Hey!  I have a visitor from the US today.  Brad Barnes helped us out at Martin HS with the marching band for several years.  His “real” job is working for DeMoulin Uniforms.  He transferred to Georgia (his hometown area) several years back, and I hadn’t seen him since.  I was scanning Facebook a couple of days ago, and he was talking about packing for a trip to China.  Someone asked him where he was going and he said “Beijing”.  I messaged him, giving him some contact info.  He messaged back and we’re meeting this morning to see the city.

While I’m getting ready to leave, I saw some Facebook posts from Martin HS folks about being enroute to Wichita Falls for a football playoff game with Amarillo High.  I sent a message to Dave Carbone, the MHS director, telling him to give a shout out to Bruce Collins and the other AHS directors.  I’ve known Bruce for years, and he’s a great friend.  Dave sends back a picture with he and Bruce.  Technology is crazy!  Also, Dave was the guy who knew Brad Barnes and convinced him to help us.  They’re friends from way back!  No contact with either of them for a long time, and now I’m trading messages with one, and hanging out with the other one, IN BEIJING, CHINA.  Freaky!

Before we meet, Judy and I travel to the Conrad Hotel to meet the sound guy for the program tomorrow.  We need to make sure there are no surprises when the BISS choir shows up tomorrow to sing.  Gotta make sure our cords will plug in, etc.  It all works great!  Judy heads over to Sanlitun to meet some people, and I head out to my appointment.

I meet Brad at his hotel on the opposite side of Beijing.  It takes an hour and a half with a combination of walking, subway, and taxis.  He decided to take a vacation and wanted to see Beijing, so here he is.  He wants to visit “Eyeglass City”.  It’s one of those areas in Beijing with buildings lined up, full of shops (hundreds) of whatever you’re looking for.  Sure enough, there are hundreds of glasses shops.  We select a shop, walk in, and after a lot of bickering and bargaining, Brad settles on 2 pairs of frames and prescription lenses to go in them.  He also purchased a pair of prescription sunglasses.  He ended up with 3 pair of prescription glasses for a little of $200. 

This is one hallway on one floor of four. They’re all full of eyeglass shops. There are probably seven or eight buildings in the vicinity just like this one.

Which shop do we pick?

Our next stop was the Silk Street Market.  It’s notorious for “knock-offs”, and Brad is looking for some Tag Heuer watches.  He finds what he wants and the bargaining process begins.  The problem with this is that you know these guys are experts at this, and do it everyday, all-day.  If you make a deal with them, I always have that thought in the back of my mind that they would have gone lower if I had been tougher.

After we finish Brad’s buying spree, we take the train to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City for some pictures.  We walk around, enjoying the evening, eventually getting on the train to travel to an area with a better chance of catching a taxi.  I made a bad choice about the right station for a taxi.  None came by that were empty.  We waited for 45 minutes, moving from one corner to another before a taxi finally pulled up.

Back at Brad’s hotel, we make a plan to meet again on Wednesday.  He has a tour of the Great Wall tomorrow.  Monday and Tuesday, he’s traveling to Seoul for some touring.  I head home eventually, trying to decide if maybe Judy or I need some cheap glasses?