February 18
On a flight to Beijing I watched a few TED videos on my iphone including one by Bruce Feller called The Council of Dads. The advice from one man regarding travel was to jump in and play in the puddle rather than just look at it from a distance. I feel like I’ve definitely jumped in, and I completely agree with that advice.
I am on my own my first night in Beijing. At the train station, I rolled my ankle and dropped to the ground on my knees. There were lots of people around, but not one person stopped to help me out or ask me if I was ok. They all just stared. I felt very alone even though I was in such a big city. I wasn't injured, other than getting bruises on my knees. Fortunately for me, I took a wrong turn walking to the hotel, and I think I ended up in a Russian neighborhood. I walked by a Russian restaurant (Traktir Pushkin Russian Cuisine Restaurant) and then found myself in front of the large Russian Embassy. Since I am part Russian, I actually felt a connection to the foreign city.
I was very safe near the hotel. It was less than a block away from the SWOT team and two blocks away from the police department. After dropping my stuff off at the hotel, I went back to the restaurant. Though it was Russian, the food reminded me of a Polish Christmas dinner with my relatives. The menu had multiple pages, but I picked a salad with beet root, pickled herring, apple, and sour pickles. I also had some borscht along with meat/rice stuffed eggplant dish, and the only Asian component to the meal was the green tea. I smiled the entire meal. The last page of the menu gave specific instructions regarding how to drink vodka. What I loved most was that the restaurant was full of Asians eating this type of food. It was also amusing to hear the songs YMCA and Heard It Through the Grape Vine while eating.
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