Overton to Gongyi

Hello Everyone,
Wow, has this week been a whorl wind of information and learning. A little about my trip. I left Thursday night at 9:30 out of Las Vegas. Everything went smoothly. My luggage weighed in at 50 lbs and 49.75. The limit was 50 per bag so it was a big relief. Randy commented on the precision of my packing and also how smooth everything seemed to be going. We should of knocked on wood right there and then, however, because things weren't to be so easy. When I reached LA I waited for three hours for my plane to board and then had a hard time listening to the flight info because of the thick accent of the Chinese attendants. Luckily I was able to decipher the code and made it on the plane. Wasn't sure it was the right one though because it backed up from the gate by about 25 feet and we all sat there for the next five hours. It was hot and the flight crew told us that they needed a part to take off. This was not a confidence builder for someone who doesn't exactly like to fly in the first place. Anyhow, we finally took off and 12 more hours later we landed in Beijing. The airport was extremely modern, clean and hot. It was difficult to see much from the plane window due to the overcast Sky's, but much of the area looked very much like a US city on a very smoggy day, except for the overwhelming number of blue and red roof-tops. Of course I hand missed my connecting flight but the rude Chinese guy gave the sweaty woman from the US a break and connected me to another one leaving two hours later. About four hours later, I arrived in ZhengZhou (pronounced (gin-joe). While waiting for this plane I had a stroke of luck. I spotted one American looking guy who had been eye-balling me and boldly approached him and asked if he was a teacher. His face lit up and I got his life story. His name was Jason, he is from Oregon, his girlfriend is Chinese, this will be his second year teaching near ZhengZhou and his college isn't paying as much as mine. It was good thing I met him, because it wasn't surprising to learn that no one had shown up for me at the airport. Jason stuck close to me though and his girlfriend gave the taxi driver a tongue lashing in my defense to secure a low price and a hotel contingency just in case no one was there to greet me at the college in Gongyi. What a nice couple...I can only think that the angel pin a wore on my shirt during this trip was watching out for me. On the way to the college the heat was stifling, very hot and humid. The taxi drivers windows were down but I didn't complain. He probably got sick of smelling me. On the way the country side was mostly flat and very green. The highways were immaculately groomed in green hedges and red flowers. For about 45 minutes the scenery really didn't change and it was difficult to see anything but cement buildings at a distance and spread apart. Not crowded like I was led to believe. When we neared Gongyi, however, the scenery got very interesting. It became very hilly and there were a multitude of cliffs covered in vegetation. We went through three very big tunnels and past many interesting valleys and cliffs and then we were in Gongyi. The town itself is very run down and poor. But again the roads were fantastically built and groomed. The traffic was heavier than before and cars were driving practically every which way. No observance of traffic regulations...Randy would be in traffic stop heaven in this town. When I arrived at the gate of the college it was very impressive.. The guards at the gate however spoke no English and motioned for me to wait in there cooler office while they spoke to the taxi driver. The driver did as he was instructed by Jason's wife and stayed until someone finally showed up for me...lucky. Jakson (Jackson), a very eager Chinese young man ran up out of breath shouting. Sorry, I am so sorry Charlotte. We waited for you for many hours and you didn't show up! Sorry, sorry, sorrry sorry, (you get the picture).

Jackson

I tried to explain that it wasn't his fault and he even unfolded the sign he had made with my name on it. Jackson took me to my apartment and hauled all my luggage up the 5 flights of stairs. I asked him to let me help but he refused. My duffle bags probably weighed as much as he did so it wasn't surprising to see him dripping in sweat when he finished. Out of breath he opened all the windows and let some air in. The apartment is big, just as the pictures sent to me. I have two bedrooms and air conditioning in the bedroom. I did notice, however, that the last teachers probably never cleaned a thing (they were a couple from Vermont that I had read about on the internet...what are the odds). Even though, I was exhausted, I asked Jakson if he could show me to a store where I could by cleaning supplies. Jakson took my request like badge of honor and led me out the gate and onto the number 11 bus to downtown. I'll go into details of our shopping trip later on when I'm less tired.

Clean (er) Kitchen

I keep waking up at 2 am exactly every night...I need to get used to the time change. Any how the internet here is slower than dail-up and it remains me of when the internet just started so being on at 2 am is much quicker than trying in the day when everyone else is typing as well. I leaving you all with an excerpt I typed to Randy earlier.When I arrived, I was able to call home and let Randy and Mom know I was okay. At two dollars a minute you can only imagine how long the conversation was. Today I finally got connect ed to the web so life is good!

Hot Food to Go!

Yesterday, I met Dr Xu (pronounced Dr Shoe). He is an older man who lives in the next-door teachers building. Dr. Xu and his wife are from Canada. Dr. Xu was born in China though and this is where his wife is from. They both speak English and have been here for four years. Dr. Xu showed me a small village which is right up against the campus. He took me to a small store that I can walk to just outside the campus gate and I actually found Coke Zero, so a bought a few bottles. He also took me to a small store where I could buy buy vegetables and we walked down a small street in the village. It was a very poor area and I actually got a glimpse of real China. We stopped at a street vendor and ate the best bread tacos (the best I can describe them). They were made of thin crispy bread and stuffed with chopped pork, vegetables and spices. They were hot and peppery. I thought they were very delicious. On our walk, I asked Dr. Xu where I could find a China Daily newspaper and he told me that I could read it online, but this morning he sent Jakson up to my apartment with three of them. They were written in English and had stories about all things around the world. I made a bowl of oatmeal, watched CCTV and for a minute was sitting at home as usual. For lunch I walked over to the teacher's restaurant and Jakson helped me order a large piece of chicken and some vegetables and dumplings. The restaurant was so crowded with students and staff that there was no place to sit so they put my meal in two small plastic bags and off I went to eat another meal in front of the TV. When school starts on the 1st of September (another question answered) there will be several restaurants opened so they won't be so crowded.

As for me, I've been busy cleaning my kitchen and now it looks great. I have a lot to do so I'm pacing myself. I'm going to attach some pictures of my view out of my apartment, my wash machine and my meal. My connection is slower than dail-up so this will take some time. But that's all for now. Let me know if this went through and then I will know if my email is working.

Student Dorms

My First Chinese Meal

Chinese Diet Coke

Okay, its twenty minutes later and the first picture has still not attached.I will figure this out later.

***The rest is confidential, he he****

Take care everyone. I'm going back to bed. Love you all. Char XO

Las Vegas, United States