequences for her actions.  The story ended up being nothing but a result of stupidity.  She had gotten so drunk the night before that she didn’t know where she was when she finally did wake up, and it took her a while to retrace her steps to get back to the hotel and then get back to the airport and then to find the travel agent to get her stuff and passport, and ticket.  I think she knew she was responsible for some people’s unhappiness for the morning. 

            We all sat there, trying to find ways to entertain ourselves when some looked at the board and saw that our gate number had changed. There was never an announcement, so we asked around (which is not an easy task when you don’t speak Chinese) and finally figured out that yes, our gate had been changed.   We gathered our stuff and dragged it to the other side of the airport.  The one good thing is that it gave us plenty of time to catch up with everyone else and their trip.  But with the good, comes the bad.  They all told us how their hotel was so beautiful and so comfortable and clean, and how wonderful it was.  They all wished they could stay more nights in their hotels.  Who ever in SAS booked our hotel really dropped the ball on this one. 

            Finally we got our boarding call.  The Chinese men decided they were too good to wait in line and cut most of us, pushing us to the back.  Getting on the plane last is bad, especially when everyone is already cranky and tired and hungry.  Once we were on the plane we prepared ourselves for the short one hour flight, and a hot meal.  We were assured that all Asian flights serve meals, regardless of the flying time.  Well, someone didn’t give our stewardess’ this memo! A bag of peanut and a sprite later, we were finally landing and back on the ground.  Everyone was so tired, we just wanted to get back to the ship.  There were about 350 SAS students at the airport that all just wanted to get back to the ship, and to some food and maybe to their beds.  We got our group to quickly assemble and rushed out to the bus, trying to convince our bus driver that we needed to go quickly to get back to the ship so we didn’t have to wait in line forever.  WE thought all was well until the English translator came on board and told us that we have to go in the numerical order of the busses.  We were bus number 9 out of 9, we would have a long wait that night.  Approaching the ship, we could already see the line stretch further and further away from the ship.  It was like move in day all over again, with everyone and their bags.  The reason the line takes so long is because each time you get back on the ship the security guards have to open and go through each bag before you can get back on the ship.  After wating in line for 2 hours, it was finally my turn.  The guy went through everything, so then I ahd to repack my bag before I could haul it uo  the gangway, which was on Deck five, so 76 steps to the top, and the stops seemed longer and longer with each step.  Meghan was nice enough to come out when the bus came in and keep me company for my long wait.  Once we were inside, I had to go upstairs and hand in my passport and go through immigration.  I was just so tired, I didn’t have any more energy to wait in any more lines, or deal with any more people cutting in front of me.  I stood their patiently and waited my turn.  Meghan could see that I really wasn’t doing well and offered to take my bag down to my room for me, I let her.  Back down stairs, we were informed that there were box dinners waiting for us, since we had already missed dinner.  I went to get my box dinner, told the guy my trip number, and he told me that there is no box dinner for my trip, because we were suppose to get back at 4:30 that day, not 11:00 pm.  I looked at him and almost started crying.  I was so tired and so hungry and so frustrated wit this day, and now I didn’t even get dinner because they didn’t hear that our plane had been delayed.  The guy took one look at me and knew that I was about to break down.  He was like, wait right here, I will go see what I can do.  He came back ten minutes later and said that he just heard that our plane had been delayed and that they were trying to arrange something for us now, and that in 15 minutes there would be an announcement with where to go.  I was really temped to just give it all up and go to bed for the night, but the growling in my stomach wouldn’t let me sleep. 

            Fifteen minutes later, true to his word, there was an announcement to go to the dinning hall, as they had food ready for us there.  I didn’t waste any time, and for the first time all day, something good happened.  They served us hot steaming pizza.  I really didn’t feel like having a conversation with those around me,  I was just to tired, and all they could talk about was how wonderful their trip was.  I wasn’t in the mood to deal with people at that time, so I ate my pizza, and went to bed, knowing tomorrow would be a better day. 

Qingdao

            The next morning I got up early, feeling much better than I had in a long time.  I was on my way to go explore Qingdao, and to go do a home stay, where I could met some locals and see how they live.  I had a good breakfast of cold cereal and fresh fruit and was out the door.  For some reason the whole thing about China being cold had escaped me once again, so a group of friends and I all huddled together, waiting for the bus to arrive.  The bus came and we were on our way.  we visited three different homes who all served us tea and let us see their homes.  They told us about a typical day and showed us pictures of their families.  I gave them each a gift for sharing their homes, one of the trivets Jamey had sent with me.  They all loved them and kept running their fingers over the fine wood.  They were so excited over this gift and kept bowing with their appreciation. 

            After the family visit, our guide showed us some of the local architecture and explained the history of the German rule in this area for a while.  They really had a lot of influence in this area.  She also pointed out a couple of local markets and let us briefly browse through one market. 

            Back on the ship, I ate a quick lunch, and then Maria, Brandy, Meghan and I were off to go on our own Market adventure.  I was starting to get a little panicked by this point.  I really wanted to get all of my bridesmaids their jewelry for my wedding on this trip, and I knew exactly what I wanted; now I just have to find it.  I was assured that China is the place for what I was looking for.  I was running low on time as it was already 1:30 pm , and the ship was leaving that night.  I also had no cash and was quickly learning that Visa is NOT everywhere you want to be.  So, first I needed to find an international ATM, and then I needed to find the jewelry.  We got to the market and there were no ATM’s that would work with any of our cards, so we got another taxi to take us to the biggest bank in town, hoping they would be able to help us.  I was getting more and more nervous as I realized that this machine would not accept my card either.  Another SAS student sitting in the bank told me that the only thing that was working was if you take money out using your credit card, so I knew what I had to do.  (I made a mental note to call my mom right away to let her know so the interest would not accumulate.)  I got money for Meghan and I since her card wasn’t working either.  Maria happened to have her passport with her, so all the students that had US dollars flocked to her to change their money for them (A passport is required in more countries to change money).  Another 40 minutes later and we were finally out the door and back in the direction of the market.  Once inside, we fumbled around the mass quantities of venders and stuff until we finally reached the booth that had every thing that I needed; Pearls pearls, pearls! 

            We stayed at the market until they kicked us out, our arms full of knock off purses, wallets and pearls.  We headed back to the ship for our final check in for this country, and we were off to dinner.  I was sure that the only thing that I wanted to do for the rest of the day was sleep, and I needed to do it quickly!  We only had two days before we would be in Japan.