Beijing or Bust

Greetings from Beijing, home to the finest air pollution problem and best-preserved body of a former dictator.

Getting here was no treat. Delay upon delay followed by an outright cancellation made for a very unhappy me on Saturday. I knew this trip would be grueling, but I had no idea I would have to add on missing one whole day, canceling appointments and rescheduling all of them to fit into our cramped schedule to the mix.

Sunday's flight out was uneventful but jam-packed with what I think were a bunch of TB patients. It was most likely just a result of the poor air quality riddling their lungs. It's amazing I didn't puke at least three times on the plane with all of the hacking and spitting and other disgusting-ness on-board.

So far everything has been fine. In fact, better than I ever could have anticipated. Great meetings. Nice hotel. Interesting cuisine (I miss my Chinese buffet, but I knew that the food would be...different). Did I mention great meetings?

Initial thoughts on Beijing:
* It's urban. I expected something not quite as built up.
* The toilets work well (I really expected less, seeing as how I almost stepped into one in Nagoya last year).
* The grasp of the English language by those I would expect to not understand is amazing.
* The lack of understanding by those who I would expect to understand is equally as amazing.
* I think I ate something I shouldn't have. I am...(wait for it)...amazed that I didn't have one bit of problem with it (digestion-wise), but am still refusing to contemplate just what animal I may have unknowingly (and a bit involuntarily) consumed.

Because we couldn't get a flight home tonight or any time tomorrow, we're here for another day. Which means tomorrow is our sightseeing day, to which I'm looking forward. We'll hit all the big ones (Mao included), which means I will have seen things I only thought I would ever read about.

I am beginning to think I am my very own Travel Channel.