The flight to Hong Kong was much shorter, only 3.5 hours.  The Hong Kong airport is also very large however much older than Beijing's new airport.  To much delight our luggage was waiting for us when we arrived at baggage claim.  When we arrived at baggage claim in Beijing we waited and waited for our bags to arrive.  Many of our fellow travelers from our flight received their luggage however we were still waiting.  We were extremely nervous!  Finally we notice our luggage arrived on the rack but it did take a long time.

Instead of a taxi to the hotel we took a bus.  The bus was extremely empty.  There were a total of 4 people on the bus including the driver.  We were able to see beautiful scenary on the way to our hotel.  The ride took about 55 minutes however there was also traffic. 

After settling in and unpacking we decided to go exploring. We stumbled on a small market near our hotel. This market was less aggressive than the markets in Beijing.  It was also extremely small and difficult to walk through.  We also decided to get something to eat.  We saw a sign for Outback Steakhouse and decided to enter the restaurant for dinner.  We had delicious burgers for dinner.  The meal was quite pricey however definitely worth it. 

Tomorrow we will go visit the Big Buddha and Saturday we will go to Hong Kong Disneyland. TTFN!!

Jaime & Hayward

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Today is our last day in Beijing so we decided to visit some markets to do some shopping before heading to Hong Kong.  We were able to visit two markets in Beijing and it was quite the experience.  Hayward really enjoyed the bargaining process.  The salespeople knew several English words like: "Hello", "Cheap price for you", "What price good for you", "How much you pay", "1st Customer today", "Ok", "Thank you", and "Bye Bye".  Sometimes they were very aggressive, even grabbing my arm at one point and not letting go.  I was quite frustrated and upset with how I was treated.  We were able to get many good deals and fabulous treasures.  We purchased so much that we needed to buy an additional small suitcase for a cheap price of course!  

We had lunch at a restaurant in the 1st market we visited.  It was on the top floor and we had a wonderful booth seat along the window with an amazing view of the city.  The buffett had everything you could imagine and the price included beer and wine.  Fantastic!  I also enjoyed the best dessert I've had thus far on the trip.  It was a little round chocolate ball with colored sprinkles.  It was super soft and very yummy.

After our shopping excursion we went back to the hotel to drop off our purchases. We grabbed a taxi to take us to McDonald's for a quick bite to eat and then we headed to the other side of town to see the Chinese Acrobat show.  The show was awesome.  There were so many people in the performance.  It was very different than I imagined.  I thought there would be a great deal of gymnastics to music however it was more of a performance with some very dare devil like tricks.  It was breathtaking and nerve wracking.  Amazingly entertaining!!

Tomorrow we fly to Hong Kong!

Jaime & Hayward   

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Saturday, January 3, 2009

We made it to Beijing after a 13.5 hours in a plane.  We left our home in Indianapolis on Friday, January 2 at 6am and we arrived at the airport in Beijing on Saturday, January 3 at 3:30pm.  The flight wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I was able to have an aisle seat and get up from time to time to stretch my legs.  The seat pattern on the plane was 2 - 5 - 2 (of course we were in the middle section).  

There was a television in each headrest, with GPS capabilities... so you could track the flight in real time as traveled (or watch movies).  I was surprised how much of an arch we made from Chicago to get to Beijing.  We flew almost straight north, close to the north pole, then over Siberia, and then down to Beijing.  The plane also had many movies for us to watch.  I watched a movie with Diane Lane and Richard Gere...very disappointing and then I watched "The Duchess" with Natalie Portman...very enjoyable; I highly recommend.  I was also able to get a good bit of sleep on the plane (a couple of hours) however Hayward was only able to sleep for about an hour.

The Beijing airport was amazing and HUGE!!  It was built specifically for the Olympics so as you can imagine they went all out. The city is very developed and safe.  We were both surprised to see many of the billboards feature western models rather Asian models.

We finally made it to the hotel and settled in.  We were tired but hungry so we decided to explore a little. It was 7:00pm Beijing time but 6 a.m. Indianapolis time. Instead of authentic cuisine we decided to have some American food for dinner so we went to Pizza Hut.  They don't put as much sauce on the pizza as we do in the US but still tasty. 

Hayward's friend Mr. Chen is going to take a train 10 hours from his Province (hometown) to visit with us on Tuesday. Mr. Chen and Hayward met when Mr. Chen lived in the Campus Apartments at IUPUI.  Mr. Chen was attending the IU School of Law for a special year and half program.  Mr. Chen went on the 1st Spring Break trip in 2006 to Waveland, Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina Recovery work.  Mr. Chen has many fond memories of IUPUI, Indianapolis, friends he met, and Waveland trip.  Mr. Chen will take us on Tuesday evening to a restaurant to have a "traditional Chinese dinner".   

