SATURDAY, 8/2/14

Today was spent beginning the process of adjusting to our new time zone.  We both woke up around 1:00 am, and couldn’t get back to sleep.  I ended up going downstairs to a 24 hr. convenience store and buying some yogurt to mix with our cereal.  They don’t sell milk at this store.  Judy began the job of unpacking all our stuff.  I began posting our travel expenses and getting organized financially for the month ahead.  We ended up taking a nap around 10:00 am.

We don’t have internet right now.  The year’s subscription ran out on Aug. 28^th.  Our cable tv is going to stop soon also, so I begin to make contact with Lisa, our real estate agent about setting these up for the next year.  I pick up dinner at a local restaurant around 3:00 pm They have good stir fry green beans, seasoned with peppers.  We both begin to “hit a wall” around 5:00 pm, so we hit the sack around 6:00.

SUNDAY, 8/3/14

Today is more of the same as far adjusting our sleep cycles.  Thankfully, nothing pressing is staring us in the face, so we can work when we feel like it, and sleep when the urge hits.  We’re both awake at 2:00 am, and without internet, beginning to feel isolated.  We take care of small jobs here in the apartment, eventually wandering out late in the morning.  Judy wants to get started opening up her classroom, so we taxi to BISS and begin uncovering things.  As soon as we get some of the big stuff done, I get on the school wifi and catch up on emails.  Judy continues straightening the room.  We grab lunch at the small restaurant near BISS, and then head home.

Judy drops me at the apartment and heads over to Lily Nails in Sanlitun.  The cable tv guy is supposed to come by around 1:00.  I guess I slept through his knocking on the door.  I texted Lisa who told me he came by, but no one answered the door.  I was sleeping really hard.  I barely woke when Judy returned.  I rolled over, acknowledged her, and went back to sleep.

Neither of us are fighting too hard against the jet lag, since we’re killing time until Judy starts teachers meetings on Wednesday.  When I finally wake up, I head over to Capita Mall for some KFC.  On the way back I bought a few peaches from a street vendor.  Tomorrow we should get internet, and the cable guy is rescheduled.  Lilly is also supposed to be in to clean.  It could get crowded in here if they all arrive at once.

We’re at the airport gate ready for the flight to Seattle at 6:45 am on American. We’re looking forward to getting back to Beijing and a little boredom. The flight departs on time at 9:05 and arrives in Seattle four hours later. There are some nice views of Mt. Rainier as we fly in. We transfer to our new gate area and get some lunch.

Hainan Airlines is our next airline, and the flight isn’t any better than the flight last year. Judy and I are crammed in the middle two seats of a “four across” middle section. It’s a twelve-hour flight, and the food isn’t very good. After all our flights the past year, we can be a lot more discerning about the quality, and it’s not good. The movies choices are not good either. We are relieved to finally arrive in Beijing. I think I’m going to avoid Hainan whenever possible. It’s hard to pass up the cheaper fares, but memories of this flight will linger.

The flight arrives on time, around 5:40 pm (Friday, Aug. 1). The taxi ride into town is slow due to traffic. When we finally get to our apartment, it is such a relief. The apartment looks great. Lilly has done a good job making sure everything is clean and ready for us, including defrosting the fridge. We find places to set our 5 bags down and open them, but the unpacking will have to take place tomorrow. When we head to bed, it’s been 26 hours since the alarm went off in our hotel in Irving. Neither of us slept much on the plane, so we’re both pretty washed up. We’re too old to do this many more times.

SATURDAY, 7/19/14

Today is our last day on the ship, and it’s spent at sea.  We spend most of the time relaxing and getting ready to disembark tomorrow for our flight to the US.   We have to figure out how to pack since they want our bags set out before 11pm tonight.  We’re flying to DFW, and then on to Baton Rouge for a few days, so we have to figure out what we’re taking to Louisiana, and what we’ll leave in our bags with the kids at DFW when we go through.

It’s been a great cruise!  The excursion days were pretty long, but we’ve seen so much.  This has been a memorable 12 days.

SUNDAY, 7/20/14

We’re eating breakfast at 6:00 am, waiting for the ship to clear customs.  They call our group at 6:40, and we load the bus for the trip to the airport. 

The Schipol Airport is not the easiest airport to navigate.  All boarding passes are self-serve (no desks or clerks), and the lines are long.  Then we get in the line for baggage check, which is also self-serve.  There are big bins where we load each individual piece after we scan our boarding passes.  Each piece is done individually.  If everyone knew how to work the bins, it would go quickly, but most of the people seem to be like us, confused.

We get through immigration, and arrive at the gate around 9:00 am (for a 10:45 flight).  The gate area is entirely enclosed and security scanners are set-up at the entrance to each individual gate area.  Chairs are inside the enclosure, but none are outside.  The gate security doesn’t open until 1 hour before we depart, so we have almost an hour to stand in a line waiting to go through security before we can sit.  People are sitting everywhere on the floor and against walls, waiting for the area to open.  It finally opens and we get through and have a chance to sit down.  I’m curious if it’s more efficient for the airport to have individual gate security or one large security area for the terminal.  This system doesn’t seem easier for the passengers.

The seats on the KLM flight are really narrow.  I know we’ve been on a cruise and might have added a pound or two, but not that much.  We can barely squeeze in.  It’s an uncomfortable 10 hr. flight, even with the additional “5 inch legroom” upgrade we purchased.

The luggage exchange at DFW airport with Courtney works perfectly.  She takes all our big pieces and we keep two smallish bags for the two nights in Baton Rouge.  She drives us over to another terminal for our BR flight and we enjoy another romp through security.  After all our long flights this summer, the one-hour flight to BR is really short.  Robert picks us up and shuttles us to mom and dad’s new abode.  It’s my dad’s 89^th birthday, and Kathryn, Christopher, Susan, Robert, Geoffrey, Nicholas, Judy, and I enjoy a short visit before bedtime.

Now that we’re back in the US, I’m going to take a short breather from blog writing, and pick it up when we get back to Beijing.