First impressions

It's great to be back in China. The first inherently Chinese thing I noticed, making me smile, was the rows of trees outside the windows as we touched down in Beijing. In the US, trees along the roadside or in a wooded area often grow as they please, but in China, they're in in straight rows like a military cemetery.

The last time we were in China was in 2006, and everything was under construction to be finished in time for the Olympics. Everything is still under construction, but we were really impressed with the new Beijing airport, obviously completed and incredible. The old one was a ghetto 1970's-esque place where I had my first experience with a squatting toilet. The new one is modern and stylish with 3 or 4 terminals, huge red pillars, international-style toilets, and escalators so new they run silently.

Shenyang's airport is more like Beijing's old one. I was fortunate to find the one international-style toilet, and even though there was very little space under the stall door, Penny still did her best to crawl under it. On my mental list of ways Penny may die, picking up germs from public Chinese restrooms is pretty high.

We went out shopping today, and in addition to hearing everyone saying how cute Penny is, I heard equally as many people commenting on my being pregnant-- AGAIN! We are quite the sight to behold, I guess. But the nice thing about being stared at is that I don't mind staring back.

We live in a fancy apartment building in the middle of the city, and there's a mall on the first 8 floors. Sarah, I'm telling you this for no other reason but to make you jealous, but if I walk out our front lobby, turn the corner, and walk about 20 feet, there's our local H&M. We have a guest room....

Whenever you move to a new place, you have to figure out how the grocery store works, what sorts of stuff they have, and where it's all situated. The same is true here, but in addition, you have to figure out WHAT things are. We bought a few yogurts because I love Chinese yogurt. We also picked out a few fruits to make it seem like we eat healthy. I searched high and low for the produce bags, and it turns out you have to go ask for them from the same guy who weighs, labels, and seals it once you've selected your fruit.

People are very interactive here, especially with Penny. We were using a grocery cart that has a little truck cab in front. If Penny would lean out and touch something or drag her hand on the floor (she really wants those germs!), someone would point it out to me. At one point, Penny had been walking around for a while, and she decided to get back in the cab. I let her climb and struggle, but a kinder soul than I stopped, helped her back in, and even buckled the seatbelt strap. There aren't many kids around, and everyone's delighted with Penny. In addition to the comments I already mentioned, if I ever had to go run and pick up Penny, someone would exclaim, "Wow! She is pregnant AND has to carry that child!" Um, my thoughts exactly!

Well, I have a lot more to say. I want to write down my first impressions while everything still feels new. But Penny just went to sleep, and I'm trying to sleep when my jet-lagged baby sleeps, so that's all for today.