travel

Bo and I had to go back to BJ for a couple of days so that he could get his shoulder checked out. The report was good, the x-rays showed that he is healing nicely, and we should be right on schedule for his other surgery in August (to remove the metal plate).

We only spent about 30 minutes at the hospital, so we actually got to do some sightseeing this time! We spent a day at the Forbidden City, which was pretty awesome. All of the trees and flowers were blooming, and the colors were amazing. After we got home, I realized that almost all of my photos were of trees. But I couldn’t help it! They were so gorgeous! I told my mom that I when I move back to the States, I want to landscape my whole yard with Chinese plants and trees. Did I mention I love them?

Here are some photos from our tour of the Forbidden City…

After a long day of tourism, we were amazed to find a “real” Texas BBQ restaurant. Of course we had to give it a try. Here is a photo of my meal… ribs, beans, cole slaw, and potato salad …served on a Texas shaped plate… and actually really delicious.

Or maybe it has just been too long since my last meal at Corky’s.

Warning: If you don’t want to see the gnarly pic of Bo’s staples, be careful how fast you scroll down. I am putting it at the very end of this long post so that you can refrain from looking if you choose. I had to add it on for my dad, though. He loves that kind of stuff…

Well, we are finally back home. FINALLY!! Oh, how I missed Qingdao… beautiful, clean, small Qingdao (okay, there are 4 million people here, but when you compare it to 11 million in Beijing, you start to feel small). It was a long, tiring couple of weeks, but everything went really well with the surgery and now we can try to resume life as usual. Or as close to usual as possible when one of you lacks the use of an extremity.

I can sum up our time in Beijing by saying it was stressful, confusing, frustrating, and exhausting. But that is not all. It was also fun, comfortable, joyous, and a total blessing. And since I have so much to tell you about, I think I’ll start with the fun, joyous, blessing part…

In Beijing, we stayed with the AMAZING Harvey family. They were friends of friends of friends, and welcomed us (perfect strangers) into their home when they heard about our situation. They have a guest room and bathroom in their home that is always ready in case someone needs it. It was so wonderful to have a comfortable, private space to rest as we navigated through so much unfamiliar territory. And I can’t tell you what a blessing it was to have the support and pryers of a like-minded couple during it all. They were what made this roller coaster tolerable. Bo and I agree that in our whole lives, we are not sure if we have ever truly experienced selfless hospitality like we did through the Harveys in Beijing. We showed up at their home and they made us feel like family. Words can’t explain, but He provided what we needed through this family and we are thankful.

Next, I have to mention the Tapleys, our fabulous Australian friends who also happen to be our neighbors. They were the ones who hooked us up with the family in Beijing, advised us about the good hospitals, and were just constantly on-call for anything we needed back in QD while we were away. Tash even had my whole house cleaned for me when I got home last night. Bless her. This family has helped us in so many ways over the past few months, but they were life-savers once again this time and we are so thankful.

Lastly, Bo had his surgery at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) in Beijing. He had excellent care, skilled surgeons and medical staff, a flat panel TV, and a comfy bed. Again, thankful.

Confession: over the last 2 weeks, Bo and I looked at each other a few times and said, “this is the worst thing we have ever been through,” but when I look back at all the blessings and how His hand was totally in control, I can’t help but feel good about everything. It actually makes the stressful, confusing, frustrating, and  exhausting part of the story seem rather unimportant. Maybe I’ll save that part of the story for another post.

For now. pictures…

A broken bone and still Settlin.’ The Harveys are big Catan fans, which was SO great because you might remember that Catan night was high on our to-do list during “the holiday that wasn’t.”

Waiting for surgery, playin’ UNO. Don’t you love the hospital jammies they gave him?

I was bored while I waited for Bo to come back, so I just went outside to snap pics around the hospital.

There aren’t as many as there used to be, but I’m pretty sure Beijing still has the largest bicycle population in the world.

This store was next to the hospital. If you are familiar with my obsession with changing my hair, then you may find the humor in the product sold at my “namesake”…wigs!!

Mom, thought you might want to see the Chinese characters for “library.”

After surgery. They had CNN…we haven’t watched American news in months… woah, depressing.

And here is Bo getting out of jail after 4 days in the hospital. The nurses were SO CUTE!! They all wore little nurse dresses and matching pink cardigans. And the hats completely made the outfit. Loved it!

