Day 6 - Mon - Beijing [AM update]

After almost a week here now, I no longer feel like a stranger in a strange land.  When they brought me broccoli with my scrambled eggs and goat cheese this morning for breakfast, I not only didn't question it, I found myself eating it.

I was up at 5 today, after a restless but unmedicated night of sleep.  I still have not really adjusted to the time, I can sleep any time of day and I wake up any time of day, it is all the same.  I went to bed at 4a sun and got up at 5a today, and didn't notice a difference between going to bed and getting up at almost the same time.

I may have almost died on the flight over, or maybe I embellish.  But there were about 50 little chinamen that would probably agree with me.  About 20 min from Bejing, there was a huge bang and flash of light by the right wing.  It was like that thing they set off at the beginning of fireworks on the 4th, not just a small pop.  There was a collective gasp, and then it was quiet for like 10 seconds while we all just waited to see if we were going to fall out of the sky.  When we didn't, then everyone started jabbering and looking out the window.  My only guesses are a. An engine blew, b. We hit something, or c. A lightening strike.
It would have scared the crap out of me on a good day, but I was thinking all those bilingual announcements would go out the window in a hurry if it hit the fan.  And if we go down in the Himalayas, who's the first one they're gonna eat?  The foreigner with a little meat on him, that's who.

Then when we arrived, we sat for 20 min while they took everyone's temperature!  Yep.  They are totally nuts here about the flu, people wear the little surgical masks, and they also have thermal video cameras at the airport that take your temperature and at some of the hotels.  And a 'disinfectant' carpet that you walk across at the airport, I can't even guess what that does.

Side note - I have seen guys here wearing capri pants.

Seems like not much English here.  I told the counter person in Chinese 'I am sorry, I do not speak Chinese' only to realize after 2 attempts that she was speaking English.  Awkward.  And my guide has the words for East and West backwards, which is only important when you are asking him for directions I guess.

And I got my first taste of the Chinese government already; apparently not only are all the good porn sites blocked from the internet, but my Blog is also.  I can't get to it from my laptop, I have to post from my Blackberry.  Seriously?  So I can post whatever I want on Facebook, but they're gonna block blogger.com as subversive.  Of course I better just keep my big cakehole shut, I saw those 2 US reporters just got 12 years of hard time in N. Korea...