Day 8 Coming Home

Day 8 was hustle and bustle the way that the last day should be. Simon picked me up at the hotel first thing and presented me with my take home gifts. First was special green tea that is supposed to help Rocco’s joints for tennis. Along with the tea, his wife sent along some special herbal pads that when pressed on your elbows, provides soothing relief after a match. I thanked him and asked how he got his wife to do such helpful things? In a conversation earlier this week, he shared that his wife is working long hours right now. She has a job in the hospital system and the government is ready to provide extra aid to help in the poor economy as long as they fill out thousands of pages of paperwork. She is working 12-14 hour days. I said welcome to the club. He shared that his father and mother live in an apartment below them and help watch their 3-1/2 year old son. Otherwise he and his wife would be very stressed with all the work. Simon also ahs to travel frequently for our work so having parents nearby is great.

We went to the office and worked all morning and then went out to lunch at the Pizza Hut which is on the bottom floor of our office building. They have all sorts of weird topping combinations that we can’t get in the USA. They decided to get two pizzas: One vegetable pizza including corn and greens but with some type of sausage rolled into the crust, and one cheese. I, of course, opted more for the cheese. Good choice, but I did try one piece of the deluxe that was pretty bad. They can even screw up pizza for heaven’s sake. Looking back over the trip, the only real pain I had to withstand again was the food (as if I hadn’t whined enough the last 8 days). And we even ate much Western food compared to a usual trip, but I just dread eating here. Oh well, it’s just a situation that I need to let go. OK Let go. Our luncheon discussion centered around our kids and families. I checked how Estelle sick son was doing and she said he’s a real pain to get to take his medicine. As I told Estelle about my kids she commented that we Americans are so lucky to be able to have more than one child. Estelle, Jane and Simon all have one boy-that is their quota. They remarked that the government allows the rich to buy a multiple baby permit. It’s about 100,000 RMB (that’ s $15,000). Then they also cannot declare them for taxes and must pay for all their education. The women especially were dying for a little girl to pamper. Estelle said she sometimes dressed her baby boy up in pink clothes just to pretend he was a girl. We all laughed and suggested she get that out of the way now that he’s still a baby. I told them that maybe they’re boys will marry a nice girl and they’ll get their baby girl later in life. They didn’t think that would happen-you know Mom’s and their sons. We headed back to the office and I packed up and left. I gave them a little thanks you speech and told them how proud our company is of the Beijing office.

I caught a taxi from the office, and breezed through customs and awaited the delayed flight for an extra 45 minutes at the gate. I did get a funny email on the way to the airport. Jon emailed that he just returned from a walk in the shopping area near the hotel. He said he heard a loud shout from across the street. “Hey, Jon from Birmingham England!” Yep it was the young effeminate calligrapher from Sunday night’s walk home. He ran over a starting trying to convince Jon to come to his “studio” for pictures . Jon said he walked very quickly, almost ran, back to the hotel to get away from him.

The flight delay allowed me time to write this last journal entry. I hope my crazy 8 days provided some enjoyment for those friends and family members stuck at home. After reading all this I’m wondering if it makes you all want to travel or just stay home and listen to my exploits. Until the next wild wonderful trip, it’s journey worn Brian saying over and out!