Thanks so much for visiting
us during our journey,
Danny, LeeAnn
and Caroli! |
October 21 - 23, 3005
We are finally here!! |
The
flight from Atlanta to LA then to Guangzhou was uneventful (but
extremely long) except for meeting the Walls, our
traveling/adopting companions from California. He is a surgeon and she
is a speech pathologist. They have a daughter who is very excited about
becoming a big sister.
When we arrived in Guangzhou, we met our guide Sylvia.
Thank goodness she was there. I can’t imagine getting to our flight
to Fuzhou on time without her help. The travel time to Fuzhou was only
an hour and a half, but they fed us a big meal anyway. Real food served
hot on a plane. Yep, this isn’t the US of A.
Our hotel is about an hour from the airport. The road looks flat -
but it isn’t. Six Flags amusement park could learn a few tricks from
the guys that put this pavement down. I tried taking pictures during
the drive, but they all turned out very blurry. I suppose that if you
jumped around while looking at them they might come into focus, but I’m
tired now and that experiment will have to wait.
I couldn’t help but notice the differences in driving habits
between America and China. We were entertained by people pulling out
into traffic without looking first, drivers suddenly slowing down and
doing dangerous u-turns, and pedestrians wandering into traffic trying
to find a way to cross the road. But that was in Atlanta on the way to
the airport. Chinese do all of those things too except that they have
raised the use of the car horn to a high art. I mean it. I have never
heard so much honking from so little traffic. And unlike US drivers,
these guys do not use the horn in anger. Instead there is some sort of
unofficial car horn language here. Maybe a tooting Morse Code would be
a better description. After much white knuckled observation I have
managed to simplify the Chinese Audio Rapport (CAR) into the following.
One toot - “Hey dude, if you continue your projected path we will collide.”
Two toots - “Hey dude, didn’t ya hear the first toot.”
One short toot followed by one long one - “Hey man, wanna play chicken?”
Two long toots - “I’m coming through and under no circumstance will I slow down.”
One long toot followed by screeching tires - “OK, I was bluffing.”
One really short toot - just the driver enjoying his horn.
Tomorrow, Monday, 10/24, is our Gotcha Day. We are excited and very
nervous. Thankfully we are surrounded by experience. I am sure we will
lean on it early and often. |
| Our travel partners, the Walls |
| In Guangzhou waiting for Fuzhou flight |
| View from Fuzhou Lakeside Hotel |
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