3 DAYS IN CHINA

Greetings from the other side of the clock! Thought I would show the travel to China on the blog today in a few pictures.

Incidentally, because of the restrictions the Chinese Government places on internet access, strangely enough I am able to edit my blog but I am not able to view it. I thought I may have some offensive material up here so I checked young Jack's blog and was not allowed access to that either.

I started my stopwatch when I closed my apartment door this morning, and stopped it when I arrived in my hotel room in Shanghai...22 hours and 17 minutes door to door. That's a long day! We are exactly 12 hours ahead at the moment, and my body is very confused. When you travel half way around the world, you lose a certain natural rhythm to time. The fact that most hotels here have great high speed internet that keep you connected to your time zone only confuses things more. I have to admit, however, that getting 14 hours to yourself on a plane, totally incommunicado with a good book and a few good movies is one of life's last true luxuries!

This first picture is of me and Frank at 7 a.m. July 19th. Frank is a retired school teacher who now drives a cab. I've been depending on him to get me to the airport on time for those early morning flights for a few years now, and he never lets me down. No matter what time I ask for my pick up, Frank always arrives with a cup of Starbucks, cream no sugar, which is just the way I like it. In addition to a nice conversation, Frank also always gives me granola bars, because he knows that the airlines have cut back on the food they provide, and wet naps that he gets from his frequent trips to the casinos in Atlantic City. Today, I received two wet naps from the Wild West Casino! Everyone needs a Frank in their life.