Friday--Beijing

I thought of another problem mom and Aunt Sharon seem to have besides crossing streets.  They both cant remember to not rinse their tooth brushes off in the tap water.  They have each had to boil their brushes.  We could have given them new ones but they said it was fine.   It is probably ok but the water could make them sick.  Better to be safe than sorry.

Today started off with a trip to Cameron's school from 9-12.  He had Sports Day.  His class participated in all kinds of different events and then they had house activities.  Every kid in the school is given a color at the beginning of school...pre k through high school.  Red, green, blue, yellow, or white.  Through out the year they do activities with everyone in their house.  It is a neat idea.  That way the kids interact with all different ages.  It was about 77 degrees and sunny so it was a perfect day.

Spin 5 times and...fall down.  That is what Cameron did.

Cameron threw this giant dart thing the farthest.

50 meter race.

Look at that long jump form.

Why are they playing Christmas songs?
Really, they were.

Cameron is so glad to have visitors.

Taking a break with some friends.

Look at my fairy arms.

Waiting for the tug of war.

Red team won the whole thing.  They pulled 7 times.  They had sore hands.

Alfredo is watching the action.

Cecilia and I are ready for the parent tug.

Best buddies...Alfredo, Cameron, and Manuel.

We headed to Wai Ha again for lunch.  Mom and Aunt Sharon were dying to try their Jameson chicken.  They were not disappointed.  The waitress could not get over how much we all look alike.  After lunch we walked home and waited for Mr. Xue to pick us up.  We drove all around Todd's work to show her what he is doing in China.  We then drove out to the new school where Cameron might go next year.  We then went to the mall to get Subway for lunch tomorrow and to get supplies at the grocery store for this weekend.  Back home to pack up.

At 3:30 I ran to school to pick up Cameron.  Back home he showered and had a snack.  At 4:30 we left to go to the train station.  Todd prepped us for 2 days since we were doing this without him.  We think he was worried about us.  Mr. Xue walked us in and through a turnstile.  Next thing security was over talking to him.  He walked us around security instead of going through like we were suppose to.  No problem...back out and right back through security.  He made sure we knew what we were doing and then left us.  At 5:00 it was "all aboard" time.  We went through to get our ticket punched, grabbed a free bottle of water, out on the platform to find car 5, walked in, found our seat, sat down...easy! 
Once the train started we walked back to the food car.  Aunt Sharon and I were hoping for a beer.  No luck.  Nothing but unidentifiable Chinese snacks.  Yikes.  We all decided we didn't need anything after all.  The train went 286 km/h.  We made it to Beijing in 50 minutes.  That's awesome.  We might start taking the train every time.  Aunt Sharon couldn't believe some of the sites we saw.  The way people live is a big eye opener.

Ready to ride the fast train to Beijing.

Tanggu train station.

Mr. Xue showing us where to go.

Tons of people had the same idea as us.

Finding our train.

Off we go.

Ready to go.

The snack train had nothing good.

The train station in Beijing was huge and full of people.

Once into the station in Beijing we hustled to find a cab.  There were 200 others wanting a cab too.  A gypsy cab driver asked us if we needed a cab and I said yes.  I showed him where we wanted to go and asked how much ( in Chinese).  He told us 200 rmb ($30).  Total rip off but we needed to be at the theater by 7:00 and he said no problem.  He could get us there in 20 minutes.  I also told him to drive fast (in Chinese).  He took me seriously.  Drove a little crazy but we were there in 10 minutes.  Sweet. He pulled into the parking lot and we thought he was going up the steps to the theater but he slammed on the brakes.  The security guy rushed over and said something in Chinese.  We waited at the theater for our ticket lady.  She came running around the corner looking all dis shoveled.  She bought our tickets and we were good to go.  Once inside we went to the bathroom.  It was a squatty potty.  Yes, this should be funny.  We showed Aunt Sharon and she said, "what do I do?  I don't know if I can do this.". She made out ok.  She didn't fall in and no pee on her leg that we know of.  To the snack shack.  We bought m & m's, popcorn, orange juice, diet coke, and 3 beers.  Up to the balcony.  Pretty good seats but it was neater on the ground floor the last time.  The show was good but different than the last time.  Cameron liked it the first time we saw it better.

Red Theater.



I think I heard "Oh crap".

You want me to do what in that?

This kid never moves.

Snacks in hand and ready for the show.

So glad Grandma is here.

The actors.

After the show we had to find a cab.  Only one around and there was a crowd of people talking to the cabbie.  This cabbie ended up hunting us down and he was the only one in sight.  We told him where we wanted to go and he said 80 rmb.  Fine.  But as we started driving he said it was too far so 100.  I was on the phone with Todd.  The cabbie acted like he was going to pullover and kick us out so we said fine to 100.  I said a few choice words but we continued on.  The creepy guy kept looking at me probably because he knew I wasn't happy and I think he thought I put the money back in my purse which I didn't.  Todd was going to meet us out front to deal with the guy but we got back sooner than we thought.  We didn't want to stall or deal with it so we just paid it.

Checked in the hotel and into the elevator we went.  On the way up to the 20th floor Todd said "well, we have one room but there are 3 beds."  Mom said "Whatever.  It doesn't matter." Well, we got to the room and opened the door.  Our room was 2500 square foot, 8 telephones, 4 tv's, 3 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, living room, and laundry room.  The patio outside was on 2 sides and was huge.  Great view of Beijing.  This place was awesome. 

One side of the patio.

The other side of the patio.

One room.

Dining room and kitchen.

Our bathroom.

Master bedroom.

Dining room, living room, and hall down to master bedroom.

Todd got to the hotel a little bit before us after Mr. Xue took a wrong turn and went 40 minutes the wrong way.  He ordered Annie's pizza, wings, salads, and Alfredo to get delivered.  It arrived at 9:45.  We ate and then went to bed.  We had an early morning.

Enjoying dinner.

Cameron is ready for bed.