And finally… the gore.. Bo’s incision… I made the photo really small to try to cut down on the gross factor…

Yuck! For a woman, a scar like this would be devastating. But funny enough, I think Bo is a little proud. The staples come out in 2 weeks. More details later…

Last Sunday, Bo and I  climbed the largest coastal mountain in China, Laoshan Mountain, which is located only about 45 minutes from downtown Qingdao. The scenery was extraordinary because as you are climbing, your mind is blown by the beauty of the mountain on one side of you  and the Yellow Sea on the other. Pictures can’t do it justice, of course, but I tried…

The mountain is known as the birthplace of Taoism and there are several ancient temples at the foot of Mt. Lao, so we decided to take a tour of the Taiqing Palace Temple, the largest one. There are still practicing monks living there (and making a killing on tourism, I might add $$$).

This is the entrance to the temple. As we walked in, I noticed that all of the Chinese people would reverently rub the stone carvings along the sides of the walkway. This is probably considered good luck, because everything here seems to have something to do with luck…

And here is a gorgeous view of the mountain behind the temple…

As we wandered around, I noticed a woman who appeared to be praying and holding burning incense in front of her. When I asked a friend about this, he said that the Taoists will stand before a god (idol) and send good thoughts up to the heavens. Then they will stick the incense into a special censor (incense holder), where it will continue to burn. The idea is that the smoke carries the good thoughts to the heavens. As I was listening to this, I was thankful that my every whisper is even as unto His ear.

And more lucky stuff… this is what we would call a wishing well, a pool of water filled with coins. But here, you do not simply throw your coin in, instead you try to make your coin float. If your coin floats, you are lucky! I thought that this must be impossible, but then I noticed a few coins actually floating on the surface of the water. I hope you can see it.

The last thing I’ll show you from inside the temple is this huge, ancient cypress tree. Of course it was impossible to photograph, due to its size, but I still wanted you to see at least a part of it. This tree is believed to date back to the Han Dynasty, which means that it is over 2000 years old. When I heard this, I immediately thought about the fact that this tree was probably a tiny baby when His Son walked the earth. I have to say, I smiled many times that day as He constantly reminded me of Himself… even in a Taoist temple.

Okay, and now for a few final photos, more random in nature. First, this fruit stand outside of the temple. I have never seen anything like this. Does anyone know what those crazy looking yellow things are?

And finally, in true China fashion (meaning strange sightings), we were totally shocked when we passed a souvenir stand selling hats and saw this… (this is for you Bri-Bri)…

I promise this is real. You can even see the tag on the hat. An Alabama toboggan for sale at a Taoist temple in China. ROLL TIDE!!!

Let me start by saying that I feel really sorry for the people who sat near me on that first flight. After a very tearful good-bye with my family, I pulled myself together, picked up a Starbucks white mocha, and boarded the plane. But about 5 minutes after take-off, the floodgates opened and I cried (the ugly kind) for almost the whole hour. It was pitiful. I’m sure everyone assumed I was afraid of flying. I felt really bad, too, because there was a little kid across the aisle from me who was obviously really scared, and I am pretty sure that my hysterics freaked him out even more. Anyway, I’ve dried it up, and I am doing much better now. I am so excited about seeing Bo tomorrow, but saying good-bye to my family was SO hard. I am going to miss them so much. *sniff, sniff* 

I made it to ATL about an hour ago. I was starving, so I hit Atlanta Bread Co. (appropriate, huh?) and parked myself in a cozy booth where I will be sitting for the next 3 hours. My next stop is LAX. I should arrive there at about 11:00 p.m CST, and that is when this day is really going to get interesting.

Since I have never been on an international fight before, I wanted to be sure I chose my airline carefully. And since Bo had such a fabulous experience flying to China on Cathay Pacific, I booked my flight with them as well. However, I was also somewhat choosy about the domestic flight, but more because of price than luxury, so I ended up having to purchase 2 separate tickets, one ticket from Mphs to LA and one from LA to China.

All this to say that once I arrive in LA, I have to go and claim my massive pile of luggage (with no help), take it to the international terminal (which is in a separate building), check my bags in (again), and then take another spin through security. Fun times!!

Once I get the baggage situation under control in LA, I will settle in for a LONG night. I need to get my days and nights reversed during this trip, so I plan to sleep on the way to LA (with a little help from Tylenol PM), and then stay up ALL night. My flight to China leaves at about 4 a.m. CST, so I am thinking I will need to prop my eyelids open for about 3 hours after take-off. Then, lights out for the remaining 11 hours until Hong Kong.

