06-10-2013, 05:07 PM
My 12-hour flight turned out to be mild compared to others. Two people had flights from LA to Seattle to Beijing, except that in Seattle there was double booking of their assigned seats and they got bumped. The alternative flight was to Denver and then to Beijing, I think, which in itself involved 24 hours total. Not certain how it got resolved.
Then there was Pamela, who is black. She had the misfortune of having luggage identical to someone else, and that other person took hers. It took a day to track it down. When our handler finally talked to an official about when we could pick it up, there was a long pause. "Where exactly is the luggage?" our handler asked. The answer was Hainan. Still in the works.
Pamela was amused in the Forbidden City by all the families that kept taking pictures of each other but always maneuvring themselves so as to catch her in the background. They really wanted a photo of her. She said she was the negro of the day.
Our handler wanted us to stay close together in Tienenman Square. The concern was that if we drifted apart, we became a bigger target for the guards. She pointed out how long noodles will stretch, then told us, "Be like sticky rice, not noodles."
The two cameramen with their fancy equipment got hassled a lot in Tienanmen. They were finally allowed in with us but forbidden to shoot anything. They still kept getting hassled. Our handler cautiously indicated to us where the big incident occurred back in the '80s, but we stayed clear of that corner and took group photos near a big flag.
The forbidden City of course also required lots of sticky rice just to avoid having everyone get lost. I'd forgotten how big it is overall, and with a succession of ever larger courtyards.
One caucasion in our group who people were always wanting to get their picture taken with came back to the group at one point all embarrassed. He said a family kept motioning to him, and so he was stepping in to join them, but then they made clear that, no, the problem was that he was in the way of their group photo and get the heck out of the way.
Then there was Pamela, who is black. She had the misfortune of having luggage identical to someone else, and that other person took hers. It took a day to track it down. When our handler finally talked to an official about when we could pick it up, there was a long pause. "Where exactly is the luggage?" our handler asked. The answer was Hainan. Still in the works.
Pamela was amused in the Forbidden City by all the families that kept taking pictures of each other but always maneuvring themselves so as to catch her in the background. They really wanted a photo of her. She said she was the negro of the day.
Our handler wanted us to stay close together in Tienenman Square. The concern was that if we drifted apart, we became a bigger target for the guards. She pointed out how long noodles will stretch, then told us, "Be like sticky rice, not noodles."
The two cameramen with their fancy equipment got hassled a lot in Tienanmen. They were finally allowed in with us but forbidden to shoot anything. They still kept getting hassled. Our handler cautiously indicated to us where the big incident occurred back in the '80s, but we stayed clear of that corner and took group photos near a big flag.
The forbidden City of course also required lots of sticky rice just to avoid having everyone get lost. I'd forgotten how big it is overall, and with a succession of ever larger courtyards.
One caucasion in our group who people were always wanting to get their picture taken with came back to the group at one point all embarrassed. He said a family kept motioning to him, and so he was stepping in to join them, but then they made clear that, no, the problem was that he was in the way of their group photo and get the heck out of the way.
I'm nobody's pony.