I'm Back...
After a wonderful trip to China, here are a few of the more memorable moments/thoughts:
1. An international flight at 6:30 am sucks...especially since the airport is almost an hour away by car.
2. The connecting flight to Beijing from Paris was cancelled after three hours on the tarmac. Not sure what it was, but they were working on the wing for the entire three hours that we sat there.
3. It's interesting to see the dynamic that develops with a group of stranded passengers. An overnight stay in the same hotel, everyone eating dinner at just about the same time, everyone dressed in the same clothes and looking a little bit ragged when the flight actually leaves the next day (sure makes all of those beautiful people look mighty ordinary the next day). The sense of unspoken community that develops in such experiences is pretty interesting.
4. Flying over Siberia in the middle of the night is beautiful. I had thought that it would just be miles and miles of empty blackness, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the lights of towns below as we flew by. Somehow, it made me feel less alone to know that there were people down there, and in some ways, I felt more of a human connection with those people than I did with the guy sitting next to me. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that I saw him screaming at one of the flight attendants, as if that was going to make the plane take off. There's nothing quite like seeing the worst human qualities of your fellow man to really make you feel uncomfortable in your skin.
5. Beijing is worth the price of admission - especially when someone else is footing the bill. The driving is insane, but nowhere near as bad as Italy. The food is fantastic. The touristy type sites are great.
6. Climbed the Great Wall, visited the Ming Tombs, wandered through the Forbidden City, and negotiated in the Silk Road Market. All of these are mighty fine things to do on a sunny June morning.
7. Became really excited with the project that is being undertaken. If you'd asked me a week before I went what kind of odds I would give for success, I would have said 30% - for no "real" reason other than I've been involved with some of the other schemes that have been dreamed up by the parties involved with this project and they seemed to work out about 30% of the time. Now that I've been there, seen the work that's been done on the ground, talked with the other (unknown) parties that are also involved, and gauged the excitement that everyone has for the project I can unequivically say that I think this project will succeed. I just want to be along for the ride.
Anyway, that's enough for now. I'll have more thoughts tomorrow.
After a wonderful trip to China, here are a few of the more memorable moments/thoughts:
1. An international flight at 6:30 am sucks...especially since the airport is almost an hour away by car.
2. The connecting flight to Beijing from Paris was cancelled after three hours on the tarmac. Not sure what it was, but they were working on the wing for the entire three hours that we sat there.
3. It's interesting to see the dynamic that develops with a group of stranded passengers. An overnight stay in the same hotel, everyone eating dinner at just about the same time, everyone dressed in the same clothes and looking a little bit ragged when the flight actually leaves the next day (sure makes all of those beautiful people look mighty ordinary the next day). The sense of unspoken community that develops in such experiences is pretty interesting.
4. Flying over Siberia in the middle of the night is beautiful. I had thought that it would just be miles and miles of empty blackness, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the lights of towns below as we flew by. Somehow, it made me feel less alone to know that there were people down there, and in some ways, I felt more of a human connection with those people than I did with the guy sitting next to me. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that I saw him screaming at one of the flight attendants, as if that was going to make the plane take off. There's nothing quite like seeing the worst human qualities of your fellow man to really make you feel uncomfortable in your skin.
5. Beijing is worth the price of admission - especially when someone else is footing the bill. The driving is insane, but nowhere near as bad as Italy. The food is fantastic. The touristy type sites are great.
6. Climbed the Great Wall, visited the Ming Tombs, wandered through the Forbidden City, and negotiated in the Silk Road Market. All of these are mighty fine things to do on a sunny June morning.
7. Became really excited with the project that is being undertaken. If you'd asked me a week before I went what kind of odds I would give for success, I would have said 30% - for no "real" reason other than I've been involved with some of the other schemes that have been dreamed up by the parties involved with this project and they seemed to work out about 30% of the time. Now that I've been there, seen the work that's been done on the ground, talked with the other (unknown) parties that are also involved, and gauged the excitement that everyone has for the project I can unequivically say that I think this project will succeed. I just want to be along for the ride.
Anyway, that's enough for now. I'll have more thoughts tomorrow.
1 Comments:
i had been checking for you and i'm happy to see things went well (sounds fab) and that you're back- welcome home, happy traveler!
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