Halelujah I'm HERE!!

Just got into the hotel in Beijing a little while ago and I am so glad to say I am finally here!  The flights were all smooth and problem free, with the exception that my first one out of Charlotte was cancelled!  I got a phone call from Delta at 3 in the morning telling me that the flight from Charlotte to JFK was cancelled and they had booked me on a later flight to Atlanta instead.

Well if you want to look on the bright side of things, which I try to do, this allowed me to sleep in later and to avoid JFK which I hate with a passion.  To big, too busy, too much.  Although I suppose Atlanta isn't much better considering it is HUGE and I had to take a train-- yes a train inside the airport for those of you who haven't been-- to get from concourse A to E for my next flight.  At least though busy, it is filled with southerners and not New Yorkers, and yes I can say that because I was one for 23 years.  I love 'em, to an extent, but I would rather deal with an airport in Georgia anytime!  :)

So from there it was on to Japan.  Love that airport!  People are so friendly and sweet, and it isn't huge like the rest of them.  Very easy to get around in.  So that part was great, minus the announcement that the Avian Bird Flu is on the rise in Asian countries again so we better watch out.  Great.  Just what I needed to hear.

So that brings me to Beijing.  I am staying at the Hilton which I have to say is spectacularly FAB!  Even better than the last hotel I stayed at while here.  Gorgeous rooms, huge beautiful lobby.  And I must say, I am just about ready to crash in one of those sumptuous looking beds that seem to be beckoning me right now.  I am wiped.  Didn't sleep to well on the planes this time for some reason.

Extra glad to be here tonight because I thought I would never arrive!  Our plane landed early, so I stood outside in the terminal waiting for our guide to pick us up.  I thought he was going to, that is what happened last time.  Well turns out I was expected to take the shuttle bus to the hotel not far away.  Never got this bit of info because plans were finalized so late in the game by our agency that they never got to formally communicate them to us-- just the basics about where I was staying and who my guides would be.  SO, I called George, our guide-- same one we had last time-- and he said to get the shuttle or a taxi.  Ok.  So I go to the counter to find out where to find said shuttle, oh they don't run this late.  Ok.  Taxi then?  Oh, they won't want to take you there.  Not sure why that was.  Come to find out, that was misinformation and the shuttle did in fact run every 25 min or so, so George called me back and told me where to wait, and the shuttle arrived a few minutes later thankfully.  All I have to say is Thank God for cell phones, because I would still be at that airport wondering what to do if I hadn't been able to call George!!

So, with it being 1:11 am here, and my having a 7 o'clock wake up call in the morning, I best get to bed!  Tomorrow is our big day!!!  I finally get to see my boy again, and then we are off in all sorts of directions hopping a plane to Guangzhou, then racing to our medical appointment.  Then maybe we can relax in the evening and I can try and figure out our new electronic translator so he and I can catch up a bit.

So glad to be here!  Must say I really do love this city with its beautiful buildings and sweet people.

Night for now!  So glad I can post on here this time, hopefully in Guangzhou tomorrow it will work just as well.