Another weekend has arrived. We spend most of the morning trying to decide where to go on our first school break. It stretches from Sept. 27 to Oct. 5. There are lots of choices, but it’s only a month away. I’ve been waiting for our “summer travel” reimbursement to arrive before I book it (and it hasn’t arrived yet). We considered Australia, but it’s too far away (16 hour flight, through Singapore). We’re checking on Taiwan and Malaysia, and both have possibilities.

Judy has some running around to do during the day, and meets friends later in the evening in Sanlitun. The original plan involved husbands joining the group later, but a couple of them changed their mind, so it turned into a “girls night.” I spend the evening perusing travel destinations. We have to get our plans in place for February (Chinese New Year) and Spring Break. One thing we’ve learned is not to vacation in China during a Chinese holiday. Every destination is crowded. Every holiday, new records are set for the number of travelers on trains. As more and more Chinese enter the “middle class”, more are traveling.

One of the families of a BISS faculty member was returning for the start of school a few weeks ago (the husband had arrived earlier). Their flight into Beijing was turned back, landed in Shanghai, took off again and flew back to Singapore, flew back to Beijing, turned back again, etc. They finally made it to Beijing and were allowed to land and unload, but not before they spent 30 hours on the plane (the original flight was scheduled for 6 hours). They never were allowed off the plane, until their final arrival. They never got an explanation. We never heard about it on the news or anyplace else. In the US, it would have been a front-page story, with lawsuits and compensation discussions.