So the journey starts

I am currently trying to stay awake since I was told not to sleep or I never will again, slightly paraphrased. I figured now was as good a time as any to start this.

Many people have requested I write a blog for various reasons. Since I am uncertain whether the primary interest is being constantly updated with my life, living vicariously through me to experience China, or because people really love baby stories I will try and do a little of each. Right now I have a couple of days of free time, but I make no promises about consistency of reporting after I get to Maria's Big House of hope because I honestly have no clue what is happening after that. I have had little idea of the specifics of my endeavor throughout my experience thus far. Anyways, day one: warning, I tend to talk a lot

Leaving people you love at the airport, knowing you won't see them for a long time sucks!!!! If you are planning to do so, be forewarned. Second important note, when you enter China you have have to have a booked return flight. If you don't you will be scrambling trying to buy one before they let you board your flight. Luckily there are refundable options if you don't know your return trip dates. If you do this you will probably spend your long flight concerned that when you get to China they won't let you in because of some other thing you didn't know you needed. A 14 hour flight is also good for considering how much you will miss those people you love, and how little you are prepared for the country you are going to. I, instead of having time to plan for china, graduated nursing school, took a summer anatomy and phys course, studied for and passed NCLEX, and applied to PA school. That left me less than a week to prepare for china. So.. I don't know Chinese, very little about the culture, and am totally unprepared for the necessities of international travel...anyways!!!! No big deal...in spite of all of this I lucked out. I traded seats so a girl could sit with her mom and ended up sitting next to a ChineseAmerican  gentleman and his 17 year old daughter. Charles and Anne were a Godsend! Charles was super friendly and talked to me all about china in the beginning of the flight. Half way through he gave me an in depth basics Chinese lesson (after which he proceeded to point out the characters that I knew in the Chinese subtitles). Towards the end he gave me all of the travel advice I lacked and desperately needed. One of the questions I asked was about money exchanging because I have no Chinese currency currently. The response that got me was his instant reply. I had asked specifically how he handled exchanging money for his family. He said he probably hadn't gotten enough, but they could definitely give me some, I would probably need some more for my entire stay though. That just got me, a complete stranger whose first thought was to make sure I had everything I needed including possibly financing my stay. After clarifying that it wasn't necessary I just needed to know how, though I was much appreciative, he explained further. Anywho, I was concerned that I didn't  have the exact address for the entrance card he said not to worry he'd give me an address if I needed one, and when we landed he waited for me and walked me through customs, found me a cart and helped me get my baggage. My next concern was that I didn't know who was meeting me or where. I had been told that someone would. That was all. Luckily there was a lovely gentleman with my name on a sign right across from the entrance. He didn't speak English so Charles checked with him if I would need any currency and then got my contact information so he could get me his so I could reach him if I had any problems in china. The moral of my story is that Charles, that sweet quirky fellow was my Chinese angel today/tonight/a little of both.

Now for my exciting quirks about china. Firstly, I got the Chinese option dinner on the plane and it comes with the most adorable tiny disposable soy sauce bottle! More importantly china itself. My first impression was that china seems to be perpetually in a fog. I was warned about the smog and it is certainly true. There is an industrial aroma and a fog that never abates, but it only take a little bit to get accustomed to. The freeway was pretty is similar, you could almost believe yourself in any unfamiliar American city if not for the occasional buildings with the ornate roofs, Chinese symbols on road signs, and everything measured metrically. I say almost because there were some other notable differences. Road rules are slightly optional, my driver slowed at a yellow light, didn't see anyone, and drove through the red. A lot of cars stop along the side of the freeway, apparently if you need to pee you just stop and do it off the side of the road, this applies to men from what I saw. I did try to not look too closely. I had to look to see if that was really what was happening, but my driver didn't speak English so there would be no way to explain why I would take such an avid interest in urinating men. Road signs are all green. There are a lot of bikes and carts and people think nothing of stopping in the middle of the road in them for conversations, everyone else just weaves between them. Chinese babies are adorable, ShowHope people are very sweet, and I am sooooo sleepy. There you are. That is enough for now I believe.