But for now, I am going to read the newspaper. I missed the debate last night (I had a good excuse, okay?), and I feel like I don’t know what is going on in the world.

More later…

I have to type fast because they just announced that we will be boarding the plane soon. I am at the Memphis airport, and I plan on live-blogging this trip for the next 36 hours.

As for the packing, I pulled it off…

NEXT STOP…ATLANTA…

Yes, it is almost 4 a.m. and I’m still packing. As you know, the airlines allow you to take two 50 pound bags (even though you have to pay for the second one), a carry-on and a “personal item.” Even under normal circumstances, I have trouble constraining myself to these limits, but considering that I am packing for years, not weeks, this is a huge challenge for me.

My carry-on will contain everything I need for the 36 hour journey to China: Change of clothes, toiletries, slippers, etc. And my “personal item” is my laptop that I am strategically packing into a rolling case with plenty of storage space for my books, iPod, camera, phone, etc. Then I am taking a large suitcase and a rolling duffel, which both reached the fifty pound mark a couple of hours ago. Yikes!

I admit it. I am a spoiled American, and I am likely going to experience a huge reality check in the next few months. But tonight, I am struggling to cope. I am leaving behind a ton of stuff, and with each item that I reluctantly add to the “leave” pile, I have to remind myself that my 2 bags will probably contain way more than many of the people in China will own in their lifetime. But it is still hard. I mean, I know I can survive without my Huggable Hangers, but I don’t want to!

Here is a peek at my progress. Notice that my suitcase is already overflowing and my duffel is getting close to max capacity. Everything on the floor still needs to be packed, not to mention the two-and-a-half loads of laundry that you can’t see. This is like putting 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag. But I’m determined, and I’ll let you know how it turns out… in the morning.

One-way plane ticket to China… $1200

FedEx 8 a.m. next day delivery for visa documents… $64 

“Priority-Super-Duper-Express-Plus” Rush service for passport stamp… $300

Seeing him on Monday instead of Tuesday… Priceless.

Here are some pictures to go along with that last post…

(Pictures to follow)

What a weekend! I just got back from a relaxing weekend trip to Kylin Hot Spring Resort, which is about an hour west of Qingdao. The resort was surrounded by countryside of hills, mountains, windmills, and silos. Yep. I found myself back in the (American) south – and it was a great feeling! In fact, I could’ve sworn there had to be some blackberry bushes out there for my grandmother to pick from to make her famous blackberry jelly. Either that or a couple of mobile homes, a fishing bait shop, and an over sized rebel flag billboard that says, “FIREWORKS HERE”. Yep…it was that close to home. My room was perfect – not because of the comfort of the bed or the amenities, but because of the view. In one of the pictures, I did my best to show you my room and the view as I saw it for the first time when I walked in.

I went on this trip with about 15 people from our company. It was just a fun getaway for pure relaxation – no meetings, no business and no politics (the Chinese love to talk politics – despite what you hear); just friendship and fun. The resort was a complete spa, with massages, hot tubs, pools, saunas, good food, and pretty nice rooms. In fact, this is considered a honeymoon destination for many in the Northeastern region of China. It was rejuvenation for me to be able to get away from the daily clutter of life and spend good quality time with my new friends. The first thing we did was run straight for the spa. We first jumped in the hot tub but then got in a pool full of those little fish that love to feed on your dead skin. This is supposed to be healthy for the skin on your feet, but I guess I just don’t care enough about the health status of my feet’s skin to use these pools for therapeutic reasons. The only reason I got in at all was to be able to say that I’ve done it, for photo-ops, and for a good laugh. But this isn’t something I would consider relaxing. Just imagine how it would feel to be barely poked by thousands of needles all over your ankles and feet. If you’ve done this before you know what I’m talking about. If not, you don’t ever need to know. Healthy skin on your feet is not worth the subtle torture.

The rest of the day consisted of swimming in an outdoor swimming pool, table tennis, piano playing, dinner, and card-games. The next morning after a meal of dumplings, boiled eggs, and some unidentified goodies, we left for Qingdao. Overall, it was a great weekend. But hey, any weekend that’s going to make me feel like I’m back in Tennessee, Alabama, or Florida is going to be a great weekend!