Jaime & Hayward

Monday, January 5, 2009

Good Evening from Beijing!

After today I get to say, “I climbed the Great Wall of China”.  I also purchased a sweatshirt with this statement on the front.  I am proud to be a tourist!!

We took an organized tour to the Great Wall.  Also included in our tour were several other stops to a jade factory, Ming tombs, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) research facility, and a traditional Chinese lunch.  There were three other couples on our tour from Colorado, Orange County California, and Argentina.  It was great to converse with others who spoke English.  The Chinese individuals who speak English say they speak “Chinglish”.

The Great Wall was absolutely breathtaking!  It was also extremely unlevel and steep.  Definitely not handicap accessible!  It was very challenging however I was extremely determined.  The steps were not evenly spaced and sometimes very high for me to climb.  Needless to say we made it!  I made it to tower # 6 and Hayward made it almost to the highest tower # 8.  As he continued on I could see and wave to him.  While I waited for HG I was able to interact with native Chinese who were also climbing the wall.  Many of them gave me thumbs up for making it as far as I did and others just stared.

After we returned from our tour we rested in the hotel and then we ventured back out to a nearby Chinese market.  Hayward has learned how to barter with the Chinese salespeople.  Everyone knows how much I love to shop however I believe Hayward has purchased more than me on this trip.  HG has been entertained by the bargaining process.  I hear HG let out one of his belly laughs and I think “what deal has he found and what is he purchasing now”.  We have found wonderful treasures thus far.  We are really looking forward to visiting the traditional Chinese market on Wednesday.

We were exhausted this evening so we rewarded ourselves with an hour long massage in our hotel room.  Needless to say we are making the most out of our holiday in China.

Lots of love, Jaime & Hayward
xoxoxo

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Greetings from Beijing!

Today was quite busy... we toured the Forbidden City (which is HUGE!!!!)... Even though we spent 1/2 of the day there, I do not think we got see but about half of it (although we did tour the center axis from north to south http://www.sights-and-culture.com/china/forbidden-city-map.html).  We also went to Tiananmen Square (which is right outside the south entrance to forbidden city).  After a brief rest in the afternoon, we went across Beijing (30 minute cab ride) to see the Olympic Park.  We were able to see the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube.  We toured the Bird's Nest and we were able to go on the field however we were unable to go into the Water Cube since the ticket office closed quite early.  For dinner we had Peking Duck... (yummy).

Tomorrow we are signed up for a tour of the Great Wall and The Ming Tombs... it will be another full day.

For thos of you who don't know I fractured my right ankle in September and I'm still recovering.  I am using my walking boot and one crutch while on vacation.  Before leaving for vacation I was going to physical therapy 3x's a week in order to be able to walk on vacation.  Today, I was able to walk most of the day with some short breaks to rest.  I am going to ice my foot down tonight and hopefully I will be able to make again tomorrow.

Night night!

Jaime

Bon Voyage!

Hi! My name is Jaime  Clougher and I'm an Academic Advisor for the Kelley School of Business in the Acade ic Programs Office in BS 3024.

I am very excited about being able to share my experiences with you as I will be visiting China with my significant other, Hayward Guenard.  Some of you may know Hayward as he is the Director of Housing & Residence Life at IUPUI.  Hayward has a conference in Hong Kong so we decided to extend the trip several days to also visit China's mainland.  We will be on our holiday for two weeks.

Please look forward to many photos and posts from China.

Jaime

I can tell that Thanksgiving is quickly approaching!  The campus is starting to thin out and some of my colleagues are planning on taking next week off.  As I walk down the hallways I hear students talking about their Thanksgiving plans and what they are looking forward to.  I remember in my undgrad my dad found out about deep fried turkey.  I thought he was crazy in the beginning, but I was wrong!!  That is now the way that I prefer to eat my turkey!  You can find all kinds of flavors to inject it with to see what the flavors are going to be!!  A deep fried turkey is moist and juicy!!

As the semester comes to an end, I reflect upon my first time teaching an X103 (Business Learning Community) class.  It was fun to have some of the first year students learning about the business world and seeing their reaction to some of the homework loads.  A Learning Community does not have a lot of work, but it does keep you busy throughout the semester.  I like the smaller class sizes because students really get to know the others and can really make some friends in the classroom.  One thing I have noticed is that I have some students who take the class VERY seriously, while some others do not take it seriously enough.  I think you need to have a balance.  You should take all of your classes seriously but have fun!  College is hard work, but you have got to have fun with it as well!!  So I am glad that the students get a nice break before the semester ends.  So take some time to relax and eat lots of food because when you come back, it will be FINALS!