Sleepless in Beijing

It is about 2:00 a.m. Beijing time. (All future references to time will be in Beijing time!) Neither Kim nor I were able to sleep much on the 13 hour plane ride here, so we got ourselves in bed around 8:30 p.m. Now we are like kids at summer camp who know we're supposed to be sleeping, but just can't.  We're rattling around our room putting things in their place, and finding places for things.

Here are some quick, (mostly) unedited thoughts about the little bit of China we have experience so far.

I was struck by how very quiet the Beijing airport was.  No musak.  No loud cell-phone talkers.  Not much commotion either.  It was only after we cleared customs and baggage pick-up and passed beyond the secured area that the noise level went up a little bit.  I don't know if this is a cultural difference or not.  It was just noticeable.

We quickly learned that Beijing is a very impressive city.  We drove past the Beijing World Trade center and heaps of other modern buildings.  Wow.

After we got checked in, unpacked a tiny bit, and converted a little bit of cash to Yuan, we walked to a near by grocery store with another couple from our group.  We succeeded in buying bottled water and coca-cola.  It was dusk as as we walked there and back.  We quickly learned that in China, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.  Watch out for all manner of cars, bikes, and mopeds!  But crossing the street was the only perilous part of our trip to the grocery store.  Otherwise it was a safe walk.  In the store, I got a glimpse of what an Acme market must look like to a non-English speaker.  Being able to recognize products by logos and packaging is a great help.

A quick word about the language: I was relieved to find that most of the airport signage had English subtitles.  Most of the  hotel staff here speak English well too.  But I get the feeling that we're in a protective bubble here at the hotel and that if I ventured too far beyond it, I'd be at a real loss to communicate.  

Our language barrier shows up in some funny ways here at the hotel.  We had some minor difficulty asking for "ketchup" at dinner tonight, and another couple asked for their "bill" and got a "beer" instead.  Make mental note: at the end of a meal, ask for "the check" not "the bill."

On the plane ride here.  Kim and I looked at each other and agreed that this is, by far, the craziest thing we have ever done.  More than once we looked at other departures from the Newark airport (like Buffalo, or Orlando!) and thought, "That looks more our speed."  But here we are.   If any idea is being impressed on my heart in the last 48 hours or so it is this: Unprecedented results require unprecedented actions.  

This trip of ours is a stretch beyond our comfort zone.  But we're not here to be on a trip.  We're here to get Jonathan, and he will bring a whole new dynamic to our family.  We (Kim, me, and our children at home) are already being stretched by the newness of all this.  But we believe that God will meet us in the middle of all this, and use it to shape our lives, and the lives of others as well.

Now it's time to try and sleep some more.